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July, 23 2003 - Eiichiro Oda's One Piece
is currently Japan's most popular anime and manga series. The manga (+29 manga
voulmes) originally started publishing in the pages of Weekly
Shonen Jump Japan in 1997 and has been continuing ever since. The anime (+150
episodes) is also still currently in production. Both the manga and anime have
shown no signs of slowing down. The look of the One Piece world will throw off
the casual anime fan, even though it's story is for the mature. Too cute for the
Dragonball fan, but not soft enough for the Pokemon fan. It lies somewhere in
between... better yet it's is so much more. I can tell you without a doubt One
Piece is the next big thing from Japan. Even if it doesn't catch on in the US,
I'll be a fan till the end!
One Piece is a story about friendship and
loyalty. Many of the adventures include Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates meeting
new friends and fighting new adversaries as they travel land to land. At the
beginning of the story, Luffy begins to collect his crew of elite pirates. As
the group travels towards the Grand Line in search of the coveted "One Piece", they all go through many different
trails and tribulations as the story progresses. You may think One Piece's
structured formula is it's downside. While it's true the story follows a similar
pattern on every land they dock, it never get boring as each arc is unique and
exciting. The most important attribute in the One Piece saga is it's deep and
involving characters. Even at chapter 23 of the manga (or episode 9 of the
anime) I've found each character to already to have lots of complex
characteristics, even the minor ones. Undeniably the characters in One Piece are
fantastic; it's difficult to figure out which one is my favorite! The second most important attribute is it's
humor. Every chapter and episode is filled with lots of laughs. But don't get me
wrong, One Piece is not a comedy! There is enough action and adventure to fill
any otaku's hunger. And its balanced too, something that's rare in anime
nowadays.
Both the anime and manga stories are nearly
identical are pretty much equal in terms of quality. Although there are minor
changes in the dialog and story for the anime, it never strays too far from the manga.
And even though there are a few fillers, it's never out of character. The quality of the animation and art
in the original Japanese anime is excellent. Although there are times they use
computer enhanced shots, most of One Piece is animated traditionally, using
"Oda's watercolor style" for the colors. Even though it doesn't have the
rich
colors of Dragonball or Yu Gi Oh, the results are quite nice and are suitable
for this anime. The sound quality is also done well using orchestrated classical
music and perfect voice actors for each character. The quality of the Manga is
excellent too. Oda's simple art style won't wow you, but its still very well
done and appropriate. I enjoy it every time I read it. There is no other way to
represent the manga as the style is perfect for the series.
Conclusion: This review was very easy to do
because One Piece is an excellent series. Unfortunately an official license has yet to
be announced (Funimation announced the licensing of the show in early 2003, but
then later confirmed they no longer have the rights to release it; it is
currently rumored to be licensed in the US by an unknown major company however). But you can
pick up either Shonen Jump USA or the Graphic Novels as they are available in
English. Give it a try! I promise you wont be disappointed.
Data Specs
- Genre - Adventure, action, comedy,
fighting / pirate theme
- Episodes/Chapters -
Anime: TV episodes - 150+ (still in production), Movies - 4, TV specials - 1
Manga: graphic novels - 29+ (still in production)
- US Distributor -
R1 DVD: Unknown/Unreleased
Manga: Shonen Jump USA (weekly chapters - 19), (graphic novels - 1/29+)
- Coverage Status: Incomplete -
Anime: Raw TV series - (17/150+)
Manga: graphic novels (RAW Japanese Jump Comic) - (2/29+)
Want more information? Below I have a
Character guide to the
One Piece Saga. I have tried my
best to make this guide spoiler free, but I was not able to accomplish this
totally. There are some mild spoilers in them so be forewarned!
