*laughs* Now all this sounds familiar! I am a borderline rabid seiyuu fan myself - I've watched more than one series thanks to the seiyuu (Seki Tomokazu was my first seiyuu crush, way back when - Fushigi Yuugi was my gateway anime series - and he's lead me to many a show; Sugita Tomokazu is new to me through Gintama but rapidly rising in the ranks, and yeah, I cannot imagine anyone else pulling off Gintoki. ...And then I love Seki Toshihiko, so now I've got some weird trinity there...)
And OP, yes - I got into the series originally through the anime (back in, hmm, '04, so it's not been 10 years yet for me but getting there...!) but definitely prefer the manga - the anime with its budget can't hope to match Oda's art (it's more dynamic than the animation for all that it's still shots!)(excepting Strong World, which is gorgeous) and the pacing, argh (if only they'd just take a year off like Gintama!) But the seiyuu are fantastic (Nakai! Hirata! Yamaguchi Kappei! Tanaka Mayumi!), and it's fun to be able to watch it with someone...
But yeah, the true One Piece is Oda-sensei's manga. I actually was way behind - didn't read it for about 2 years (Impel Down/Marineford happened right around a time I really wasn't in the mood for depressing stories ^^;) and only just caught up with an epic reread of the entire series in the last month - totally revived my love; as you say, it's a genius work, pretty much unparalleled. I really don't think you could have a better shounen series, and if it continues to the end as strong as it's gone so far (and with Odacchi I'm expecting it will!), it'll be one of the greatest stories of anything of all time.
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And OP, yes - I got into the series originally through the anime (back in, hmm, '04, so it's not been 10 years yet for me but getting there...!) but definitely prefer the manga - the anime with its budget can't hope to match Oda's art (it's more dynamic than the animation for all that it's still shots!)(excepting Strong World, which is gorgeous) and the pacing, argh (if only they'd just take a year off like Gintama!) But the seiyuu are fantastic (Nakai! Hirata! Yamaguchi Kappei! Tanaka Mayumi!), and it's fun to be able to watch it with someone...
But yeah, the true One Piece is Oda-sensei's manga. I actually was way behind - didn't read it for about 2 years (Impel Down/Marineford happened right around a time I really wasn't in the mood for depressing stories ^^;) and only just caught up with an epic reread of the entire series in the last month - totally revived my love; as you say, it's a genius work, pretty much unparalleled. I really don't think you could have a better shounen series, and if it continues to the end as strong as it's gone so far (and with Odacchi I'm expecting it will!), it'll be one of the greatest stories of anything of all time.