One Piece Review

Back in April 1st, a l weeb bet half of his amino coins that I couldn't read all 900+ One Piece chapters in a year, then I bet all my coins that I could be caught up with the series in less than a month. Now that I'm rich you might be asking:

Was it worth it?

And the answer is

Duh.

Now I'm gonna tell you why it's so good

WARNING:

THIS CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS

One Piece is too long, but that doesn't mean I want it to end. This is coming from someone who was talking shit about it not so long ago. We're at chapter 977, in the middle of the current longest saga in the entire series, and the end is still nowhere in sight.

Of course, it's a very very long story but I don't care if the ending is another decade or two away from now because of the way Eiichiro Oda (the mangaka) sets it up. It was always supposed to be a long-ass adventure.

"Maybe nothing in this world happens by accident. As everything happens for a reason, our destiny takes form."

- Silvers Rayleigh, One Piece

This character perfectly described One Piece as a story in a single frame. Every event, every character, every little plot point is there for a reason. Small bits of information that we get in early arcs normally reveal to be part of a more massive scheme. Oda plants tiny plot points and easter eggs so early in the series which allowed the story to progress so seamlessly.

This consistency and continuity isn't something I see in other battle shounen. Everything is so satisfyingly cohesive.

Believe it or not, there are more characters than chapters in One Piece. I've noticed that Oda rarely lets a character go to waste. There are so many side characters and villains each with their own story or purpose in this world Oda has created, and they're all connected in some way. This is especially the case for the main crew, the Straw Hat Pirates.

"If I can't protect my captain then my ambition means nothing. Luffy is the man who will become the pirate king!"

- Roronoa Zoro, One Piece

Every single Straw Hat crew member has a different objective from Luffy's, and all of them ed the crew for the sole purpose of achieving their own goal. But because Luffy garnered so much respect as their captain, they started putting his goal before their own. All of them have really tragic backstories that got me crying (except Chopper's. I don't cry for reindeer) and it was great seeing Luffy save them from their pasts and give them purpose.

I get that shounen protagonists usually can turn water into wine or something and is God's gift to the world but in this case, Luffy's a dependent captain with an independent crew. Even though he's physically the strongest, he needs his friends just as much as they need him, arguably even more. The crew's dynamic is what gives the word "nakama" so much depth.

Also, at the beginning of some chapters, Oda gives us a coloured illustration that just shows the Straw Hats adventuring in different places and having fun together.

It's a small thing and isn't even relevant to the story but it's just really cute seeing them all together. I don't think I've ever cared about manga art like this before.

I've read Berserk, Monster, a little bit of Vinland Saga, and while I think those manga have way better-written stories, One Piece is still my favourite manga.

One of the best decisions I've ever made was switching from regular manga to coloured manga. Oda's work is definitely great but up to chapter 300, I didn't fully realize how colourful One Piece really is.

Take a look at this manga frame.

And look at this

Look at this

Then look at this

Look at this

And look at this

Okay, I think I've made my point. Oda is great at adding little details in his art. Just reading the dialogue won't cut it, there are details about the One Piece world that you can only get from slowly analyzing the manga.

Take "Pandaman" for instance, or as I like to call him, "Pan D. Aman." He's a character that Oda draws in the backgrounds of different chapters as a joke. He's one of the most prominent easter eggs in One Piece.

When it comes to One Piece, obviously manga > anime. The manga, even though it's presented in still frames, is so much livelier.

No long drawn out reaction shots. Just one scene moving along as you read the frame from right to left. Ngl, I get sick of the art style sometimes. It's great but it gets old especially since this is a really really long series. But the way Oda plans out the pages for his manga and the overly expressive faces of the characters is why I kept reading. It's fun.

T h i s why One Piece is so good. Oda spent more than 2 decades on building this world. There are so much lore and geography to take in.

This the world map of One Piece. You can visit this site to look at a 3D rendered version of it. There are also detailed maps of islands and layouts of different buildings and castles. We explore the culture and history of every island and kingdom the Straw Hats visit, and some of the islands/countries are even inspired by real-life countries.

This is getting long and I want to sleep so I'll just leave it at this, One Piece has the best world-building out of any series I've seen. Oda knows what he's doing.

☠ Why tf is everyone's backstory so SAD?

☠ Hancock is best girl

☠ Law is best boi

☠ I wish A-1 Pictures or Studio Bones animated One Piece. The pacing in Toei Animation's adaptation is abysmal. Sucks that the animation is so trash but the soundtrack is great.

☠ Hancock is best girl

☠ EVERYONE'S BACKSTORIES MAKE ME WANNA CRY ALL THE DAMN TIME. LIKE SOMETIMES IM JUST CHILLING AND HAVING GOOD TIME AND THEN MY BRAIN GOES "Hey, do you that time when [character's name] had to starve for 60 days?"

☠ Sanji's abilities make no sense

☠ wHERE IS SHANKSSS?

☠ At first quarter of the story, they kept reminding us that Luffy was made out of rubber and I kept thinking of "mY NEN IS MADE OUT OF THE PROPERTIES OF GUM AND RUBBER. BUNNNGEEE GUMMM"

☠ Opening 15 is my favourite

☠ Luffy's great. It's nice to care about a battle shonen protagonist that isn't Edward, Gon, or Asta for once.

☠ Hancock is best girl

☠ Okay ngl almost every black-haired female in this looks the same

☠ I need someone who looks at me the same way Nami looks at money

☠ One Piece is surprisingly really funny. I love it's stupid and simple humour

☠ But like the running jokes keep getting recycled again and again and yea I'm low-key tired of them. Sometimes it's funny sometimes I wish Oda would just change it up

☠ Hancock is best girl

☠ I really like this series. 9/10

☠ I'm tired. I'm gonna go sleep now. Byee