Review: One Piece
As a fan of One Piece, I must blog about this awesome anime like I did for some other. But, One Piece is such an elaborate anime that there will be too much stuff to talk about, so I shall just give a very positive review on 6 main things I like about it.
Characters
One big reason why I love this anime so much is because it has lovable and interesting characters.
Straw Hat Crew
Its characters does not just consist of humans. It has abnormal things like a human-reindeer, walking skeleton and cyborg as well and their existence are all explained in the story. The following are my favourite characters:
Monkey D. Luffy
Luffy is the main character. He's a complete idiot who, like most shounen male lead, is a genius in battle. The thing about this character is that just looking at the little selfish things he do makes you angry, but he is such an idiot that you forgive him. And then he does something at the crucial moments that saves his allies from their despair and such, and you can't help but love him.
Nami
Nami is a semi-useless but important character. She's manipulative, money-minded but kind and responsible. Manipulative characters are fun to watch, and her past is the second saddest out of all the characters, in my opinion. Actually my favourite character. You get to see how completely useless and even hindering she is at first and then how she slowly becomes more and more powerful and confident until she can eventually hold her own battles.
Usopp
Usopp is an insecure liar who sucks at lying. He's somewhat idiotic and cowardly but when the time comes for it, he becomes powerful in his own ways. Though weak, his skillful use of his weapons makes him a survivable fighter. He used to be my favourite character, until Nami became more powerful. Like Nami, it's interesting to watch him grow stronger and his cowardice and insecurity just adds tons of funny moments to him.
Nico Robin
Robin is a quiet and independent woman. She's mostly lonely and untrusting at first until when the Straw Hat crew saved her from her greatest enemy, which was a really touching moment. I like her because she has a very interesting to watch power: Sprouting random hands out of surfaces. Even though she is powerful, she hardly has any battles. Anyway, she has the saddest past.
Relationships
In my opinion, the thing that is most awesome about this series is not the characters, the plot, the theme, or even the world. It is the characters' relationships with one another. They are so close together and go through so much that you really feel that they are there, existing. Also, I feel that Oda (the mangaka) makes it even better by giving small character moments and character interaction moments here and there. That gave a very rounded understanding of their friendship.
I feel that this video shows it all:
Themes
One Piece carries a lot of themes. The most prominent ones are false justice and the things people do for friendship. Then there are others like discrimination, living in the shadows, dreams, and so on. Though this seem insignificant, they actually adds depth and meaning to the show. One Piece will not be the same without these themes.
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Friends
The theme about friendship is what draws me in the most. This picture is a symbolisation of Robin finding hope when her friends rescue her.
Powers
In the One Piece world, there are many people who can fight really well, and there are mysterious fruits that give people powers, called 'Devil Fruits'. Luffy ate a Rubber Fruit and can thus stretch his body like a rubber. Chopper the reindeer ate a Human Fruit and became half a human and half a reindeer. Their powers are interesting, and my favourite power is Nami's weapon. She does not have extraordinary strength and such but her weapon ('Clima Tact') and knowledge of climates and weather makes her seem like she can cast magic.
The World
Map of the world
In my opinion, this is the second most interesting thing about this show. Oda has mapped out the whole One Piece world. As it is a pirate show, he planned the seas, created organisations, and just created a world so believable and exciting. The best part is it is a series about pirates having adventure, so viewers get to explore the world together with the characters. There are so many interesting things about this world, such as the hidden world history, mystical climates, myths that usually go answered, and lots of unknowns and stuff. And nothing is blamed on "coincidence". There are, however, some mysteries left unanswered, which is a good thing when used sparingly.
Anyway, the world is made up of many islands and each island is a new thing to explore. References are made to real-life places, such as Venice the sunken city being made into a place called "Water 7".
Water 7
Plot
I'll have to say, along with characters, relationships, themes, world, and powers, the plot is so well thought out. It flows and it's nice. A lot of emotions - not just sad ones, but happy ones too. Every arc just constantly keeps me on the edge, like I want to find out what happen next. And almost every arc ends so epicly. The Straw Hats almost always gain or lose something in each arc, so each arc is essential. Another interesting thing is that something small introduced in, say, episode 100, can suddenly become really important in episode 400. Everything is planned, at least it looks so.
That's it for my ramblimg/review about One Piece. Go watch.
Pictures from:
http://mi9.com/wallpaper/one-piece-free-wallpaper-straw-hat-crew_92952/
http://www.zerochan.net/48718
http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=43300&show=100
http://www.theotaku.com/worlds/onepieceguide/view/19589/usopp/
http://www.animecharactersdatabase.com/character.php?id=12441
http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Talk:Grand_Line
http://fluffybunnypwn.blogspot.sg/2011/04/new-writers.html
Characters
One big reason why I love this anime so much is because it has lovable and interesting characters.
