Animation Spotlight: One Piece
To be perfectly honest, I haven’t been doing much gaming lately… instead I’ve been having a HUGE (HUEG LIEK XBOX!) anime marathon, I decided to re-watch one of my favourite anime straight from its first episode all the way to the latest episode that’s been released in Japan… episode 397. I have been doing this for a few weeks now and all I can really say is FUCK YEAH!! ONE PIECE!!
Okay, maybe I can say a little more than just that lol. How about I share with some of you who haven’t really bothered to look into One Piece or haven’t realised its awesomeness just why it’s such a great anime and why it’s one of my absolute favourites…
The man who created the manga known as One Piece is Eiichiro Oda, a man inspired by Vikings and various pirates throughout history. After many years of developing a story called “Romance Dawn” he finally released the first chapter of One Piece in the Weekly Shounen Jump magazine on the 4th of August, 1997. Over 500 chapters have been released since then and the manga is still on-going. It is currently rated as the third most popular manga in Japan. Not only that but volume 27 of the manga holds the record of most copies sold in Japan with 2,630,000 units sold in its first printing alone and is also the fastest selling manga to reach 1,000,000 units sold. So with all those numbers and facts flying around in this paragraph, you can probably tell by now that it’s pretty damn popular in Japan… and has quite a following outside of Japan too. (Though you should probably note that those facts are probably a little out of date at the moment lol)
The great popularity the One Piece manga gained in its first year spurred on a direct to video feature in 1998 and then on the 20th of October, 1999, the anime TV series of One Piece aired its first episode. It’s almost 10 years from that day and the TV series is heading into its 400th episode in May.
So now that we have all that out of the way, I can go on to how I came across One Piece, what drew me in and made it one of my most favourite anime ever.
I actually stumbled upon One Piece quite a few years ago by accident while looking for images of a totally different anime on the net. The first thing that struck me was its unique art style, which to me, was totally crazy and fun compared to the cookie cutter anime art styles I had been seeing at the time. It was something new, something fresh… something I couldn’t take my eyes off of. I ended up searching for more One Piece art and the more I found, the more excited I got! Each image was crazier and more fun than the last! I had to find out exactly what all this was about! What the hell is One Piece?
I finally managed to download a few episodes of it from the net a couple of months later after collecting a tonne of art. What I discovered was an anime that seemed to completely know what I wanted out of an anime: Humour, adventure, hot chicks and lots of surprises and truly epic moments. With each episode of the anime I watched I knew that what I was watching would become a favourite, however it never truly hit me until I reached the Arlong arc… those of you who have watched One Piece will know what I mean, for those of you who haven’t… The best way to describe that group of episodes is that it’s the first time the Straw Hat Pirate crew truly comes together to save one of their own. It’s also one of the many times in the series where you will be hit with a very tragic back story on a specific character that highlights their motivations and allows you to understand them on a deeper level.
The world in which One Piece is set doesn’t fail to impress either, and the story is set in such a way that with each new chapter of the journey you and the Straw Hat Pirates will discover something totally new and different from their last adventure. Each member of the crew has their own dream they want to follow and together they’ve been through some pretty amazing things.
Now that I’ve caught up with the latest episodes of the anime, I’m running around in circles waiting for each new episode to be released each week. I want to see Luffy become the Pirate King, Zoro becoming the strongest swordsman in the world, Nami drawing a map of the entire world, Usopp becoming a brave warrior of the sea, Sanji finding All Blue, Chopper becoming a great Doctor who can cure any disease, Robin finding the Rio Poneglyph, Franky building his dream ship and Brook finally keeping his promise to Laboon.
I’ve come to love each member of the Straw Hat crew and while this series has been going on for well over 10 years now, there will be an ending… I can’t wait to see it when it comes and to discover who things turn out… but at this point, there are still many adventures left to be had.
And with that, I think I’m all typed out for today… but I would still like to keep on discussing it with people in the community. I know that there’s a One Piece thread in the general forum but how about we make this the official One Piece fan hangout for Twilight Lynk?… not that you guys have a choice lol.
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The great popularity the One Piece manga gained in its first year spurred on a direct to video feature in 1998 and then on the 20th of October, 2009, the anime TV series of One Piece aired its first episode. It's almost 10 years from that day and the TV series is heading into its 400th episode in May.
@ hawkAnyway, since we're talking One Piece... I want to share something that I think everyone must witness... Luffy singing XD
Sanji became one of my favourites as soon as he was introduced, but after the Arabasta arc, when he appeared as Mr. Prince, he quickly became my favourite fictional character. Ever. He is just so greatly realized, and I adore all that he stands for. ^^
You shouldn't have to wait for the Anime, Lynk, read the manga. All the cool kids are doing it.
I think he's gotten so sick of the both of us trying to tell/show him how awesome it is.I can't really choose a favourite character (lol, what's new)... I really do like all the Straw Hats for different reasons and they all make me laugh XD plus they're all given their awesome moments which makes it even harder to decide.
