I wanna be a pirate!
Feb. 14th, 2004 02:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xparrotThe inevitable One Piece post. Inevitable because when I haven't been busy with work and such in the past few weeks, One Piece has been devouring my soul. Inevitable, too, because this was bound to happen. It's a little boys' fight series. Fight shounen is my kryptonite. I cannot resist the shouted attacks and absurd feats of endurance and the themes of friendship so pervasive to the genre.
I've known about One Piece for a couple years, but nothing more than it was about pirates and it was starting to compete with DBZ in popularity and running length (180 eps, 30+ vol. of manga, and still going strong). Now, I don't have anything against pirates, but they're like ninja; I can--could--take 'em or leave 'em.
Then again, the pirates of One Piece are like no other pirates I've ever seen.
Start with the oddly but appropriately named Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will be Pirate King. Regardless of refusing to steal, pillage, plunder, or drink; not knowing how to sail, navigate, or swing a sword; not being ABLE TO SWIM; or in fact seeming to have any idea whatsoever what a pirate actually is - Luffy's gonna get the One Piece and become Pirate King. There's no doubting it. He's the hero.
Like many a shounen hero, Luffy is a way powerful fighter, not so hot in the brains department. Actually, even for a shounen hero Luffy is...special. He's living in his own little universe. The going theory is that rubber is not a good medium for brains.
Yep, rubber. Luffy ate a Gomu Gomu Fruit as a boy and is now a rubber man who can't swim--eaters of Devil Fruit gain fantastic powers but are rejected by the sea. I'd say it makes sense when you see it, but I'd be lying. One Piece is all about going with the flow, or else your brain will crack into so many pretty glittering fragments.
So this unaquatic rubber man sails off to find the One Piece. But of course you can't be a pirate captain without a crew, so Luffy sets about gathering nakama--about 10 should be good, he thinks; he's up to six by the latest storyline, so he's got a bit to go.
First is the infamous Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro, who doesn't take much convincing to resign from hunting pirates to become Luffy's first mate. Zoro fights with three swords. Three, you ask? One in each hand, and one in his mouth.
Yes, this means whenever he has a dramatic confrontation with a villain, he's spouting the usual shounen philosophizing. With a sword. In his mouth. Did I mention Zoro's favorite attack is the Demon Slash - Oni Giri - onigiri...
This does not stop Zoro from being the requisite undeniably cool bad-ass hero. He's determined to become the best swordsman in the world; at present he's number two. Though second best is none too shabby, given that the best can take out 50 pirate ships with his sword. That's not the crews of 50 ships, mind. That's the vessels.
Then there's Nami. While One Piece doesn't have FMA's bestest femmes in shounen ever!!!, it does get props for not only giving the angstiest backstory to the girl, but having it have nothing to do with romance, but everything to do with love. Which is another way to say I love the Arlong saga. For a whacked action-comedy, One Piece can pack a serious emotional punch. The rollercoaster that is ep 37, when Nami's seiyuu pulls out all the stops--"ARLONG! ARLONG!" *ouchouchouch*
In fact all the main seiyuu are excellent. Zoro's voice is not one I'm familiar with, but it's a great match to his char, gruff and funny and bad-ass. And Tanaka Mayumi as Luffy could not be more perfect. I liked her before--as Kuririn in DBZ she had one of my favorite screams ever ("VEGETAAA!!" at the end of ep 237. Entirely random, but damn it's a good scream.) I think she was hired for Luffy for the laugh, though. Like Paku Romi's Ed, I don't remember she's a female actress--she's Luffy, and that's that.
Usopp is another favorite seiyuu, Yamaguchi Kappei (Sakuma Ryuuichi!), which is, again, good casting. I was neutral when Usopp was introduced, and started to dislike him...and then, something happened, I'm not sure what, but I started to like him. Quite a bit. He's comic relief (One Piece needed comic relief?) but he's with Nami as the smartest of the crew, and let's face it, the Straw Hat pirates need someone who's not afraid to run away. Or rather they need someone afraid enough to run away. Luffy doesn't seem to understand 'fear' except as an intellectual concept, and given the state of his intellect...it gets him into trouble. (Luffy's favorite place to sit is on the ship's masthead...may I remind you that Luffy swims with all the grace and skill of a large hunk of granite?)
Usopp being the best runner-awayer in the world is actually a useful skill. He's also a deadeye shot and the ship's engineer (yes, I do picture him screaming in a typhoon, "Th' sails, she cannae hold it, cap'n!") And he's as loyal to his friends as any of the others. Besides, you gotta feel sorry for the ugly anime boys. They just don't get the love their bishie brethren do.
