Synopsis
A young man named Monkey D. Luffy dreams of becoming King of the Pirates. When he’s captured by a band of pirates, Luffy escapes to a naval base ruled by an evil captain. Luffy saves the famous swordsman, Zolo from execution in exchange for joining his crew, and the real adventure begins!
Review
One Piece is an example of a show where my stupidity led me to assume that a certain anime is bad because of the way it looked. Man I so deserve a beating from Nami. Not only did this show, proved me wrong, but it surpassed anything that I could have expected from it. The beef that I did have with One Piece is the version I received. It was the TV edited version, which means, some of the show was edited so that it would be appropriate to be shown on cartoon Saturdays or something. The addition of fade in and fade outs made for commercial breaks were annoying, but I guess I should stop with the ranting, I mean, it did warn me on the front and back cover that it was the TV version.
Okay, moving away from the being edited topic, because that can be a whole Rant-ON article in itself. The show is very enjoyable, and the characters are likable. Coby is one funny dude due to the way he reacts to the crazy decisions of Luffy’s. Obviously, our main character is the fellow with the straw hat, yes, that guy named Monkey D. Luffy.
From the start we are introduced to a few of the characters who will have some sort of significance in the show later on. You have heard two names already. Luffy, and Coby (somehow even though he does not become a pirate), the other names you will hear are Roronoa Zoro (Zolo), the pirate hunter and later on Nami, the pirate thieve. At first glance, you already know One Piece will be a fun adventure due to its animation style. It is not serious, although it could be. One thing I liked from the animation is the use of colors. The colors define the emotion a certain character is feeling and it is weird how I just like the utilization of that method in anime.
The plot of One Piece is kept to the basics. This whole adventure was sparked by a little boy’s dream; to be the Pirate King. That little boy has now grown and is now beginning to chase his dream by rounding up a crew of pirates. Of course, this task will not be easy, and if it was not for Luffy’s forbidden fruit abilities he would have been dead by the first volume. The show constantly hangs itself on the cliff. And that is how it gets you addicted to want to continue watching it. The way they did that certainly has me hooked and reeled in. Now if only an unedited version was released. Now that would be cool. I am sure a lot of us are yearning for it.
The Breakdown
Overall, One Piece is great. The story keeps the viewers entertained at all times, while everything else is consistent at providing a good experience. I have fallen in love with One Piece and I hope you do too, because if you do not, you will be missing out on some serious fun.
» The Pros
From the looks of this first volume and knowing that the show will stretch for a long time. You can feel good about it as it satisfies your anime needs... but your wallet is another matter ;).
|
|
» The Cons
The only major con about this show is that it is only available in the TV Edit version. Some of us who want to watch the original show legally will have to find some other way to watch it, such as, importing from CDJapan or something. Also, what is up with only three episodes in the DVD? That is a lot of DVDs for the whole One Piece saga if it ever finishes releasing in the United States.
|
» Animation
9 |
The animation along with the character designs and action sequences were nicely done. But the fade in and fade outs made for commericials were a little annoying. Also editing some of the show is never a good thing for the anime fanatics out there. |
|
|
» Sound
8 |
As you might have known from reading this review. Only the TV Edit version is available. And that means, there are no original theme songs here. The opening rap song was decent, but "Ya-yo Ya-yo" just is not for me. I would rather have at least the Japanese themes. On another note, the English dub was not bad. It was surprisingly adequate enough for me to not strangle myself and pull my hair out ^_^. |
|
» Story
9 |
The story is nice and juicy. The way One Piece commences draws the audience in and it makes it feels like you are in the adventure. I also loved the way how I was feeling a strong emotion at times just by watching the show. One Piece has a way to make you feel certain emotions. And that aspect of the show is commendable. |
|
|
» Recommend
9.5 |
Would I recommend One Piece? You bet I will. If you are the type of anime fan that likes a long (200+ episodes), entertaining adventure anime, then you simply cannot go wrong here. Also I know you English dub and anime edit haters out there are crying out for justice right now, but oh wells. Deal with it like how I dealt with mine (feeling, that is). |
|
» Other Information
Language: English Dialogue with English Subtitles.
Extras: Production Art.
Package: The package is pretty tight. You get a CCG (Collectable Card Game) card inside the DVD so that is cool. Of course the bad part is that is is limited to the first 30,000 copies. :( |