One Piece (Anime)

One Piece (TV series). Toei Entertainment, 1999-present. English version released by Funimation Entertainment, 2007.

What’s it about?

Monkey D. Luffy ate a gum-gum fruit when he was younger, which gave his body such extreme elasticity; he is a nearly unbeatable pirate. Will this be enough for him to become the King of the Pirates?

Find out more:

Right before he is executed, the King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger, utters the location of the greatest treasure of all time.  The treasure is known as the “One Piece,” and it promises endless riches and success. Naturally, an arms race among pirates ensues, with an unlikely contender for the title of Pirate King--Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, the hero of the show, doesn’t seem like a pirate at all. He’s not a villainous, ugly, lecherous, murderous thug, and looks like a lightweight. Despite his slight physique, however, he is a force to be reckoned with on the sea. This is because when he was a kid, he ate a gum- gum fruit, which transformed him into an elastic boy. His body is able to easily deflect (and inflict) harm. The first few episodes show him recruiting his oddball crew, dubbed the “Straw Hat Pirates.”

This anime is exciting and action packed. The humor is broad, and sometime slapstick. Some of the funniest aspects are due to character design and skilled animation. Monkey D. Luffy reminds me a bit of Peter Pan, with his bravado and exuberant personality and unexpected fighting abilities (and maybe also because there are pirates involved.) Like Peter Pan, he has a melancholy side when he remembers his childhood hero Shanks. His ubiquitous straw hat, in fact, belonged to Shanks, and when he nearly loses it, the viewer is drawn into a sometimes poignant flashback sequence that gives a lot of backstory information and adds complexity to Luffy’s character. This anime is a great one to recommend to tween boys; there is broad comedy, creative action sequences, likeable heroes, and despicable villains. Both the manga and anime can be appreciated by girls because of the quality and humor, but this is not an anime that will typically hook shojo fans.

Genre: Shonen, Action/adventure, Comedy

Interest level: Grades 5 - 9

Is there a manga?

Yes, the manga is currently has 64 volumes (in Japanese) and 59 volumes translated into English (volume 59 will be released in early December). And more One Piece is on the way!

Subjects: Pirates, Treasure, Exploration

Rating: TV-14 (this rating is unwarranted, from what I saw; there was very mild language and a scene where a character loses his arm. This scene wasn’t graphic, though).

Dub or Sub? The dub was pretty poor quality. During a recent anime club screening at my library, audience members were making fun of the dub, which featured some embarrassingly overacted scenes. Midway through the screening, I asked if the Japanese audio with subtitles would be preferred. Everyone voted yes! Please!! The subbed version was much better. Once the subs came on, the audience started laughing at the jokes, not the poor acting.

Series information:

If you’re a new fan, it’s going to take you awhile to catch up: there are over 500 episodes of One Piece to date.

Similar anime and manga titles:

Naruto

DragonBall Z

Bleach

Shaman King