As for the anime and manga. I've watched all the anime but I'm only upto the end of Skypeia with the manga. To be honest I'm more of a fan of the anime than the manga cause there are certain things the anime can do that the mange can't... for example, Luffy's singing, that is just pure gold. Plus they have awesome comic timing in the anime, it's great! I still do read the manga when I can, but the priority is the anime.
That still cracks me up when he asked Brook and Camie that question.
Also... another thing that MUST be posted...
It's always fun when I do fall behind with the series. Then I get to watch a number of One Piece episodes in one sitting. Just watched 4 episodes in the past two days and they were great. I can't wait until Boa Hancock introduction, which is still a number of episodes away.
Much further down the road, the return of Crocodile and Clay.
It was really hard watching Luffy's reaction at the end of ep 405...
But it was extremely interesting to see Kuma do what he did... and that one moment where he whispered to Rayleigh...
Everyone. Yeah I like One Piece as well. I wish I got it on TV where I live. Some places do--but not my network.
Only gripe about the anime is how massive the series is and yet the voice actors have all changed (as have producing companies) for America from time to time and for one section of episodes to another which is a real shame. This series deserves way better. Also censoring: I.E. Instead of one character (frankie or luffy) a gun in one episode in Japanese, It was replaced with a large maillot.
I do have one of the movies on DVD. I was considering buying the manga.
Originally One Piece was picked up by a company called "4Kids" who happen to be the same folks who used to dub the Pokemon anime series. They applied all of the edits to the series and were even proud of it even though they were aware of all the hate that was coming their way because of it. Every One Piece fan boycotted the series and eventually 4Kids gave up on it.
Luckily, another company called "FUNimation" the folks who are famous for dubbing Dragonball Z (etc) picked it up. They've released the series on DVD complete and uncut and have also got the Japanese tracks on them.
It's not a real shame cause FUNimation didn't butcher the series like 4Kids and actually did the series some good. 4Kids was the one who did all the cenosring, FUNimation was the one who ended that bullshit and saved the series.
Manga Spoiler
I never thought Ace would die. I expected Whitebeard to fall during this battle, but Ace being killed while protecting Luffy? Quite surprising since anime series like One Piece isn't known for killing characters off. Still, Ace's death should progress the story and I personally don't have a problem with it even though I liked Ace. Blackbeard's appearance was expected. I wasn't sure how he would gain the upper hand, but stealing Whitebeard's power would do that.
Shanks made his appearance at last. I wonder how he'll end the three way battle between Blackbeard Pirates, Whitebeard Pirates and the Navy. We'll find out in the coming weeks.
Anime Spoiler
The series is following the manga well. Adding a couple of series to obviously delay the anime series from catching up with the manga, but the added scenes with Buggy and Mr. 3 have been welcome additions or they could had been in the manga, but I don't remember their comical climb back to Level 2 ever being in the manga. So, I could be wrong. Regardless, I hope when One Piece does return to fillers, it will show what the rest of the crew been up to. That wouldn't exactly be fillers either.
I love the fact that Mr. 2 is back. I also love seeing Crocodile back in action. You can't deny the fact Crocodile's power is quite cool. In general, it's great to see old villains and allies back in the picture after all this time. I'm just watching for the grand battle to take place between Whitebeard and the Navy. That should be quite a spectacle animated.
Oh, I absolutely adore Kaze wo Sagashite, the current One Piece theme.
Yeah, the moment Bon-chan returned was so awesome, and it's cool that Crocodile has teamed up with Luffy... though I'm wondering what Crocodile's big secret is.... the fact that it's coming from Ivan is interesting.... considering how he has the power to turn men into women and women into men................. was Crocodile a woman?!
I really want to see what has happened to the rest of the crew as well. Kuma sent them all to places where they could learn the most (and Zoro to where he could get help for his injuries)... I'm also interested to learn what Kuma's true motives are considering he disobeyed orders and spared the Straw-hat crew.
Kuma's motivations remain hidden. Though, you will see him shortly in the anime again, but nothing is expected.
Personally, the series is going to be force to air filler episodes again. I would like the fillers to be episodes involving the rest of the Straw Hat crew. It's not like it can't be done since they already have shown fillers episodes about the crew since being sent to different locations by Kuma. Not sure where they're going to begin showing fillers episodes again. After the escape of Impel Down or after the grand battle between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Navy? We'll find out shortly.
I'm also wondering if another character will become a member of the Straw Hat crew. There's quite a number of possibilities. Currently, I do feel Jimbei, Hancock or Crocodile have the possibility of ending up joining the crew. Of course, there's also the possibility of no character joining the crew, too.
The anime is quite interesting. A good scene is coming up soon, but still mainly looking forward to the grand battle. Blackbeard seems to be down for the count, but we both known that's not the case. I did like how Magellan just took him down without even bothering to discuss the issue. He does have a extremely lethal devil fruit power.
I hope we don't have to see what each character been doing these past two years to get stronger.
I mean, it... I... her... she... look... so................ what was I saying?...
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/5876/0607l.jpg
EDIT:
It's been so long since I last saw this bit... but fuck... it's still as epic as the first time I saw it...
