From what I understand, One Piece is one of the current juggernauts of the anime world, coming up on something like 550 episodes. I’ve just started watching it and getting into its very rich and totally zany pirate fantasy world. In case you’re of the uninitiated, One Piece is about a boy who eats a Devil Fruit, turning his body into rubber. He grows up idolizing pirates and sets out to become the King of the Pirates by obtaining the One Piece, a legendary treasure.
I have to admit that though I’m here talking this show up, I’ve never been a fan of anime. So many of the tropes and cliches don’t manage to hook me, and the cartoonish breaks in art style and character break me out of the show. What I appreciate about One Piece is its ability to turn all of that into jokes. It’s not one of those shows that “knows what it is and doesn’t overstep its bounds,” nor is it one of those shows that “pokes fun at itself every once in a while.” The show is a hulking behemoth of light-hearted mockery of its own genre. I’m about 70 episodes into this epic, and I can count on one hand the number of times the show wasn’t making fun.
Yet, at the same time it manages to build out a genre, establish a fantasy world revolving around pirates, and create incredible stories. It’s all fun and games from top to bottom, but I’ve still grown to love these characters.
I highly recommend checking out One Piece if you haven’t, and felt remiss that there didn’t exist a thread for it before.