Oda Eiichiro - One Piece, vol. 01-08 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

I feel a bit stupid introducing this series. Anyway.

When Gol D. Roger, King of the Pirates, was executed, it ended a golden age of piracy. Many years later, Monkey D. Luffy (Oda says in a note that "Monkey" is the surname) wants to grow up to be King of the Pirates, but he swallows a Devil Fruit called the Gum-Gum, making him sink in water, as well as giving him rubbery limbs. Undaunted, he decides to put together his own crew, traverse the Grand Line (a sea route with good piracy), and become King of the Pirates!

So far, volumes 1 through 8 are about Luffy acquiring his core crew, as well as their backstories. Volume 8 finishes the Restaurant Baratie arc and begins the arc with Arlong and the fish men. As with much manga, especially shounen, the first few volumes are more one-offs with short arcs, and although I like Roronoa Zolo, I was bored by the Usopp arc and annoyed by the requisite damsel in distress in it. I also have a difficult time following Oda's artwork. Much of it is my general inability to read action sequences, but I think some of it is because everything is so exaggerated and over-the-top that there's no resting place for the eyes yet. I suspect this is one of the things that will get better over time, and at least Oda's panels aren't as horrifically crowded as early volumes in other series are. The first 5 volumes or so were a bit tough going, since it was a lot of shounen tropes and fight scenes, and while I didn't enjoy the first half of the Restaurant Baratie storyline, the second half got me excited.

Snarky blond guys smoking cigarettes seem to do that to me, even if they aren't gun-toting priests.

OMG. Also. Also! Chef Zeff EATS HIS OWN LEG!

I have seen a lot of cannibalism as the ultimate form of affection in manga (primarily in Yuki Kaori series), but this is the first time I have seen someone autocannibalize himself out of affection for someone else! AWESOME.

I am also really excited for what looks like the upcoming Nami arc. Touching flashbacks galore! And I am rooting for the dark-haired woman in the chapter openers who seems to be hunting down Luffy to be a main character, since the series so far does the usual shounen thing of one woman among a ton of guys.

Reads a bit young so far, but the plot arcs have been getting larger and better.

Comments

[jinian]

So I found One Piece eminently bounce-offable both at the beginning and much farther along when they sent me Shonen Jump for a while, but I wish to know more about the wack shit. Please to discourse at further length upon the auto-cannibalism and how it expresses affection, if you would.

[oyceter]

OMG. So to explain why Sanji the grumpy cook is protecting Restaurant Baratie, we get a flashback to him as a child, working in the galley of a ship. The ship is taken over by Red Zeff the pirate! Unfortunately, after Red Zeff takes over, some disaster happens, and Zeff and Sanji end up stranded on a desert island. Zeff hands Sanji a bag of food while keeping a larger bag for himself, saying he's bigger than Sanji. Sanji yells at him, then marches off. Sanji eats all his food in a few weeks, and although a ship passes by, it doesn't hear him. Sanji goes to find Zeff to steal his food, since Zeff selfishly kept more food for himself. But then when he grabs the bag Zeff has, he finds out... it is full of useless treasure! Instead, Zeff has given Sanji ALL the food and eaten HIS OWN RIGHT LEG!!!

Sanji still says he hates Zeff for being a pirate, but vows to take over as a cook when Zeff says he will start a floating restaurant so no one will ever have to go hungry on the high seas again!!

Bwahahahaha but yes. OMG. First time I have seen auto-cannibalism (!) expressing affection (!!) and winning someone over (!!!).

[jinian]

Wow!

[inkstone]

OP is one of those titles that starts off really, really silly and then... kind of rips out your heart. And the sad thing is that, as a reader (keep in mind I am first and foremost a shounen/seinen reader), you keep coming back for more because Odacchi is really good at ripping out your heart and stomping on it.

[snowynight]

I agree.

[oyceter]

I keep hearing so from you and some other people! Actually, I blame your tumblr (along with Rilina and CB) for finally pushing me to start the series ;).

[inkstone]

Oh, my Tumblr, the cause of so much woe and fandom pushing.

[oyceter]

You say this like it is a bad thing ;).

[willow]

I have never been able to get into One Piece, no matter who talks about it, because everytime I look at the art I go: Rubber!Pinocchio wants to be a REAL BOY. And then I pass.

Plus it's got those really round heads oft with really square hair that just makes me go 'Are you about cooking? No? Then up with this I will not put."

[lnhammer]

This.

[oyceter]

Bwahaha so true!

I got kind of fond of the art after seeing a lot of picspam for the series on Tumblr, so it doesn't bother me as much, although like I said, the paneling isn't awesome, and Oda currently still strikes too many high notes and it feels like there's not much breathing space. But YMMV! And can definitely see where you are coming from!

[badgerbag]

Oh, moomin has just been reading this and loves it!

[oyceter]

Ahahah awesome! How far along is he?

[badgerbag]

I think around book 4! We get them from the library!