One Piece: Pieces of Adventures!

Years ago, the fearsome pirate king Gold Roger disappeared, leaving a huge pile of treasure and the famous “One Piece” behind. Whoever claims the “One Piece” will be named the new pirate king. Luffy D. Monkey, a boy who consumed the “Devil's Fruit”, has it in his head that he'll follow in the footsteps of his idol, the pirate Shanks, and find the One Piece. It helps, of course, that his body has the properties of rubber and he's surrounded by a bevy of skilled fighters and thieves to help him along the way.

Considered by some to be the heir to the throne of Dragon Ball in terms of Japanese market penetration, One Piece is certainly a phenomenon. The manga's print run recently outpaced Dragon Ball and the series, at more than 130 episodes, is still going strong. It's easy to see why; One Piece follows a very simple and very successful shonen action formula. It worked in the past for Dragon Ball and it's working wonderfully for One Piece. The premise is pretty basic. Luffy D. Monkey, an irrepressible youth, ate the Devil's Fruit, which gave his body extra-strength elasticity. He's searching for theOne Piece, a legendary treasure that will make him the King of all Pirates and finally allow him to prove himself to his childhood idol, a selfless pirate by the name of Shanks. Along the way, he collects an army of somewhat freakish rogues, including a tough swordfighter named Zoro who fights with a sword in his mouth, and Nami, a spunky thief. Together they have wacky adventures, beat up the bad guys, and collect treasure. It all sounds pretty harmless, right?

Well, right, it is. One Piece is completely harmless entertainment. The battles can be surprisingly brutal at times, but overall, this is pure shonen action entertainment. It is entirely unpretentious and knows exactly what it wants to be, and excels at that. That having been said, One Piece is not a particularly deep show, although the characters are well developed. The focus seems to be on the crazy villains and the endless string of fights the main characters go through. Luffy and his crew of misfits go from town to town, saving the repressed masses and eliminating evil pirates who stand between them and the One Piece. In some ways, it's very reminiscent of Rurouni Kenshin. Kenshin and Luffy are both laid-back badasses with hearts of gold that surround themselves with surprisingly capable outcasts and defeat circus freak-style enemies in episode after episode. If you like that sort of thing, One Piece delivers. If you don't, One Piece is going to bore the faith out of you.

So, for fans of formulaic action shows, One Piece is a well-animated bit of fluff that sports decent music and some well-done action scenes. Unfortunately, the bizarre character designs are sure to turn a lot of folks off. One Piece is not done in a traditional anime style. It's very unique and it's bound to rub some people the wrong way. Otherwise, if you like your anime rife with fight scenes that last several episodes, declaratory statements (“Ore wa Kaizokuo ni naru da!” or “I will become the Pirate King!” is Luffy's favorite thing to say...), screwball humor and a touch of originality, One Piece will not fail to please.

