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Get back to watching One Piece

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bateszi
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One Piece. Oh, man. Where do I start.

I had it on hold for nearly a year but my conscience was nagging at me that whole time.
Get back to watching One Piece.
Get back to watching One Piece.
This isn’t a series I can just breeze through, though. I care about these characters. I’m fascinated by this story. When I’m watching One Piece, it basically takes over my life. I have to stop watching everything else because I can’t stop thinking about it.
It’s my favourite anime.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy and admire a lot of other series, but very few of them have this impact on me. I really, honestly, love this show, and I’m glad to have it back.
400 episodes in and it just keeps getting better. Writing this now, I can’t believe that I’ve actually managed to watch 400 episodes of the same flipping show. It hardly feels that long.
Episode 405 is what brought us here, again. Luffy sees his whole crew, his best friends, ostensibly killed in front of his very own eyes. Rendered impotent by Bartholomew Kuma’s power, all he can do is despair as his friends are whipped away from him, one by one.
One Piece is a desperate story. In scenes like these, I always think back to Nami’s struggle against Arlong. Her body language in that scene when she breaks down, when she’s screaming at Luffy to leave her alone, scraping her nails along the ground, trying to push him away. It’s one of the most painful, visceral moments of anime I can remember.
When the Straw Hats lose something, they are not dignified. They care too much to take it lying down. They cry, they scrape, they scream. Luffy is not a calm person. He loses almost everything he loves in this episode and he fights against it with every ounce of his waining strength.
No matter that things seem to be going badly wrong, what one gets from this episode, above all else, is that it would be great to have a friend like him.

Yeah, I’m glad to be back watching One Piece.

20 responses to “Get back to watching One Piece”

  1. Dogmeat26 Avatar
    Dogmeat26

    This is my favorite series too! I’ve read the manga and I still enjoy watching it animated despite knowing what happens. I wish I could bring myself to stop reading and just wait for the episodes.

    Reply
    1. bateszi Avatar
      bateszi

      I’m often tempted to read the manga (even more so with Naruto,) but the quality of One Piece’s anime adaptation has never let me down.

      Reply
  2. Kim Avatar
    Kim

    I am the same way with this series but with the manga. I always fall behind and then catch up and then wonder why I didn’t catch up sooner. Although I do feel One Piece is better appreciated in bulk than one chapter at a time. 🙂

    Reply
    1. bateszi Avatar
      bateszi

      Probably. I’m always amused when I’m watching an episode of One Piece and notice that a new episode takes a really slow 5 minutes to even begin due to an extended opening theme (it’s around 3 minutes!) and an extensive recap! Watching it weekly like this would be… frustrating! (Nice to see you commenting as well, Kim 🙂 )

      Reply
      1. Necromancer Avatar
        Necromancer

        It certainly can be frustrating, especially with the last 2 eps being 95% or more recap! I would’ve prefered some filler before ep 459, next week is the start of more epic events!
        @Kim: I don’t think keeping up with both mediums is that difficult, though I skipped all the manga before Enies Lobby since I’d just caught up to there in the anime at the time.

        Reply
  3. gaguri Avatar
    gaguri

    I don’t think I like One Piece as much as you or Kim, but yea it’s still great. Like Kim I read the manga, and I intentionally fall behind now and then so I can read about 100 chapters at one go! (just more satisfying for me that way). I remember dropping the anime version back then because the first few episodes were very bad (maybe having read the manga first didn’t help). Do you follow the manga as well as the anime episodes?

    Reply
    1. bateszi Avatar
      bateszi

      I’m following just the anime, which gets off a slow start, really. I guess the problem is that it’s just quicker to read the manga than watch those first 4 or 5 episodes, but I’d really recommend you go back and give it another go. Considering how monotone and realistic a lot of contemporary series try to be, the colours in One Piece, not to mention the really outlandish settings, are something that you’d especially enjoy. One of the coolest things about it is that, in terms of anime as a medium, OP is visually creative and just looks vastly different to everything else out there right now.

