𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐠

6 months ago I started watching One Piece as basically the first anime I've sat down and gave a REAL try. I've now made it to the timeskip 500 episodes in. Here's all my thoughts so far: (LONG POST) PROS: - When I first started, I did not think for even a SECOND I would become so attached to a crew of characters. At times it legitimately feels like you're part of this group on their adventure. Idk how to describe it, I just love them all so much - The show is about as "epic" as I imagined an anime would be, but there are certain moments it surpasses all my expectations in the realm of combat and I think it's gonna get even crazier as I get into the later arcs - The comedic timing in this show is actually REALLY good. It is wayyyy funnier than I was ever expecting it to be and is one of my favorite things about it - The scale of adventure and detail put into the places they visit is truly insane. I'm always floored by how real the world feels from the details included all the time. It rarely feels like the world is just built around the main characters visiting somewhere, but like each place they go has an entirely established story to it already. - THE MUSIC in this show is my favorite part. I can't get over how beautiful, epic and incredible it is. From the openings to OST's during scenes... it's really really good. - The backstory's written in this story are it's bread and butter. Throughout the show your perspective is constantly altered on characters through their hardships growing up, and even at times will have you wrestling the morals in your head of "Well idk if this guy is bad or his upbringing just made him this way". It makes you instinctively question every big character you meet early on which is really fascinating - The writing is truly the best I've ever seen overall. Mr Oda's ability to weave together storylines from things you wouldn't expect, add emotional depth to almost every detail and build character development is unlike anything I've seen. I am CONSTANTLY blown away with how plot points connect and even moreso, how important they always feel. I mean this with full glaze. My biggest example is the sky giants/Luffy cloud at the end of Skypiea. - Luffy doesn't do inner-monologues. That's a huge pet peeve of mine in other animes I tried or seen clips of. I am so happy it's not in this show lol - The show is just FUN. It's colorful, it's unique in its characters and settings and it constantly gives you reasons to remember why its the best adventure ever told. - The show has changed the way I think about stuff sometimes. Luffy's ability to change your perspective and attitude on certain aspects of life transcends his actions in the show and comes through the screen. His character is the greatest I've ever seen written, truly. I don't know if anyone will ever top him imo. - I think if you're someone who is looking for a world to get lost in, are willing to REALLY sink your teeth into a grand story and can give it a chance to cook while starting off; there's simply no way you'll ever regret watching. - While the show is LONG, many times when big moments that have been built up over 50-100 episodes finally happen... I honestly think the length of the journey to get there makes it even more enjoyable. Might be a cope but I REALLY don't mind how long this show is so long as the payoffs for it's length remain worth it! (See CONS for a bit more explanation though) - Nico Robin (my wife) - Chopper (my son) - - - - - - - - - - - - CONS: As much as I ended up LOVING this show, I can't say it's PERFECT, as there are aspects I don't love. - The length. Now, when I say the length of the show is long... that's not actually a con. WHO WOULDN'T WANT MORE EPISODES OF THEIR FAV SHOW??! I think the biggest issue this show has when it comes to length/pacing is just the amount of time it takes to accomplish stuff at certain times. Now, there are definitely times where the pacing is bad (overly drawn out facial reactions, the same action but different shots over and over, etc) but I think what I've noticed is sometimes tasks like fights or traveling will take a little too long. There will be times they're fighting the same enemy (like Oars on T.B) or traveling places (Alabasta desert) where multiple episodes could easily be meshed into like 2. And if that was done throughout the show, it would probably be like 20% shorter in total, which is still long and holds my point of journey enjoyment, while keeping every episode fresh and exciting. I'm aware of One Pace, and I personally have no problem with people using it. I think a dedicated fan project of that size is awesome and many ppl I know have only ever tried OP at all because of it, I just want to have the full-experience (good and bad) of the main show as my first :) - There is a constant perversion bit that comes up every so often with characters like Sanji, Brook and others which I just really don't like. When it's villains like Absolom I can just hate and move on, but when it's people in the main crew doing it too, especially to fellow crew members, it just gives me an odd feeling. Definitely my biggest con. - The show is definitely gooned out at times, especially in the character designs; and I'm aware it only gets worse with more recent Toei animation. Now ofc I'm not opposed to hot anime women being on my screen, but I just pray it doesn't get too egregious down the road where anything just feels straight up unwatchable on the living room TV kind of thing lol - SO MUCH happens in this show it can be a bit overwhelming at times to try and keep track of it all. As I'm tweeting my journey (I don't read a majority of my posts to stay spoiler free) but there are times I'll see comments like "Dude how did you not post about this one moment??" and its like... there are 800 other things that just happened man idk sometimes its hard to notice every single detail but I'm trying my best! 😭 - - - - - - - - - - - - People might ask, so here's a quick list of my absolute FAVORITE moments in the show: #1 - Ending of Lucci vs Luffy as he yells to Robin #2 - Robin "I want to live" #3 - Luffy shadow in the sky reveal at end of Skypiea #4 - Luffy to Nami "I'll always be your friend" Arlong P. #5 - Luffy punch celestial dragon - Brook singing Bink's Sake with Straw Hats - Luffy "shut up and come with us" Chopper Drum Is. - Luffy 3rd Alabasta fight vs Croc - Hands up X for Vivi Alabasta departure - Merry's goodbye montage - Bon Clay reunite with Luffy in Impel Down - Luffy flying into Marineford from the sky - Luffy saving Ace and the two reunite - Ace, Sabo and Luffy working together montage There's prob tons more but these are top of mind my favorites/most impactful (pls dont' be one of those "WHERE IS ???" ppl lol) - - - - - - - - - - - - OVERALL: The show has become a HUGE part of my life which I never expected. I love it so much, I've cried more watching it than anything in my life before. The community has been SO welcoming and nice on this journey. I even started trying something I've wanted to for years which is make video reviews for content, and they've done so well which I owe all to OP and you guys for being so cool so ty!!! I really can't wait to be caught up with everyone so I can actually start interacting with more of you all on here and talk about characters, lore, theories, etc 😌

Monkey D. Luffy stuns at the #MetGala