One Piece is a pirate adventure manga created by the iconic writer and artist Eiichiro Oda who launched the series in 1997 and it is ongoing to this day. In 1999, Toei Animation, the same studio behind Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon, launched an anime adaption that also continues to this day.
It was brought to the United States thanks to 4Kids who edited it into a kid's show, but Funimation later did a full release of the first several seasons before Crunchyroll took over.
I decided to begin a journey through the anime and join Monkey D. Luffy, a rubber man who wants to find the ONE PIECE. It is the lost treasure of legendary pirate Gold Roger who declared before his execution, "You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place. Now you'll just have to find it!"
Inspired by one of his mentors, Luffy sets sail to gather a ship and crew in the first season of the anime, known by some as the East Blue Saga, as that is the ocean it takes place in.
The pirate captain Alvida (Kathleen Delaney) finds a barrel floating in the ocean which, to her surprise, contains Monkey D. Luffy (Colleen Clinkenbeard), a pirate who ate the "Gum Gum Devil Fruit" and is now a rubber man. After defeating her and her crew, he saves Koby (Leah Clark) who dreams of becoming a Marine, the archenemy of the Pirates. Luffy sets about recruiting a crew including swordmaster Roronoa Zoro (Christopher Sabat), the navigator Nami (Luci Christian), crafty coward Usopp (Sonny Strait), and chef Sanji (Eric Vale).
They acquire the ship Going Merry and set sail as the Straw Hat Pirates for the Grand Line, a current believed to lead to the One Piece treasure. Despite Luffy's plucky attitude, they encounter other fearsome pirates, monsters, bounty hunters, greedy bureaucrats, and corrupt Marines who want to stop them.
I will be honest, the show felt like a little bit of a chore to get through as Luffy was gathering his crew. You can tell a lot of these early episodes were fillers to stretch, no pun intended, the season out a bit so that the manga could publish more stories. However, once Zoro in particular, but the rest of the crew in general, are recruited, it starts to get good.
Luffy is a charismatic character who I would describe as plucky. He is optimistic and despite being a pirate, he has no desire to pillage or plunder, but to become the King of the Pirates by finding the One Piece. He is not someone you would expect to be a pirate, much less a captain, but somehow you glom to his happy-go-lucky attitude that often irks the rest of the crew.
Oda and, by extension, Toei do a good job of making the rest of the crew feel unique. Zoro is serious, strategic, and confident. Nami is brisk, blunt, and pessimistic. Usopp is adventurous and hesitant but has some inner strength. Sanji is disinterested, caring only about his skills as a chef, as well as the attention of the ladies. This makes them seem like an unlikely group, but they manage to come together when it counts.
As for the enemies, many are truly terrifying. Buggy (Mike McFarland) is the most terrifying, especially after he allies with a newly reformed Alvida (Laurie Steele). The two of them only care about destruction and vengeance on Luffy. They plan on following him into the Grand Line, especially after their showdown in Loguetown, the place where Gold Roger was executed. Many of the other opponents were interesting, but those two had my attention.
It also has that retro anime feel with how the animation runs. The exaggerated expressions, slow motion action, sped-up action, shiny power-ups, and a strong sense of adventure. I look forward to continuing this quest and seeing what new opponents the Straw Hat Pirates will face.