      Reply
  4. Kim Avatar
    Kim

    @Gaguri
    I was only about 15 chapters behind, wow 100 that’s a lot to catch up with.
    Anyways I personally enjoyed the anime (the seiyuu performances were wonderful) but I found keeping up with the manga was easier so I stuck with that in the end. The series is too long to keep up with both mediums I think.

    Reply
    1. Celeste Avatar
      Celeste

      I’m… 3 years behind? So I suppose about 156(?) chapters behind, give or take. I appreciate manga art and therefore generally follow the manga, but I can see how One Piece would work better as an anime in many ways. Eiichiro Oda’s use of perspective makes for lively animation.

      Reply
      1. bateszi Avatar
        bateszi

        I’ll watch Avatar if you watch One Piece 🙂

        Reply
        1. Celeste Avatar
          Celeste

          what?! totally unfair deal! Avatar is like… 60? episodes long, and One Piece is at 400!
          …
          Throw in Bakemonogatari on your end, and I’ll consider the offer again.
          ..
          Also posts. If you will blog Avatar (and if you start, you will), consider the deal done.
          [edit] Also. I’ve read a decent portion of the manga, and frankly will never find the space to acquire all of One Piece – if you can tell me from what episode the Water 7 arc stars, I’ll go from there.

          Reply
          1. Necromancer Avatar
            Necromancer

            Water 7 starts at ep 229: The Running Sea Train and the Water Capital, Water Seven, about 50% of the current eps to get through after that!

          2. bateszi Avatar
            bateszi

            Okay, I’ll add Bakemonogatari, and, of course, will try to write something about both series (if Avatar’s as epic as everyone makes it seem on Twitter, I’m expecting to be affected in the same way that E7 hit me.) I’ve actually already seen the first 6 to 10 episodes of Avatar; I started watching it last year, but fell of the wagon for no good reason, but I’m going to try again, though, with renewed determination. Slow and steady.

          3. Celeste Avatar
            Celeste

            Alright, done. Also, the best way to go into Avatar is with no expectations – while the comparison with E7 is merited in many ways (aimed at young childen but surprisingly mature and imaginative, etc.) the cultural context, therefore the final product are entirely different.

  5. qwertypoiuy Avatar
    qwertypoiuy

    ((I’m fascinated by this story. When I’m watching One Piece, it basically takes over my life. ))
    yes yes & yes
    oh man,this episode was unbelievable
    I’m really glad that I’m one of the lucky people who got to love onepiece because of the feelings it stirs up in me & I don’t want to miss those feelings out of my life
    Oda just keeps doing it & doing it,how the hell does he do it

    Reply
    1. bateszi Avatar
      bateszi

      He’s just great. He’s created a story and a world here that’s just wonderful to explore.

      Reply
  6. One Piece, or when the anime is better than the manga | Bateszi Anime Blog

    […] I start, a preamble: One Piece is a great anime. Ever since our little agreement a month back I’ve been tackling the series, from 229 onwards at a pace of about 3 or so […]

    Reply
  7. axl456 Avatar
    axl456

    I just finished reading all of the one piece manga chapters and am really mad because i’ve being missing this amazing manga for the past 10 years and glad because now I know this excelent manga exists and am up to date xD
    I wanna ask something, now that I’m already up to date with the manga, am starting to watch the anime but the first 25 episodes are really lame, the quality is poor, and the animation is bad..
    I would like to now from what episode to start the anime, what would you recommend??
    i would like to watch from the moment the anime begin to be faithful to the intense emotion that the manga gave you while reading (for example the part when nico robin scream “i wanna live” to the crew almost makes me cry!)

    Reply
    1. bateszi Avatar
      bateszi

      I’d start from the Arlong Park story arc, which is around episode 31. Good luck, man! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Leandrit Ferizi Avatar
    Leandrit Ferizi

    How many years have passed from this article and One Piece is still going strong.

    Reply

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