Before legendary Pirate Gold Roger was put to the sword,
he revealed with a smile that all of his wealth had been gathered into One
Piece and that it was the worlds for the taking. Ever since, Pirates all over the world have
set a course for the Grand Line, the hidden location of the One Piece. Among them is Monkey D. Luffy, a young man
who dreams of one day becoming King of the Pirates. Together with his crew of misfits and his own
mysterious abilities, Luffy sets sail on the high seas on one of the greatest
adventures of all time.
Welcome Dear Readers to a special two part double feature
First Impression Friday.
The Live Action
adaptation of One Piece has finally dropped.
But before I get to it, I wanted to do something I’ve been thinking
about doing for a while now.
Let me be
clear about something: my biggest gripe about One Piece at this point is how
freaking long it is.
As of this article,
the Anime episode count sits at 1073 episodes across almost 25 years.
That’s one of the longest episode counts in
Anime history (I wonder if you combined Naruto, Naruto Shippuden and Boruto
you’d get close to it).
And hey, if a
show is still going strong and still has a pretty incredible fanbase, more
power to it and plenty of respect.
I
personally just feel it’s too far in to try and hop onto the ship at this point
but hey I could be wrong.
With that in
mind, before I look at the first episode of the highly anticipated Live Action
Series, I decided to look all the way back at the very first episode from 1999,
long before One Piece ballooned into the massive tale its become, back when it
was just one quirky Shonen lead with crazy powers and an impossible dream.
While it might be hard to tell just how big the story
becomes from the opening minutes of Episode 1, there’s a sense that there’s
plenty to suggest it’s going to go far.
From Gold Roger’s infamous dare to the world to the first taste of how
creative and fun the Pirates at sea can be, this is definitely a series that
fits right in there with its fellow larger than life Shonen brethren like
Dragon Ball Z, Bleach and Naruto as a world that’s begging to be explored.
And again, this is looking at the first episode
without knowledge that this is Episode 1 of close to 1100 at this point.
It’s a softly planted seed and a fun one at
that.
There’s an energy to the premiere that’s hilarious and
inviting and much of that comes from the presence of the unapologetically
honest Luffy.
Easy going, carefree and
cheerfully brutal with his words, Luffy embodies the spirt of a person who
isn’t weighed down by rules and controls or borders or boundaries.
He has one dream and that’s all he needs to
do what he does.
While his chats with
the cowardly Coby might come off as incredibly harsh and insensitive, it’s
Luffy’s way of getting people to look past what’s holding them back and embrace
the journey to see their dreams to fruition.
Five minutes with Luffy and his devil may care attitude and you can
genuinely believe anything is possible, even him becoming King of the
Pirates.
I’d be lying if I said the Premiere of One Piece wasn’t
fun.
Heck it might just rank up there as
one of the best Anime Pilots I’ve seen so far.
Luffy is instantly a likeable leading man and the small taste of Pirates
and the action they bring to the screen is just enough to leave viewers wanting
more of life on the high seas.
I can see
why this show has such a following and has endured 24 years and counting.
Heck, it even imbues with the notion that
maybe it is possible to binge watch huge swaths of the show and maybe get
caught up in less than a year…yeah maybe I shouldn’t jump too far ahead.
Then again, there is a fresh jump on point waiting to be
looked at.
Is the Live Action debut any
better than the beginning of the Anime Legend…or is it a sign that Netflix
hasn’t learned it’s lessons from the still smoldering wreckage of Cowboy
Bebop?
You wont have to wait a
week.
Head back to the main page and
check out my First Impression of the Live Action One Piece right here at the Gundam
Anime Corner.
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