The Anime everyone has been talking about-One Piece

🎶Come along with me, and let’s head out to “sea” what this world has for you and for me now…🎶 Pardon the Disney Channel reference but One Piece has come to be affectionately labeled by my sister and I as, “The Suite Life.” (Honestly, it’s so much better than the Suite Life on Deck. I don’t know why we ever tried that show in the first place. It was in our Disney Channel phase of life). When asked what the best Anime is or which Anime they recommend I watch next, the resounding reply was One Piece. The live action adaptation was recently released and recommended to me as well by non-anime watching people. However, being a Anime fan who prefers the original material rather than an adaptation, my sister and I gave the cartoon a watch first. We came late to the One Piece train but are now strapped in for more. We managed to get through season one while nursing a cold so this review will stick to the first 53 episodes. This review will mostly cover what makes the show unique, characters, and why we kept watching, so if you’ve never seen it you’ll hopefully get an idea of whether or not it’s for you. Warning: Contains some spoilers. 

The premise and overall feel for the show: 

-The series follows a high spirited, somewhat simple minded, yet noble character named Luffy who wants to be The Pirate King and find the famed One Piece. The former king of the pirates was executed and hid the one piece treasure in the most dangerous of places called the grand line. Naturally, that is where Luffy wants to go so he progressively acquires a motley crew and a ship all the while making stops along the way and having additional adventures. 

-The show does a good job of blending comedy with the strange world and yet somehow managing to be dark (I would argue all Anime does this to some degree like original Disney used to, but One Piece is famous for how bizarre it can be). One Piece has some of the weirdest looking villains whose powers originate (like Luffy) from something called the devil fruit. There’s a clown who can dismantle and control his own body parts, a short fat guy with sheepskin on his back who eats everything, and a guy with his hair curled into the number three who tries to kill people by turning them into wax candles atop a birthday cake. You can’t make this stuff up… Amidst all the madness and comical mayhem, the show can still go dark when need be. Examples:

• In Luffy’s backstory he admires a Pirate named “Red Haired” Shanks but, as my oldest brother pointed out, he doesn’t really know anything about him or what he’s capable of. When some pirates insult Shanks in a bar he lets it slide until Luffy gets involved, then his crew casually kill the pirates who threatened Luffy. Shanks pointedly remarks that “guns aren’t for threats, they’re for action.”  Shanks also loses an arm saving Luffy from a sea monster. Both these scenes are handled with serious undertones and no levity. 

• In Nami’s backstory (the main female character in the show at this point) we learn how her adopted mother was shot protecting her and her sister from a fishman crime lord of the sea. Nami is then forced into servitude for the fish man because of her talent at mapmaking, and for years she tries to acquire enough money to buy both her own freedom and her village’s. Our mother happened to watch this particular part of the show and found it very dark and depressing.  

Let’s meet the characters who all have a dream: 

-For my sister and I (as our eldest brother has noted several times), characters sell the show for us. One Piece has a very diverse crew each with their own unique skill set and personality, so let’s meet them. 

• The Captain-As mentioned earlier, Monkey D. Luffy is our main protagonist with stretching powers he inherited from a devil fruit. Simple minded yet loveable, Luffy cares most about his friends and eating. His dream, as he constantly reminds us, is to be king of the pirates and find the one piece. The interesting thing about Luffy is he (and later on his crew) act nothing like real pirates. They don’t pillage and plunder or hurt anyone needlessly. More often than not they end up helping people and saving them from real pirates. Luffy’s definition of a pirate is more like a carefree vigilante who stands for the rights of the underdog and is against evil. He has the ability to sense goodness in people despite the indifferent demeanor they give off and is unwaveringly loyal to his idea of them. Luffy’s not the sharpest tool in the shed so he is often redirected by the rest of his crew and treated like an innocent child who in their own ways all look to him for their next move. This perfectly leads us into his first mate, who doesn’t typically do anything without a word from Luffy. 

