As someone who’s spent countless hours traversing the digital realms of gaming and anime, I can wholeheartedly say that my recent foray into One Piece has been nothing short of a treasure trove of adventure! For years, I’d dismissed it as an ocean too vast to navigate, its depths hidden beneath a sea of episodes and chapters.
After 25 years, One Piece may seem like a vast ocean for potential new fans, but getting into the myriad adventures of the Straw Hats isn’t the epic undertaking you might think.
For quite some time, I dismissed One Piece because of its immense volume. Initially, when I learned about Luffy and his team, the TV series and comic book were already way past their initial hundreds of episodes and issues.
It appeared that keeping up was quite an effort, so I opted to occasionally watch anime films and glean snippets, appreciating Eiichiro Oda’s unique world-creation from afar. However, things shifted with the Egghead Arc.
Instead of attempting to view over a thousand episodes first, I decided to start from Episode 1,086 to find out if the television series was as long-winded as people say. To my surprise, I caught on quite easily.
One Piece isn’t complicated
The Straw Hat crew finds themselves on a technologically advanced island, home to the renowned yet elusive Dr. Vegapunk. A man of great age and wisdom, he’s currently wanted, possessing secrets about our world that could prove invaluable to all if shared more broadly.
Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and their companions often find themselves caught up in various chaotic situations, leading to plenty of laughter. Essentially, the Straw Hat crew are unconventional heroes who seem to stumble upon disastrous incidents wherever they arrive at ports.
Growing up immersed in the world of Shonen series, particularly Dragon Ball and Pokemon, has given me a solid understanding of their narrative structure. They often share similar patterns from one arc to another. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean they are deeply complex or require intricate depth – at least not always.
Shonen arcs are jumping on points
You could consider each One Piece arc as a standalone tale, gathering fragments of background information as pieces of trivia are revealed. By the way, Dr. Vegapunk is investigating the Void Century, right? That’s a time period where research is strictly prohibited, I see!
If I were a dedicated fan, I would recall references to the Void Century dating back to the golden era of the initial 300 episodes. However, such knowledge isn’t essential to understanding events on Egghead; it simply adds depth and context.
Resisting the urge to delve back into the initial series of whatever sparks my interest serves as a reminder of our traditional way of enjoying TV. It was about discovering new shows accidentally while changing channels or during gaps in your regular programming.
Don’t worry about what you’ve missed
After watching the second part of the second episode, I was hooked and eagerly awaited more, finding it hard to look away. Jumping on the Pokémon trend, I didn’t catch the initial broadcast but I eventually started following along.
As a kid growing up in the ’90s and early 2000s, shows like Dragon Ball Z, Buffy, Friends, Digimon, Power Rangers were my all-time favorites. I didn’t worry too much about missing out on episodes because catching up wasn’t an easy option back then.
Instead of waiting for a rerun, renting old episodes on VHS tapes, or relying on someone else to provide them, you simply discovered the series on your own and appreciated it despite any initial difficulties.
Instead of diving straight into a series as soon as you discover you like it, which is a modern impulse driven by streaming platforms and an overabundance of content, it’s more engaging (and perhaps even rewarding) to start midway through and piece together the story on your own. This approach allows for a unique perspective and might help sharpen our imagination skills.
Canon can just get in the way
As a gamer, I’ve found that it’s not always necessary to be deeply immersed in the lore or continuity of long-running franchises like Lupin III, Gundam, or Sailor Moon. These series are often designed in such a way that each installment can stand alone as a separate adventure, much like James Bond films. For instance, with Lupin III, you can enjoy each caper without worrying too much about the overall story arc. The same goes for Gundam and Sailor Moon, although Gundam might trip you up with its complex future politics from time to time. Sailor Moon, on the other hand, is generally more accessible for newcomers.
Unresolved doubts can serve as strong incentives to persist, and should they become truly bothersome, a quick internet search using Google will often provide an answer. I found myself excessively mindful of the number of episodes on Crunchyroll or Netflix, and the size of the waves would decide whether my journey would be enjoyable or not.
One Piece stirred a thought in me: Let’s hoist our mainsails and allow the currents to guide us. Regardless if we sail through past events or forge ahead into the unknown future, it’s important to remember that the choice is ours, and sometimes, a reminder of this can be beneficial for everyone.
If you’d like more piracy (of the good kind), have a look at our guides to The One Piece and Netflix’s live-action One Piece Season 2.
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2024-10-20 16:18