What I Love About One Piece

 

WARNING: This article may contain spoilers from the show. All illustrations presented in the article belongs to its proper creators and is only used by the author for visual aid.

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When quarantine was issued, I found myself bored out of my wits. I looked for different outlets to try and relieve my boredom– I tried drawing but fell into an art block that bloomed into procrastination. If procrastinating was an achievement, I’d have rows of trophies and medals hanging at my disposal.

I tried to get into singing, but it never really worked out. Speaking of working out, I tried that too . . . but some things are better left unsaid. Last resort: Watch Anime. I started watching anime(s) that were pretty short in length since I had thought to myself that if the pandemic ended early, I wouldn’t be cut off in the middle of watching the series.

Now, this was where the problem started: the pandemic was taking too long.

So, I thought to myself, “should I risk it, and start watching One Piece?” Since I believed the series was, still believe actually, as long as the pandemic. And I did risk it, now I am hooked.

𝓦𝓗𝓐𝓣 𝓘𝓢 𝓞𝓝𝓔 𝓟𝓘𝓔𝓒𝓔?

❝ Power isn't determined by your size, but the size of your heart and dreams. ❞  

-Monkey D. Luffy

Here's a little background on what One Piece is: One Piece is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, or Oda-sama as we One Piece fanatics refer to him. Serialized in July 1997, it has been one of the longest-running anime in the anime industry. The show depicts the story of a young boy named Monkey D. Luffy who unknowingly ate a fruit that gave him the ability to stretch like rubber. Following that incident, he ventured out to the sea trying to conquer its waters by becoming the Kaizoku-ou, translation: The Pirate King. Along his journey, he managed to gather a bunch of misfits that he most commonly refers to as his “Nakama”, a term for “comrade” or “companion”.

𝓦𝓗𝓐𝓣 𝓓𝓞 𝓘 𝓛𝓞𝓥𝓔 𝓐𝓑𝓞𝓤𝓣 𝓞𝓝𝓔 𝓟𝓘𝓔𝓒𝓔

THE WORLD CONSTRUCTION

To those who aren’t aware, the One Piece world is constructed differently. The world is divided into four blues; North blue, East blue, West blue, and South blue. The upper half and lower half are divided by the vertical line called the Grand Line. The Grand Line is then surrounded by two lines called the Calm Belt wherein there are no waves or winds that could direct your sail. It is also the breeding ground for sea kings (sea monster hybrids). No one passes through the Calm Belt except for a few automated marine ships that have their keel lined with Sea Prism stone (a stone that emits the same energy of the sea. Devil fruit users are weak to this, and Sea kings tend to avoid it.)

Dividing the left and right parts of the world is something called the Red Line. It is like a wall of rocks that is difficult to climb. For you to get to the Grand Line without passing through the Calm Belt, you use the Reverse mountain.

The Reverse mountain is found in one of the intersections of the Grand Line and the Red Line. It is connected to a river in each blue. The rivers are unique for they go up the mountain instead of going down due to the strength of the current. Once you arrive at the top it all leads to one river going down; this river is directly connected to the Grand Line. If you’re wondering why you are not able to use the other intersection, it is since there is only one way to cross it and that is by passing through Fishman Island which is located underneath the Red Line.

Once you get to enter the Grand Line, you are in Paradise, Paradise being the first half of the Grand Line. As for the explanation as to why it’s called paradise is because once you’ve gone to the new world, the first half would’ve been paradise to the survivors of the second half. It contains unique islands, some ancient as well. The weather in the Grand Line is unpredictable too. It may rain in a minute then becomes sunny in a sec.

The second half is called the New World. To reach it you have to go to a mangrove forest named Sabaody Archipelago to get your ship coated (coated in a bubble-like substance to withstand the pressure when submerged underwater) this will allow you passage underwater and reach Fishman island that is under the Red Line for a stopover. Going to the next island will officially be in the New World.

THE LANDSCAPES

The landscapes in One Piece are surreal and unique. The color schemes they used

for the sceneries are eye-catching as well. So far, my current favorite landscape is the Flower Capital in Wano. If you are caught up to the anime you will see why I came to fall in love with the scenery. The illustrations in the manga were nothing short of amazingness but having it animated with the colors and the official soundtrack playing in the background just took it to another level. 

THE COLORS

Yes, you read that right, the colors. Quite an interesting feature but the color choices does give us a bit more enlightenment on the character. One Piece is a very colorful series and I was curious as to why they gave off a certain color. Studies have shown that color holds a certain meaning to it. It also brings out selected emotions upon sight. It wasn’t until I researched colors that I realized that the meanings of each main color of the characters in the show are astoundingly on point and aligned with the character’s personality.