• The Swordsman-Luffy’s first mate is the former Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro, master of three sword style (the third sword goes in his teeth; impossible and nonsensical but it’s Anime). When he showed up in the second episode, my interest peaked (needless to say, he’s our favorite character). All Luffy knows is that Zoro is considered some kind of demon for his skill at killing. When we meet Zoro he’s tied to a cross being punished for defending a little girl against a horribly attired bratty son of a marine captain. This shattered any idea of Zoro being a heartless killer. Still, being a wolverine type loner, he doesn’t want to join Luffy’s crew but feels obligated to when Luffy rescues him. From that moment, Zoro follows Luffy’s lead in matters and defends him zealously. Zoro’s dream is to become the world’s greatest swordsman and keep a promise to a girl who used to be his rival before she died in an accident. 

•   The Navigator-Nami is the only girl on the crew whose first and last interest seems to be money. She’s a thief who looks out for number one, popping in and out of the first few episodes while stealing other people’s belongings. Nami originally joins Luffy and Zoro out of a need for a ship to carry her stolen money. She typically runs from conflict and lets others do the fighting. Nami is perceived as Zoro describes her, “as nothing but trouble.” Indeed, she first came off as a comedic relief character who was nothing more than annoyingly selfish and greedy. I didn’t know what to think of her until she abandons her friends and steals their boat only to be seen crying by viewers to let us know there’s more to the story. Nami has spent the majority of her life trying to pay ransom for her village’s freedom to the fishman who murdered her mother. Only her adopted sister knows this since Nami has kept it a secret from everyone in her town. This story arc shows us the heart of Nami’s character and brings growth out of her. She pushes everyone away until she has nothing left but to ask Luffy for help. Nami brings a level headedness and practicality to the crew that is a relief in a female character. She’s not simply annoying and useless or crushing on a guy like Sakura. Nami cracks the whip when needed and this rambunctious crew needs it a lot. Her dream is to draw a map of the world.     

• The Liar-Usopp is literally the town crier, the boy who cries wolf a lot. His father was actually one of Shanks’ crew who left him to be a pirate and his mother died when he was very young. Upon first meeting Usopp, like Nami, I was wondering what was admirable about him. He tells lies and everyone in the town hates him because of it. Everyone, but one lonely sick rich girl who Usopp tells stories to in order to cheer her up. He does this despite her butler mocking him and throwing him off the property. Usopp is comedic relief and cowardly but he does help fight if need be even when his knees are knocking. His dream is to be a great warrior of the sea. 

• The Cook-Sanji was another character I didn’t know what to think of. As my youngest brother pointed out, he projects a Humphry Bogart demeanor in a suit with a cigarette always between his teeth. He was saved and raised by a pirate who now runs a restaurant so Sanji feels compelled to work for him instead of pursuing his dreams. Sanji comes off as angry and somewhat bratty because of the tempestuous relationship with his guardian/boss who gives him a hard time in an attempt to push him away so he’ll become more independent. As a child, Sanji nearly starved to death so he has a personal code to feed anyone who’s hungry. This is what made both me and Luffy like him. Sanji also has a problem deifying women and offering himself as their personal slave, something Zoro makes fun of him for constantly. His weapon of choice is his high kick, which sends anything and everything (regardless of size) into orbit. (The guy needs to face off against One Punch Man.) Sanji’s dream is to find the All Blue, a place where every kind of fish can be found.     

What made us keep watching: 

The style, humor, and unique characters pulled us in. The show itself reminded us of Scooby doo and Avatar: The Last Airbender with the way the crew travels around fixing people’s problems. The characters also all have excellent chemistry with each other, personalities bouncing off one another and affording natural humorous circumstances. (My sister and I ship Zoro and Nami, though we know nothing is confirmed. They fight too much to not like each other and Zoro puts up with her pushy attitude instead of ignoring her.) The show did an excellent job of making you care about the people involved, and therefore you wanted to see what situations they’ll get themselves in and out of.

Check it out, see if it’s for you. Be warned it is 20+ seasons so my sister and I plan on dying before finishing it. We’re only in season 2, but we don’t regret starting it.