One Piece

I think I've already seen enough to take the liberty of rating this. First, I'll start with a brief comparison to the other endless anime sagas I’ve seen. We’ll start our comparison with the main characters. When I started watching Naruto, the guy in the orange jumpsuit was absolutely horrible, I couldn't stand him. But now everything is different, I've gradually grown to like him until he's become the character I watch it for. But the beginnings were hard times for us. With Bleach, I didn't overwhelmingly care for Ichigo in the beginning, but I didn't find him too terrible either, mostly just neutral, and that lasted until the final episodes – don't care if he dies, don't care if he wins. I just kind of watch. With Katekyō Hitman Reborn!, I hated Tsuna at the beginning because he kept yelling his "Tasukete!!!" and bawling and shaking. That's exactly the kind of character I just hate; luckily he's a loser with potential, so somehow he can already fight, but it'll take a long time for him to prove it. Now as time has progressed I only like Tsuna when he fights, it finally makes him look like a man. Outside of that, it seems to me that he just cowers, retreats, and occasionally says something about protecting his friends and blah blah blah. A typical representative of the shōnen genre. But here, my God Luffy, I fell in love with him in the first episode every which way. When he's fighting, when he's not fighting, when he's eating, when he's excited... Luffy is simply main character No. 1, and he's the reason I know One Piece was worth watching. But you know what's even better? That a character like this is ably seconded by other characters who are also worth it – Sanji, Robin, Zoro, Chopper, Nami and even Usopp, who sometimes annoys me with his cowardice, can win you over with some action or at least a catchphrase. Some people may be bothered by the style of the animation, but if the characters are really interesting, who cares about the animation, you can get used to it. Another big point is the music – from around episode 70 and up, it starts noticeably! improving, and it's absolutely perfect for the mood, the plot. The final fight in Arabasta almost took my breath away when the classical music came on – it surprised me that much more by how beautifully it fit. Another big plus is the comedy, at least for me. I really do always end up laughing with them – even if the jokes are hokey, they still work for me. I don't mean their facepalming, on the other hand; they could easily tone that down. In any case I enjoy travelling with them, I'm happy with them, I get the urge to go to the sea, I want to smell the salty air of the sea. Even though it can be intimidating with its outrageous number of episodes, I'm along for the ride because they're the best bunch you'll ever find. Seriously, show me a better one! :-) Btw. Sogeking's song is a paraphrase of Segata Sanshiro, right? :-D /// Okay, well, when you come down off the cloud, you'll find out that of course it has some cons (like how they draw everything out), but you can live with it and still give it 5 stars :-) BUT you do come down, of course. (30/06/2010) (moins) (plus)