Speaking of bishies, there's the ship's cook, Sanji, who Sin-chan wants to see just for Hirata Hiroaki's sexy, sexy voice. He's a chain-smoking womanizer with a heart of gold poorly concealed by his suave 'tude...typecast, much? Sanji is a blond, pin-striped Sha Gojyo, if Gojyo kicked like a mule and cooked like a god. The culinary talents alone would make him excellent eligible bachelor material, and once you've reset your standards to One Piece's art, he's quite the sexy, too (even if he only has one eye. Maybe. Who knows what the hell's under that hair?) And unlike your typical anime ladies' man, Sanji isn't really a pervert--I believe the correct term is 'doormat'. Boy will do anything for a pretty face. Unfortunately Nami realizes this. Poor Sanji.
So this crazy crew piles on their ship and sails off to adventures. One Piece's storylines are like its art - simple, straightforward, and decidedly odd. It's not a deep show. The villains are evil, insane, or usually some combination of the two; they threaten innocent people and get in our heroes' way. The plots lead to big showdowns between the crew and the baddies. But the villains, for what they lack in complex motives and detailed characterizations, make up for it in sheer whackiness. Jango the Hypnotist moonwalks in Elton John shades and puts himself to sleep with his own hypnotism, Arlong's a humanoid saw shark in a Hawaiian shirt...and then there's all the Devil Fruit people. From the evidence, Devil Fruit is not good for the brain. Most of its eaters are off their rockers.
One Piece's simplicity can also be its strength; that directness can cut deep, and it doesn't preclude covering some pretty heavy themes. If the villains weren't so decidedly evil, it wouldn't be as satisfying to see them defeated; I don't know if I've ever wanted to cheer as loudly for an anime as when Luffy and his crew are marching on Arlong Park.
And of course, like so many other shounen, the defining theme of One Piece is friendship, people relying on one another to reach their dreams. From Shanks' "You can spill food or drink on me, you can even spit on me, but I won't forgive you for hurting my friends" to Luffy's "I don't know a damn thing about swords, I don't know how to navigate, I can't cook, I can't even lie--I know need others to help me if I want to keep living!" to the crew's everyday bickering and teasing and generally adorable if dysfunctional family interactions...stories about friendship will win me over every time. And this one has won me well and truly.
I wanna be a pirate!!!
I've known about One Piece for a couple years, but nothing more than it was about pirates and it was starting to compete with DBZ in popularity and running length (180 eps, 30+ vol. of manga, and still going strong). Now, I don't have anything against pirates, but they're like ninja; I can--could--take 'em or leave 'em.
Then again, the pirates of One Piece are like no other pirates I've ever seen.
Start with the oddly but appropriately named Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will be Pirate King. Regardless of refusing to steal, pillage, plunder, or drink; not knowing how to sail, navigate, or swing a sword; not being ABLE TO SWIM; or in fact seeming to have any idea whatsoever what a pirate actually is - Luffy's gonna get the One Piece and become Pirate King. There's no doubting it. He's the hero.
Like many a shounen hero, Luffy is a way powerful fighter, not so hot in the brains department. Actually, even for a shounen hero Luffy is...special. He's living in his own little universe. The going theory is that rubber is not a good medium for brains.
Yep, rubber. Luffy ate a Gomu Gomu Fruit as a boy and is now a rubber man who can't swim--eaters of Devil Fruit gain fantastic powers but are rejected by the sea. I'd say it makes sense when you see it, but I'd be lying. One Piece is all about going with the flow, or else your brain will crack into so many pretty glittering fragments.
So this unaquatic rubber man sails off to find the One Piece. But of course you can't be a pirate captain without a crew, so Luffy sets about gathering nakama--about 10 should be good, he thinks; he's up to six by the latest storyline, so he's got a bit to go.
First is the infamous Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro, who doesn't take much convincing to resign from hunting pirates to become Luffy's first mate. Zoro fights with three swords. Three, you ask? One in each hand, and one in his mouth.
Yes, this means whenever he has a dramatic confrontation with a villain, he's spouting the usual shounen philosophizing. With a sword. In his mouth. Did I mention Zoro's favorite attack is the Demon Slash - Oni Giri - onigiri...
This does not stop Zoro from being the requisite undeniably cool bad-ass hero. He's determined to become the best swordsman in the world; at present he's number two. Though second best is none too shabby, given that the best can take out 50 pirate ships with his sword. That's not the crews of 50 ships, mind. That's the vessels.