Take Luffy for example, he usually wears a red vest or jacket-- and of course, his iconic straw hat. Red is mostly associated with excitement and energy, something Luffy has an endless amount. It is also used to attract attention, if attracting trouble counts as attention then I guess you can say this color fits Luffy so well now that I think about it, but of course, trouble isn’t the only thing he attracts, he also manages to draw people to him with his unique and carefree persona. Danger is also associated with the color red, no matter how plain and childlike he is, he is a really strong individual that is usually driven by his passion to become the Pirate King, as well as protecting his nakamas.

As for the yellow, it expresses happiness and positivity. No matter the situation Luffy and his crew were in, he manages to keep a smile on his face despite being in a fight or falling from the sky. Yellow can also relate to food. Confused about how this aligns with Luffy? Well, let’s just say he has perfected the art of eating while asleep.

THE CHARACTERS 

 Each character in the One Piece world is unique and diverse, so different to the point that Luffy doesn’t even look like his dad like most anime protagonist does. Setting that aside, you can surely find a character in One Piece that you can relate to. For example, I can relate to Nami in terms of obsession with money, with Usopp in terms of confidence and skills. Oda sensei also managed to turn the side characters into mains by giving them their arcs to be featured in with included backstories too.

Also, try not to get attached to some characters. It could spare you the tears if you know what I mean. Just a fair warning.

Now, on the topic of characters, let’s talk about the backstories. Main Character, Side-character, even the antagonists have their backstories, but the way Oda came up with their stories makes you just love the characters more, and yes, I’m including some villains as well. They may look unimportant to the story but they carry a lot of baggage behind their backs. This truly exhibits the phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cover”.

MYTHOLOGICAL REFERENCES

Setting that aside, the story also includes references to myths as well-- I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of stories about mermaids, and dragons, zombies as well. One Piece just happened to bring these stories to life! There are certain arcs in the story where they included these myths. Carefully molding its origins to fit the world of One Piece. Genius, right?

I have always found topics relating to mythology quite interesting—and having it in the series just brought it to a whole ‘nother level. Take Thriller Bark arc for example: The inhabitants of the ginormous ship are the walking dead. Spoiler alert! Gecko Moria, one of the Shichibukai (Warlord of the Seas) is the captain of the ship. He has eaten the Kage Kage no mi which gave him the ability to control shadows. With his devil fruit, he is able to take one’s shadow and give it to a corpse which brings it to “life”—thus, giving us zombies.

Another example can be taken from Fishman Island, and word itself: fishmen. Though these fishmen aren’t your ordinary fish folks with the upper body of a human with a tail instead of legs, the fishmen in One Piece are much more diverse in species; most shows characteristics of certain breeds of fish like hammer-head sharks and tiger fish. Not one looks or resembles the other which is quite a big feat when you have a whole civilization to conceptualize about.

Not only that, Oda-san also help blended it into certain scenarios that exhibits social issues that weren’t given attention to, even today.

SOCIAL ISSUES

I’m sure we can all agree that we are not a stranger to social issues. Most stories take a dark turn, and One Piece falls into that category. As unfortunate and unsettling these issues are, Oda-san still went ahead and included it in the story no matter how brutal it turned out. Slavery and Racism being one of the most prominent issues showcased on the series. The oppression that has fallen upon this world was also depicted in the form of their government’s ruling. Genocide, Eugenics, War Profiteering-- even Drug Addiction was included to bring awareness to these situations that have been around since before we were even born. The show doesn’t just focus on one side of the coin; it shows us the reality of things. A perfect demonstration of Yin and Yang; Wherein there is bad where goodness lies, and good where the darkness rests.

With the crew’s help and few others, some of these social issues were given a solution. For example, in Punk Hazard arc the children were drugged and was having withdrawals. The crew, along with another pirate captain managed to cure the children of the mind-altering symptoms. In doing so, they have also stopped the drug production, including the production of artificial devil fruits. Who knew pirates could be so helpful?

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

As the story progresses, we always look forward to the improvement of a character. This is what we call character development. After going through a series of events characters will either be stagnant or let those certain experiences make an impact on their personality. This doesn’t necessarily refer to turning good alone, protagonists may turn bad and the bad may turn good. It’s the essence of the story. No character development means predictability of situations. Fortunately for One Piece, each character retains their personality yet somehow changed it as well, but of course let’s not dwell deeper in that since, you know, spoilers.

LESSONS

Saving the best for last are the lessons it has taught me. It has taught me loyalty, true friendship. That life is nothing but sad and lonely without people to trust and accompany you in achieving your goal. It also taught me to not be afraid of taking risks, just like Luffy said: 

“If you don’t take risks, you can’t create a future!”, 

“No matter how hard or impossible it is, never lose sight of your goal.”

And they weren’t just pretty words as well, he surely lived by it. And it wasn’t just him who inspired me, who taught me something. Each and every one of them has a role in teaching the viewers different lessons of hope, courage, loyalty, and trust. 

One Piece is not just a show, it’s how life is supposed to be lived.