(Review for both the anime and the manga, December 5, 2021, currently with 1034 chapters and 1001 episodes).
Wealth, Fame, Power...
Those were the words that started the greatest story of all time. Words that still hold massive amount of meaning in the story today. Words that will hold even more meaning when the story is ultimately brought to an end.
We see how wealth, fame and power can impact the people of this world. That these things cannot bring happiness, and in many cases will just bring the complete opposite. Look at the Celestial Dragons. The most wealthy, powerful and quite famous individuals in the world. They view themselves as better than everyone else, that they can do whatever they want, even if it's incredibly inhumane. But in the eyes of the people that live beneath them, they are monsters. Monsters who are slaves to the wealth, fame and power they posses, and monsters who enslave. People who are not free, and take away freedom.
Freedom.
This is one of the core, if not the main element present throughout the entire series. Because, those three words ushered at the beginning of this story do not hold meaning in a persons life if that person is not free, and is willing to help others be free. They hold no power without freedom, because ultimately, the people like the Celestial Dragons, are not powerful people. They cannot sway the masses through the use of words and gain the trust of a random person on the street. They are feared. And does being feared make one powerful? Maybe. But people do not like to recognize it.
The protagonist in this story, Monkey D. Luffy, wants to become the Pirate King, the freest man in the world. He wants to share that freedom, and is willing to with absolutely anyone. Even someone who may have attempted to kill him mere minutes ago. He is the pure embodiment of freedom, not giving a care in the world and just having fun.
Another core element of the series is friendship. The crew of pirates you grow to love, are the best of friends. They will do whatever they need to do in order to keep each other safe, to keep the freedom they work so hard to gain. But challenge to take away that freedom, and you'll be sure you're not gonna get away easy.
There is so much more I could say about One Piece. About the great characters, unmatched worldbuilding, and one of the greatest mysteries in any form of media ever. But that could go on forever. One Piece is not perfect, no story is. It has it's flaws. Sometimes humor doesn't land, maybe a fight scene isn't great, a character is just annoying, or even entire arcs that just drag and are sometime almost boring to sit through. But, there is just something special about One Piece that no series has ever been able to re-create, and I think will ever be able to create. It is truly something you should watch or read in your lifetime, and some of the values and beliefs can make you leave a better person. It did that for me. 10/10.
Below are my ratings for each arc of the series below, if you are at all interested.
Romance Dawn - 8/10 Orange Town - 6/10 Syrup Village - 6.5/10 Baratie - 8/10 Arlong Park - 9/10 Loguetown - 7/10 Reverse Mountain - 6/10 Whisky Peak - 7.5/10 Little Garden - 6.5/10 Drum Island - 8.5/10 Alabasta - 9/10 Jaya - 8/10 Skypeia - 7.5/10 Long Ring Long Land - 6/10 Water 7 - 9.5/10 Enies Lobby - 10/10 Post Enies Lobby - 8.5/10 Thriller Bark - 5.5/10 Sabaody Archipelago - 9/10 Amazon Lily - 6.5/10 Impel Down - 7.5/10 Marineford - 10/10 Post War - 7.5/10 Return to Sabaody - 7/10 Fish Man Island - 5/10 Punk Hazard - 6.5/10 Dressrosa - 8.5/10 Zou - 8.5/10 Whole Cake Island - 9/10 Levely - 7.5/10 Wano - 9.5/10 m.
Wealth, Fame, Power...
Those were the words that started the greatest story of all time. Words that still hold massive amount of meaning in the story today. Words that will hold even more meaning when the story is ultimately brought to an end.
We see how wealth, fame and power can impact the people of this world. That these things cannot bring happiness, and in many cases will just bring the complete opposite. Look at the Celestial Dragons. The most wealthy, powerful and quite famous individuals in the world. They view themselves as better than everyone else, that they can do whatever they want, even if it's incredibly inhumane. But in the eyes of the people that live beneath them, they are monsters. Monsters who are slaves to the wealth, fame and power they posses, and monsters who enslave. People who are not free, and take away freedom.
Freedom.
This is one of the core, if not the main element present throughout the entire series. Because, those three words ushered at the beginning of this story do not hold meaning in a persons life if that person is not free, and is willing to help others be free. They hold no power without freedom, because ultimately, the people like the Celestial Dragons, are not powerful people. They cannot sway the masses through the use of words and gain the trust of a random person on the street. They are feared. And does being feared make one powerful? Maybe. But people do not like to recognize it.
The protagonist in this story, Monkey D. Luffy, wants to become the Pirate King, the freest man in the world. He wants to share that freedom, and is willing to with absolutely anyone. Even someone who may have attempted to kill him mere minutes ago. He is the pure embodiment of freedom, not giving a care in the world and just having fun.
Another core element of the series is friendship. The crew of pirates you grow to love, are the best of friends. They will do whatever they need to do in order to keep each other safe, to keep the freedom they work so hard to gain. But challenge to take away that freedom, and you'll be sure you're not gonna get away easy.
There is so much more I could say about One Piece. About the great characters, unmatched worldbuilding, and one of the greatest mysteries in any form of media ever. But that could go on forever. One Piece is not perfect, no story is. It has it's flaws. Sometimes humor doesn't land, maybe a fight scene isn't great, a character is just annoying, or even entire arcs that just drag and are sometime almost boring to sit through. But, there is just something special about One Piece that no series has ever been able to re-create, and I think will ever be able to create. It is truly something you should watch or read in your lifetime, and some of the values and beliefs can make you leave a better person. It did that for me. 10/10.
Below are my ratings for each arc of the series below, if you are at all interested.
Romance Dawn - 8/10 Orange Town - 6/10 Syrup Village - 6.5/10 Baratie - 8/10 Arlong Park - 9/10 Loguetown - 7/10 Reverse Mountain - 6/10 Whisky Peak - 7.5/10 Little Garden - 6.5/10 Drum Island - 8.5/10 Alabasta - 9/10 Jaya - 8/10 Skypeia - 7.5/10 Long Ring Long Land - 6/10 Water 7 - 9.5/10 Enies Lobby - 10/10 Post Enies Lobby - 8.5/10 Thriller Bark - 5.5/10 Sabaody Archipelago - 9/10 Amazon Lily - 6.5/10 Impel Down - 7.5/10 Marineford - 10/10 Post War - 7.5/10 Return to Sabaody - 7/10 Fish Man Island - 5/10 Punk Hazard - 6.5/10 Dressrosa - 8.5/10 Zou - 8.5/10 Whole Cake Island - 9/10 Levely - 7.5/10 Wano - 9.5/10 m.