Series Information:
One Piece (ワンピース Wan Pīsu) is a long-running shōnen manga written and illustrated by Eiichirō Oda, that has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since August 4, 1997. The individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997 and 53 volumes released as of March 4, 2009. One Piece follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a 17-year-old boy, who gained supernatural abilities by eating a magical fruit, and his ragtag crew of heroic pirates, named the Straw Hats. Luffy’s greatest ambition is to obtain the world’s ultimate treasure, One Piece, and thereby become the next King of the Pirates. When creating the series, Oda was heavily influenced by the manga Dragon Ball.
Eiichiro san (author) was an apprentice to Watsuki san (the guy responsible for Rurouni Kenshin) and it clearly shows in the series.
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Theres just so much to say about One Piece I just dont know where to begin. First off, many people may be turned off by Eichiro Oda’s style of characters. When translated into anime, more people are just plainly confused. In my opinion, Oda’s style should be respected just as any other style of animation because if everyone just drew in similiar style, we’d get heck. Also, just as typical manga, Oda’s art really helps to make the characters feel more alive and entertaining.
S T O R Y:
The world in which One Piece is set is a totally fictions world where pirates are commonplace and every where you look is a wonderful land of fantasy. Now other than a pirate theme this doesn’t sound too original does it?! But there is something very different about the special powers element of One Piece. Rather than your usual mutations, or “chi” or whatever else you’re used to seeing in anime, One Piece has Devil Fruit! A fruit that gives the person who eats it a special ability and it’s this that gives the “fun” element to the anime and I bet there isn’t a person out there who hasn’t tried to think up their own devil fruit ability *lol*
A boy named Monkey D. Luffy, inspired by his childhood hero “Red-Haired” Shanks, sets out on a journey to find the legendary One Piece, to become the new Pirate King, and return the straw hat to Shanks because of his promise.To accomplish this, he must reach the end of the most deadly and dangerous ocean: The Grand Line. Luffy captains the Straw Hat Pirates first through the sea of East Blue and then through the Grand Line. He follows the path of the deceased Pirate King, Gold Roger, from island to island on his way to the great treasure One Piece. On his way his crew grows to have a swordsman, a navigator, a sniper, a cook, a doctor, an archaeologist, a shipwright, and a musician.
C H A R A C T E R:
The most important aspect of an anime of this nature and length are the characters and they are wonderful; every single character in One Piece oozes personality, charm and most importantly life! They’re imaginative, individual and wholly different from your usual anime fare. The bad guys are fantastically portrayed with just as much personality and charisma as the main characters.
The assortment of characters will never cease to amaze, or entertain with their antics.
Perfectly created characters and personalities. Richly made life stories that are told time and time again by the way they behave. There have all been times of joy and sadness in their lives and it shows in their wish to live life to the fullest. Random characters appearing on episodes are also well acted and scripted.
Monkey D. Luffy or Luffy ~ is a lovable character with many goofy faults, but those same faults making him adorable, such as being somewhat stupid. On the other hand, he’s completely loyal, absolutely an optimist and he believe in himself and his crew. He believes in dreams. He’s the kind of guy you look for in an anime of this nature; someone you know you can rely on to do the right thing all the way through. Someone who puts others before himself, who always has a righteous nature and even though he’s a glutton and seems totally unaware most of the time, he has to be one of the most endearing characters I have come across in a very long time. He’s the kind guy you know you can rely on when the time comes and his strength of body, mind and character is astounding. He has gone through a wonderful period of growth throughout the episodes I have seen and his antics never cease to amaze me.
“Pirate Hunter” Roronoa Zoro or Zoro ~ is to be the coolest swordsman since Kenshin and my personal favorite, but that is because he is the walking embodiment of bushido. Although he has no sense of direction, he is very much the samurai to Luffy’s command. He is loyalty to the rest of the crew is something quite amazing, trustworthy, honest, and works hard to fulfill his promises. His prowess slowly builds up throughout the anime in a very believable way. He’s a bit of a strange guy who spends most of his time sleeping, or boozing.
Nami is the meanest mother hen. She is the only female for a long time, but she keeps the boys in line. She has a temper, and she loves money and tangerines. But under all of that she is loyal and pretty good at fighting.
Usopp! What can you say about Usopp? He is the high comic relief because he is a liar and boaster. He’s also a dead eye shot with his sling shot. He is one of the most human of the characters, right there with Nami, and he’s best at escape. Clever and mechanical, He’s actually a lot cooler than you might imagine and as the anime goes on, he goes through an amazing period of growth, both in personality and strength and his prowess in the Water 7 arc impresses me every time I watch it.
There’s little funnier than his SogeKing persona. Usopp kicks butt!
Sanji ~ is a butt-kicking cook and a failed womanizer but that doesn’t stop him from being a force to be reckoned with. Using only his feet, he kicks serious ass. He loves the ladies, and never thinks twice about saving a damsel in distress he protects them at all costs. His rival for 2nd strongest on the ship is Zoro, and those two fight constantly. He is also one of the smartest guys on the ship. His constant swooning over the girls never fails to make me laugh, his skills as a number one chef never fails to impress.