Right now, it seems as if pirates are on the brain. There's the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and "Talk Like a Pirate Day", and even Veggietales references to pirates. Pirates, like ninja, are in. So it's refreshing to watch a pirate show without so much as an "Arr, matey" in the script. While One Piece is definitely a show about pirates (and the children who want to grow up to become pirates), it's also a very original and highly charming romp that owes more to Popeye the Sailor Man than the current trends of cutthroats in brogue. Still, the archetypes are here, with the swashbuckling swordsmen and cannon-studded galleons that we've grown accustomed to in the genre, but there's constant anachronisms like a floating oden bar, and Zoro's bizarre skills with katana, that are unmistakably Japanese. It's all very outlandish and overblown and, well, cartoony, but that's what makes it so fun. The strength of this movie (as in the series) is by far the characters. Luffy is likably goofy, an idealist with the pistol arm to back up his dreams and the presence of mind to know when to use it. He's loyal, brave, and if he's a bit undersized, it just means that his enemies will fall just that much further -- though if he can make an erstwhile enemy into a loyal friend, he's that much happier. His optimistic attitude is infectious, and you can't help but think that there simply *has* to be a little of Popeye's strength and quirky humor in Luffy's ancestry. And that's just *one* character. Luffy's pirate crew is extremely likable (from the expert swordsman Zoro and the master thief Nami to the ambiguously useful Ussop, whose nose would make Cyrano cringe). Granted, these characters work best for the folk who have seen the series and are familliar with their backstories. The movie-storyline guest characters aren't quite as rich - Tobio falls into the little-boy-wannabe-pirate template much like Coby in the early part of the TV series (or you could argue, Luffy himself once upon a time). He's stubborn and wants to be a pirate, but really doesn't have the talent or heart or even the slightest idea of how to do it. By the end, he realizes what path he must take in life, thanks to Luffy and his gang. Today's antagonist, El Drago, turns out to be another of those "I ate a Devil Fruit" guys, and while he's pretty one-dimensional, his sword-wielding henchman (predictably, Zoro's opponent) is actually rather interesting despite being largely silent. Which brings us to the plot, which is your typical treasure island goose chase, and not entirely original in concept and theme, but very entertaining in execution. While the "surprises" are really only going to surprise younger children, it's still fun watching these characters go through the motions - like any good hero's journey, this franchise isn't really about the destination, but how the characters get there. Technically speaking, the animation is very glossy and this show just looks great. Granted, it's a kid's show, so the backgrounds and designs are a bit more simplistic than the norm, but considering the audience, this movie is definitely not going to disappoint any of its intended viewers based on its visuals. The music seemed fine to me, though I've always liked the music of the One Piece franchise. Overall, a drily written review isn't going to do you any good in knowing what this show is really like. It's goofy, it's silly, it's adventurous, and it's fun, and while this first movie is best for fans of the TV series, it's good enough to pique the interest of newer fans who haven't read a single page of Shonen Jump. There are two responses I get, without fail, every time I try to get someone new to watch this show. "I don't like the art style," or "I've seen the dub - NO THANKS." I'm guilty of both of these myself. But if there's one thing I need to stress before even getting started on this review, it's that the 4Kids dub is NOT One Piece. For the love of god, PLEASE do not think it is. If you've suffered the misfortune of seeing some of the 4Kids episodes, just erase them from your mind and start fresh. They butchered it, there's really no other way to put it. They cut episodes, changed the dialogue to fit a MUCH younger and apparently far less intelligent audience (almost insultingly so), gave the characters RIDICULOUS voices, and pretty much watered down the entire series. FUNimation has done a much better job so far from what I've seen, but regardless, watching it in its original Japanese form with subtitles is really the way to go. As for the art style, it's true, it's completely different from almost anything else I've seen. Much more "cartoonish" and maybe not what you'd expect from an anime. Despite that, you end up loving it. I wouldn't even say that you have to "get used to it" because it's not something that detracts from the rest of the series in any way. It didn't even take me two episodes before I was thoroughly enjoying it and seeing it as a fresh, new style, exciting almost and unlike anything I'd experienced before. Now, some 300+ episodes later, I can't remember ever NOT liking it, or even why I would have. Especially now with One Piece being aired in high definition, the art is crisp, clean, colorful - VERY sharp and wonderful to look at. Now that we've got those two points out of the way... One Piece is actually one of the best shows I've ever seen, anime or otherwise. The plot is pretty basic at first. Monkey D. Luffy has just set out on his own to find the legendary treasure 'one piece' and become Pirate King, and he's looking for a crew to sail with him. You'll find yourself falling in love with each and every new member as Luffy finds them. They're all extremely well developed, with interesting backgrounds and unique, fun personalities. They form one very quirky crew that's always discovering new adventures and somehow getting themselves into trouble as they strive to achieve their dreams. Each main story arc introduces new minor characters as well, and they're just as much fun and easy to fall in love with as the Straw Hat crew. Not one character is left out or feels like they're there for no reason. Everyone has a purpose and adds to the storyline, and one of the really cool things about One Piece is that these 'purposes' often resurface at later points in the series. No detail is left untouched, and you'll seriously be amazed by the way Oda threads together plots and characters and blends all their stories perfectly the more the series progresses. The plot itself, though fairly straightforward at first like I said, quickly evolves into something HUGE. Much of the beginning of the series is dedicated to forming the crew and letting you get to know the characters, though it's definitely never lacking in action, but once they reach the Grand Line, you're swept up in adventure after adventure and following some of the most fantastic story arcs you'll ever watch. The battles and fights are well-paced, with the final boss fight almost always being completely EPIC. But even through the action, One Piece never quite loses it's lighthearted, humorous edge. The episodes are sprinkled with PLENTY of funny moments, never too many and never too few. There's always a wonderful balance of action and humor. One Piece also has its fair share of heart-wrenching moments, which may take you by surprise! There are some EXTREMELY powerful scenes and episodes that kind of blindside you and leave you wondering when you became quite so emotionally attached to certain characters or other things. I've definitely found myself near tears or actually crying at more than one point. One Piece has it all - amazing characters, the never-ending yet never TOO over-the-top humor, exciting battles, fun adventures, heartbreaking moments with quick to follow touching moments. And underneath everything, there's always the theme of friendship and teamwork, of working to reach your dreams and helping those closest to you achieve theirs, of growing and maturing as a person and discovering the power within yourself to overcome obstacles of any sort, of just BEING THERE for the rest of your crew when they need you - of being NAKAMA. In a word, One Piece is perfect. And perhaps I'm just biased, being an obviously OBSESSED fan at this point, haha, but what can I say? It's been running for 344 episodes so far and not ONCE have I wondered or hoped that it would start to reach an end. It is, simply put, amazing.