Straw Hat Crew
Its characters does not just consist of humans. It has abnormal things like a human-reindeer, walking skeleton and cyborg as well and their existence are all explained in the story. The following are my favourite characters:
Monkey D. Luffy
Luffy is the main character. He's a complete idiot who, like most shounen male lead, is a genius in battle. The thing about this character is that just looking at the little selfish things he do makes you angry, but he is such an idiot that you forgive him. And then he does something at the crucial moments that saves his allies from their despair and such, and you can't help but love him.
Nami
Nami is a semi-useless but important character. She's manipulative, money-minded but kind and responsible. Manipulative characters are fun to watch, and her past is the second saddest out of all the characters, in my opinion. Actually my favourite character. You get to see how completely useless and even hindering she is at first and then how she slowly becomes more and more powerful and confident until she can eventually hold her own battles.
Usopp
Usopp is an insecure liar who sucks at lying. He's somewhat idiotic and cowardly but when the time comes for it, he becomes powerful in his own ways. Though weak, his skillful use of his weapons makes him a survivable fighter. He used to be my favourite character, until Nami became more powerful. Like Nami, it's interesting to watch him grow stronger and his cowardice and insecurity just adds tons of funny moments to him.
Nico Robin
Robin is a quiet and independent woman. She's mostly lonely and untrusting at first until when the Straw Hat crew saved her from her greatest enemy, which was a really touching moment. I like her because she has a very interesting to watch power: Sprouting random hands out of surfaces. Even though she is powerful, she hardly has any battles. Anyway, she has the saddest past.
Relationships
In my opinion, the thing that is most awesome about this series is not the characters, the plot, the theme, or even the world. It is the characters' relationships with one another. They are so close together and go through so much that you really feel that they are there, existing. Also, I feel that Oda (the mangaka) makes it even better by giving small character moments and character interaction moments here and there. That gave a very rounded understanding of their friendship.
I feel that this video shows it all:
Themes
One Piece carries a lot of themes. The most prominent ones are false justice and the things people do for friendship. Then there are others like discrimination, living in the shadows, dreams, and so on. Though this seem insignificant, they actually adds depth and meaning to the show. One Piece will not be the same without these themes.
<
Friends
The theme about friendship is what draws me in the most. This picture is a symbolisation of Robin finding hope when her friends rescue her.
Powers
In the One Piece world, there are many people who can fight really well, and there are mysterious fruits that give people powers, called 'Devil Fruits'. Luffy ate a Rubber Fruit and can thus stretch his body like a rubber. Chopper the reindeer ate a Human Fruit and became half a human and half a reindeer. Their powers are interesting, and my favourite power is Nami's weapon. She does not have extraordinary strength and such but her weapon ('Clima Tact') and knowledge of climates and weather makes her seem like she can cast magic.
The World
Map of the world
In my opinion, this is the second most interesting thing about this show. Oda has mapped out the whole One Piece world. As it is a pirate show, he planned the seas, created organisations, and just created a world so believable and exciting. The best part is it is a series about pirates having adventure, so viewers get to explore the world together with the characters. There are so many interesting things about this world, such as the hidden world history, mystical climates, myths that usually go answered, and lots of unknowns and stuff. And nothing is blamed on "coincidence". There are, however, some mysteries left unanswered, which is a good thing when used sparingly.
Anyway, the world is made up of many islands and each island is a new thing to explore. References are made to real-life places, such as Venice the sunken city being made into a place called "Water 7".
Water 7
Plot
I'll have to say, along with characters, relationships, themes, world, and powers, the plot is so well thought out. It flows and it's nice. A lot of emotions - not just sad ones, but happy ones too. Every arc just constantly keeps me on the edge, like I want to find out what happen next. And almost every arc ends so epicly. The Straw Hats almost always gain or lose something in each arc, so each arc is essential. Another interesting thing is that something small introduced in, say, episode 100, can suddenly become really important in episode 400. Everything is planned, at least it looks so.
That's it for my ramblimg/review about One Piece. Go watch.
Pictures from:
http://mi9.com/wallpaper/one-piece-free-wallpaper-straw-hat-crew_92952/
http://www.zerochan.net/48718
http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=43300&show=100
http://www.theotaku.com/worlds/onepieceguide/view/19589/usopp/
http://www.animecharactersdatabase.com/character.php?id=12441
http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Talk:Grand_Line
http://fluffybunnypwn.blogspot.sg/2011/04/new-writers.html
Labels: anime/manga