Tony Tony Chopper or Chopper (for short) ~ is so damned cute a strange little blue nosed reindeer that ate a human Devil’s Fruit (Human Human fruit) which gives him the ability to talk and transform. He has the most humility of any anime character I’ve ever seen and the fact he can’t accept compliments and his reactions to them are hilarious. His back story within the anime is one of the most emotional of the lot! He is the ship’s doctor, and he’s very skilled. The youngest, he is very naive… but always tries his best
Nico Robin or Robin ~ has the abilities of the Flower-Flower Fruit, allowing her to create copies of any of her body parts on any solid surface that she can see, such as her own body, on the bodies of others, on objects, or even the replicated limbs themselves.She is extremely intelligent, having taught herself archaeology and to decipher the extremely difficult Poneglyph language at a very young age. Her dream is to find and decipher the Rio Poneglyph, an ancient stone telling a long lost part of history (the Void Century), which is considered a crime against the World Government Her back-story is the most haunting and sad of anyone’s in One Piece and I cried a lot watching that section. Her life has been hell since she was a tiny girl and that makes it all the more saddening
There are others, but that would spoil it. I say, look at them all, because all the characters are wonderful!
To truly find out how wonderful the characters are, whether it be our heroes, or the numerous strange and enchanting villains, or the motley crew that tends to make up the guys from the marines, you need to watch this anime ^__^
Basically the characters make One Piece what it is. They give the whole thing a more enchanting feel and add so much to an already fantastic story
A N I M A T I O N/A R T:
Many people seem to strongly dislike the art style. Well, it’s not poorly drawn, it’s just DIFFERENT—something many anime fans aren’t used to and refuse to accept. It’s beautiful, and it makes the characters stand out. Backgrounds are also very nice.
While not amazing, One Piece’s animation more then just gets the job done. It lacks the computerized effects that many animes today use, but there isn’t really anything to complain about. I don’t think any long animes use high-end effects, and neither does this one. The animation is clean, colorful and lively, certainly enjoyable. All around great.
There isn’t really anything to complain about where the animation is concerned. Here we have a show that’s been going for 7 years and shows no signs of stopping even now! The animation slowly improves with each arc of the story and while at the beginning there may have been a more simplistic approach to the fight scenes, more recent episodes show how the presentation of the fights has improved; from Luffy’s amazing rubber “Gum Gum” attacks, to Zoro’s prowess with a sword.
The punch-ups are really well executed, although as with the majority of shounen anime of this nature, the injuries etc are gone within a very short time.
The backgrounds range from impressively detailed to quite simplistic, but always make for a perfect setting. The ships and various strange creatures are very individual and original and although the character design may take a little getting used to, the one thing you can say is how different and original everyone looks. I think the character design is one of the most refreshing aspects of One Piece, as it offers the viewer a wide range of the cute, the gorgeous, the strange and peculiar and the downright ugly!
As this is something that is currently on the almost 399 episode mark, being attracted to the characters visually is a very important aspect and whether you’re a guy or girl there is bound to be more than one character you can attach yourself too.
S O U N D:
A whole host of songs to get your teeth into, but nothing will be as special as the 1st Op theme (We Are!) which to me seems more like an anthem than just a plain old theme tune. The one thing that attracted me to One Piece in the first place is the wonderful uplifting 1st Op theme song and its wonderful animation credits. It’s full of life and wonderment. It’s almost matched by the 6th OP theme song “Brand New World”, this song just needed to last longer than it did!
Out of the 11 OP theme songs and 18 ED theme songs, there’s very little to complain about, the lyrics are wonderful and portray the wonder than is One Piece!
The BGM is wonderful. Most of it appears to be extremely well orchestrated pieces of music that at times sound like a huge orchestra was employed solely for the purpose of creating the atmosphere of the show and boy does it do a good job!
There are times when the original theme tune is used for more poignant moments in the show, which is why I think of it as an anthem rather than just a song!
The soundtracks to one piece are very quaint and appropriate when they need to be, similar to many an rpg game. The background music is good orchestral accompiament to what’s going on in the episode. The themes are one of the best things about the anime; it is a series that is actually worth buying the music soundtrack for.
The voice acting is part of what makes this anime so good. Voice actors can make or break a show and for One Piece they couldn’t have done a better job of portraying the characters personalities through their seiyuu; from the addictive laughter of Luffy, to the scaredy cat nature of Usopp, everyone sounds perfect.
E N J O Y M E N T:
There is a very strong theme and bond of camaraderie/friendship in this anime. The anime is very straightforward; one episode to another is basically the continuation of the prior episode’s journey. Its just one long great adventure as various people gather together to fulfill their dreams. Although the fighting isn’t exactly the most intense part, especially compared to a lot of other great fighting anime, it serves its purpose as being a good accessory to the storyline. They slowly bring out new fighting skills, but more impressively is how many people they end up befriending despite being pirates!
One Piece’s story is set up in different arcs. Each arc presents a brand new situation, and the anime always stays fresh. The arcs keep getting better and better, as well. One Piece is EXTREMELY intense, and takes full control over your emotions. Although I am male, I do admit to crying during animes: (I miss Merry). I’m not really that emotional, but it does happen.
One of the most unique parts of the animes is the vast arrays of bad guys, good guys, and neutrals. This anime does not depend on the usual black/white bad/guy distinction. In general, anybody you see on the screen could have been potentially “good”. Only, their dreams, ambitions, and greed reflect upon their character and actions. Luffy and Gang revolutionize what being a pirate is - rather than just plundering and looting innocents - they seek to realize their childhood dreams.
O V E R A L L:
Of all the anime that I have seen, One Piece is the one that most deserves to be called an adventure story. The tale itself is epic, and the scope of the journey is magnificent. The characters and setting have captured my imagination and interest more-so than any other anime before and after it.
One Piece is an anime I recommend whole-heartedly to any anime fan, whether you enjoy long series or not. Unlike many other long running series, One Piece just continues getting better as it goes on. Every week, it is a joy to look forward to what will happen next in this story.
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