Dec 18, 2023
I hope this review of One Piece gets straight to the point:
One Piece, a show that has cemented itself into the anime community by becoming the Big Three of the 2000s Era, merchandise, figurines, video games, cultures and many more areas that brought fans together and spreading the greatness of the show to outsiders who would only know the show as "that one show that have been airing since the year 1999 without over a 1,000 episodes".
Like many, there are thoughts that have gone through when I first thought about the show including but not limited to "how could this show be considered a
...
fictional masterpiece for its fans when there are over 1,000 episodes that needs to be caught up?" or "It's too much of a task to do this." Regardless of whether you have these train of thought or not, it is understandable to think like that but this should never be a barrier to entry to watch decades of well-thought out characters, stories and insane world-building by Eiichiro Oda himself and I sincerely mean it when listing those points.
There may be other complaints, for example, the dated quality of animation during the preliminary episodes of the show but it should not be a point of worry as the animation gradually improves on 200 episodes later, then sooner or later, if memory serves me right, the post-time skip that occurred after Episode 517 is an improvement but this does not compare when reaching arguably the most critically-acclaimed arc of One Piece, being the Wano Country Arc (if you are a fan of Japanese history, samurai and aesthetics, prepare your popcorns and get comfortable with the longest arc ever). Another complaint lodged is the horrendous pacing when the anime purposefully extends certain scenes from the manga that has become a point of ridicule by fans online but this can be resolved with a fan re-edit with the help of One Pace -- although some fans may call you a "fake fan" but don't worry too much about it, you found a better way to have fun and escape the torture that most went through.
Additionally, even though this is a minor positive detail that has kept me watching the show, if you are a fan of "How will they overcome this?" or "What will they do? They are screwed!" trope device that has played out in JoJo Bizzare's Adventure for 6 seasons, this same trope is also used in situations that may be the end for the adventure with the accompanying "to be continued" title card when things are about to get in the epitome of excitement. Fillers, a bane to old Shonen as they are, there are certain fillers that is recommended that ties in to movies that should be watched to extend the pre-existing enjoyment. Personally, I watched the Uta Past Arc to watch the One Piece Film: Red. If you want only action with almost every character in one movie, watch One Piece: Stampede. You won't regret it. Lastly, I recommend to watch till Arlong Park or the end of Arabasta Saga before making the decision on whether to continue or drop One Piece as they are arguably the foundation that One Piece lies on and especially who Luffy really is as the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates when one of his crewmates, Nami is under the manipulative control of Arlong from her childhood until she met Luffy. If you don't enjoy it, you can do the latter.
In order, these are the arcs/saga that should be looked forward to:
• Arlong Park Arc
• Arabasta Saga
• Water 7 Arcs
• Enies Lobby Arc
• Impel Down Arc
• Marineford Arc
• Dressrosa Arc
• Whole Cake Island Arc
• Levely Arc
• Wano Country Arc
The show is a 10/10 from here on out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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