Why One Piece is SO worth it

Anyone who knows anything about anime has more than likely heard of One Piece. Heck, even if you don't watch anime, you might've seen it playing on Toonami in the early 2000s.

Unfortunately, I was not one of those kids. But when I did get into anime in my early teens, One Piece was one of the first animes I'd ever heard of. It was kind of impossible to avoid it. I had a friend introduce me to it when I was around 14 or 15. And of course, the hundreds of episodes put me off a bit. I was so used to animes only having one or two seasons, so you could understand my hesitation into watching a show that would take a very long time for me to catch up with.

Upon my first episode, the strongest memory I have was being absolutely floored by what happened in the opening. I wasn't necessarily alarmed by the general premise. The pirate Gold Roger left behind a great treasure, and upon his death, everyone began seeking it out and becoming pirates themselves. It made sense. No, what freaked me out, was the Sea Kings. Giant sea monsters that called the great big ocean their home. That was what gave me such a visceral reaction. I still don't know why, but then again, I hadn't really gained the knowledge from watching enough anime that I have now, which is basically this: Everything you think you know, forget it. Abandon any kind of common sense, because in the One Piece world, anything goes.

The main character, the star of the show, Monkey D. Luffy, gained his magical rubber abilities by eating a Devil Fruit in exchange for his ability to swim, which, in a world mostly covered in water, is a risky trade-off. He gains his crew just by being himself. He's an idiot, but a loveable idiot, and he is always willing to go through hell and back to save his friends, no matter how dangerous it gets. And you see that not too long into the show itself: He is joined by a navigator, but that navigator, at the time, had loyalties that lied elsewhere. At first, she was only motivated by the treasure that she stole from pirates like Luffy. But even as she betrayed him and took his ship, he still went after her because she was his friend, and he wouldn't give up a friend so easily. When it was revealed that she only stole treasure to buy back her village, which was under constant threat by the fishman Arlong, Luffy fought to free the village from his reign of terror, all because Nami asked him, in an act of desperation, to help her.

This amazing show of loyalty from Luffy would not be the only one in the show, but damn if that isn't one hell of a hook to both the show itself, and to the character of Monkey D. Luffy.

He has a certain charisma that no one can deny. He might be a moron, and brutally honest at times, but it's his lovability, childlike innocence and carefree nature that earned the respect of not just the characters around him in the One Piece world, but also people in real life. In the words of the strongest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, "It's not a Devil Fruit, or some cheap trick... One by one, he turns the people around him into his allies. More than anyone else sailing these seas, that man possesses the most terrifying power." And he is 100% correct. Luffy managed to make allies, however temporary, out of not just one of the strongest pirate crews at the time, but even enemies that he's fought before. A pirate that he once defeated saved his life, if out of nothing but sheer respect. It's Luffy's stubbornness and will to keep fighting for his dream that has gotten him to over 1000 episodes (plus or minus filler episodes) and with a crew and allies that would follow him until the bitter end. It's Luffy's desire for not just freedom for himself but also for his friends and everyone around him that has made him into one of the most dangerous pirates in the One Piece world, but not for the reason you're thinking, which leads me to my next point.

Within both pirates and Marines alike, there are both good and bad. Marines are apart of the World Government, which is basically just... a government, but overseeing the entire world. Of course it's much more complex than that, but that's the basic idea. They exist to keep the peace and to enforce a rule intended to keep everyone safe. Problem is... that doesn't work very well. In actuality, the World Government is perfectly capable of committing horrifying atrocities that have been the downfall of several nations, and allowing certain appalling situations for innocent people to go unchecked and unaccounted. It's with this that we see a good chunk of One Piece take place, where Luffy and his dedication to fighting for freedom encourages these villages or countries to stand up and fight back. But, as I said, there are good Marines, just as there are bad Marines. There are those even within what would normally be the antagonists that see what Luffy is fighting for and, at the very least, hold some respect for that, if not just outright letting him do what he wants, or letting him go in the end, despite him being a 'threat'.

One would think that Marine = good, and pirate = bad, right? But in One Piece, there is so much more depth to it. There are characters (aside from the Straw Hats, of course) that you see them once and you think that's the end of it, but then they show up, hundreds of episodes later. There are countries with their own history and unique characters. Not to even mention the whole world-building that is still taking place, to this day. I've barely even scratched the surface on everything that One Piece is about.

One Piece, at first glance, is a silly pirate anime, and the 1000+ episodes is filled with God-knows-what. But if you take the time and make the effort to watch it, you will find a truly unique adventure that you wouldn't be able to find anywhere else. You will find dozens of characters with their own backstories and reasons why they are who they are. You will find scenes filled to the brim with pure emotion that will end up with you bawling like a baby. You will find friendship, loyalty, dedication, compassion, emotion like no other. As a writer myself, often foreshadowing can be completely unintentional, but what was intentional foreshadowing on Eiichiro Oda's part is absolutely masterful. In One Piece, there is storytelling like no other.

1000 episodes is a lot, and I understand that it's just too much for some. But the closer we get to the end, the more one thing is clear: It is SO worth it.

(All rights to both pictures and content information go to Eiichiro Oda, creator of One Piece)