Then there's Nami. While One Piece doesn't have FMA's bestest femmes in shounen ever!!!, it does get props for not only giving the angstiest backstory to the girl, but having it have nothing to do with romance, but everything to do with love. Which is another way to say I love the Arlong saga. For a whacked action-comedy, One Piece can pack a serious emotional punch. The rollercoaster that is ep 37, when Nami's seiyuu pulls out all the stops--"ARLONG! ARLONG!" *ouchouchouch*
In fact all the main seiyuu are excellent. Zoro's voice is not one I'm familiar with, but it's a great match to his char, gruff and funny and bad-ass. And Tanaka Mayumi as Luffy could not be more perfect. I liked her before--as Kuririn in DBZ she had one of my favorite screams ever ("VEGETAAA!!" at the end of ep 237. Entirely random, but damn it's a good scream.) I think she was hired for Luffy for the laugh, though. Like Paku Romi's Ed, I don't remember she's a female actress--she's Luffy, and that's that.
Usopp is another favorite seiyuu, Yamaguchi Kappei (Sakuma Ryuuichi!), which is, again, good casting. I was neutral when Usopp was introduced, and started to dislike him...and then, something happened, I'm not sure what, but I started to like him. Quite a bit. He's comic relief (One Piece needed comic relief?) but he's with Nami as the smartest of the crew, and let's face it, the Straw Hat pirates need someone who's not afraid to run away. Or rather they need someone afraid enough to run away. Luffy doesn't seem to understand 'fear' except as an intellectual concept, and given the state of his intellect...it gets him into trouble. (Luffy's favorite place to sit is on the ship's masthead...may I remind you that Luffy swims with all the grace and skill of a large hunk of granite?)
Usopp being the best runner-awayer in the world is actually a useful skill. He's also a deadeye shot and the ship's engineer (yes, I do picture him screaming in a typhoon, "Th' sails, she cannae hold it, cap'n!") And he's as loyal to his friends as any of the others. Besides, you gotta feel sorry for the ugly anime boys. They just don't get the love their bishie brethren do.
Speaking of bishies, there's the ship's cook, Sanji, who Sin-chan wants to see just for Hirata Hiroaki's sexy, sexy voice. He's a chain-smoking womanizer with a heart of gold poorly concealed by his suave 'tude...typecast, much? Sanji is a blond, pin-striped Sha Gojyo, if Gojyo kicked like a mule and cooked like a god. The culinary talents alone would make him excellent eligible bachelor material, and once you've reset your standards to One Piece's art, he's quite the sexy, too (even if he only has one eye. Maybe. Who knows what the hell's under that hair?) And unlike your typical anime ladies' man, Sanji isn't really a pervert--I believe the correct term is 'doormat'. Boy will do anything for a pretty face. Unfortunately Nami realizes this. Poor Sanji.
So this crazy crew piles on their ship and sails off to adventures. One Piece's storylines are like its art - simple, straightforward, and decidedly odd. It's not a deep show. The villains are evil, insane, or usually some combination of the two; they threaten innocent people and get in our heroes' way. The plots lead to big showdowns between the crew and the baddies. But the villains, for what they lack in complex motives and detailed characterizations, make up for it in sheer whackiness. Jango the Hypnotist moonwalks in Elton John shades and puts himself to sleep with his own hypnotism, Arlong's a humanoid saw shark in a Hawaiian shirt...and then there's all the Devil Fruit people. From the evidence, Devil Fruit is not good for the brain. Most of its eaters are off their rockers.
One Piece's simplicity can also be its strength; that directness can cut deep, and it doesn't preclude covering some pretty heavy themes. If the villains weren't so decidedly evil, it wouldn't be as satisfying to see them defeated; I don't know if I've ever wanted to cheer as loudly for an anime as when Luffy and his crew are marching on Arlong Park.
And of course, like so many other shounen, the defining theme of One Piece is friendship, people relying on one another to reach their dreams. From Shanks' "You can spill food or drink on me, you can even spit on me, but I won't forgive you for hurting my friends" to Luffy's "I don't know a damn thing about swords, I don't know how to navigate, I can't cook, I can't even lie--I know need others to help me if I want to keep living!" to the crew's everyday bickering and teasing and generally adorable if dysfunctional family interactions...stories about friendship will win me over every time. And this one has won me well and truly.
I wanna be a pirate!!!