Right now they've released up to 54 volumes with the 55th volume on the way. So they're not actually that far behind... right now Japan is up to volume 59 with the 60th volume being formed (and the series coming up to chapter 600, woot).
On the anime front... I'm still going to watch it online and wait till there's a Blu-ray release of the series... THEN I'm gonna buy into that. Not buying the DVD releases... plus the DVD release is fucking slow. It's only up to the Arlong arc, gah.
It appears Hancock won't be joining the crew as she helped the Straw Hats start their journey to Fishman Island. So, that's two possible new members removed in Crocodile and Hancock. No idea if Jibei will join, but at this point I doubt it, also don't believe his presence is need. Of course, he could simply join to be fisherman of the crew, but we'll see.
Oh, it's good to see Sanji, Zoro and Luffy destroy a Pacifista after having a lot of trouble with them during their first encounter.
Also, I'm digging all the new appears of the crew.
Nami with long hair is awesome.
Franky is freakishly large at this point. His arms are massive. Not digging the bold look though. I wish he kept the stylish hair.
Everyone else just looks quite good. Upgrades from their old appearances.
I won't though. I don't care how good it is.
Funimation is as bad as Fox with not promoting their shows and abandoning them when the sales aren't as good as they want. It's sad, but Funimation's creative side is second to none. Their marketing side, though, could sell water to a man dieing of thirst in the desert... but that's about it.
They really don't promote any of their DVDs and I guess rely on word of mouth for their sales.
So whatever. I'm not watching One Piece only to get into it and have Funimation decide they aren't going to continue releasing the show when something else new and shiny comes along.
/disgruntled rant
First, they take the anime that they can market to the more "casual" cartoon TV channel audience and then they market them through channels like Cartoon Network. However there aren't really THAT many anime that are accessible or accepted that way.
That is why they have another side to their marketing... to appeal to the more "hardcore" anime audience they do something VERY interesting. They put up subbed versions of anime such as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, One Piece and soon the new Last Exile series and air them on the same day that that particular anime is being aired in Japan. That's brilliant and it just goes to show you that they KNOW their audience and how to appeal to them.
The success FUNimation has gotten from their marketing is very OBVIOUS. Why is it obvious?... Well they're the only ones standing aren't they. Out of the big anime companies that existed in the late 90s and early 2000s, they're the only ones who were smart enough to realise that spreading themselves too thin will only hurt them.
The problem is that most people who watch anime outside of Japan are people who are pretty into it, enough to go out of their way to download fansubs of it. The way FUNimation is playing things is to compete in that sort of media environment where piracy is king and actual industry is the minority.
Why market in traditional forms to people who aren't going to buy your media anyway? It's pointless and it's the reason why companies like ADV are DEAD.
As for shows that get discontinued, you do realise that it when an anime is acquired it's only done so for a short period of time and that they have to renew their contract with the companies in Japan to keep selling that particular series (even more if you want to market it or do anything extra special with it like creating a special edition that's different from what the Japanese got).
FUNi has acquired quite a lot of niche anime over its time and that's a great thing, but that's the problem, they're NICHE anime that only have a small audience. When they acquire an anime they're giving those people a chance to own that anime but this is a business we're talking about, not a charity. If the anime in question isn't selling any more, why the fuck would they keep renewing the contract with the Japanese to have it in their catalogue? It's a waste of money... money which could be better spent buying the next big thing or the next niche anime that may or may not become big.
Now as for the relationship between One Piece and FUNimation... One Piece is HUGE and FUNimation aren't going to let it go. Unlike the niche anime I was talking about earlier, One Piece is a sure bet for One Piece even though at this stage FUNi isn't making any money out of One Piece.
Basically, as I mentioned before, the most FUNi is doing with One Piece at the moment is that they're airing new episodes on their web site on the same day that new episode is aired on Japanese TV.
Otherwise their DVD release of it are pretty limited... but hey, why complain? They've been giving us the show each week for free for quite a long time now.
When they do finally release the DVD (or for me, the Blu-ray) collections, I'm gonna be all like "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!" to them. With all they've done to get the series out to us, they really do deserve it.
So.... *points @ Bob* FUCKING WATCH ONE PIECE!!
Yea, I know about everything you said, but I'm unhappy and needed to vent. It was either here or on Funi's site. I chose here where you know me and it's "safe." Really didn't mean to get you all riled up.
Well it doesn't make sense to damn One Piece for what you think of FUNimation.Plus I made valid points
The other anime companies of old are dead because they kept on wasting money and not focusing their efforts like FUNimation has.Manga spoiler
Outside of Luffy, everyone else basically destroyed the New Fishermen Pirates without much trouble. Heck, Jones need a drug just to even compete with Luffy and the rest of his crew got destroyed even when they "powered up". Still curious if Jinbei going to end up joining the crew.
Anyway, did a massive watching of One Piece today. Great stuff as usual. Older Nami animated was quite a pleasure to see! Just amazing we're just at the half way mark. A lot of One Piece to go.
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