One piece... it's grand.

[rubbereruben]

This might seem a bit pretentious, but since I've been on this forum for quite a while, I hope you'll let me make this thread.

I've never been to this part of the narutofan forums until now. In the last month I've discovered One Piece and it has taken me quite a bit of reading time to cover all the 398 chapters that have been released.

All of this put behind me, I've gone through several emotional stadia while reading this manga. I'll name a few: Curiosity, amazement, laughter, sadness, denial, more amazement, intense laughter, excitement. And many more.

While I'm accustomed to reading manga... I never started to read One Piece for sole reason: Too many chapters to cover. about 8000 pages in total.
I've read several long mangas which include, Berserk (267 chapters so far), Naruto (293 so far), HxH (258 so far) and Bleach (213 so far) all of them past 200.

But they're dwarfed compared to One Piece with a staggering 398 chapters released so far. Going strong since 1997.

I've heard of One piece for a while and I've always been a big fan of pirates. Me and my friends usually have debates of which are cooler, ninjas or pirates. And after reading all 398 chapters of one piece, my old opinion has been certified. Pirates win by a long shot.

The funny thing is, while I thought it was impossible, One Piece even increased my love for pirates. They're, drinking, pillaging, partying men, that love to rumble once in a while. Roaming the seven seas. It's the epitome of a life of freedom.

One piece as a manga is just... overwhelming. Every arc when you think it can't be drawn out any longer, it gets even more exciting. Not to be speaking of all the background information on all the characters. Every main character has had his history shown in full glory, and they're all tearjerking. I must admit that I've passed a tear during the flashback of every main character.

The humour is just insane. I can't stop laughing when I see Usopp, Chopper and luffy doing something hilarious. Usopp is to me the funniest by far, that and together with being a chicken and a brave pirate once in a while makes him my favorite character. With Luffy not too far behind.

This takes me to a certain point in the manga I almost dropped the manga, not because the manga was lacking quality, no. It was because my favorite character was leaving my favorite pirate company. It was the first time in any manga that I read that I felt so... lost.

Usopp, the sniper, liar, brave pirate and comedian was leaving the group...
I couldn't believe it. I must've stared to my screen for a few minutes, just to comprehence it. And when I silently read on the faith that he would ever return grew slim. Until Sogeking appeared.

At this point, I'm very hopeful that Usopp will return back to our group.

Usopp is to me a very realistic character that always relies on streetsmarts and creativity. I love him for it.

So all of that put on screen, my question for everybody who read through this pile of text:

What were your experiences with this manga? When did you start reading? Were you hooked on the spot? And did you have the same ups and downs while reading this manga, even though the quality still stands?

I would love to read the experiences of other One Piece fans. And hope this hasn't been done before. (I did scan briefly through all the threads)

[Moridin]

Nice thread :)

I also started reading only a short time ago, read the series from 0-398 pretty much solidly for a week and it has been thoroughly enjoyable. As you said the series seems to take you up and down on differnt crests of emotions. Whilst I've not shed a tear I have felt considerably sad at different points of the manga only to have that replaced with happiness a little later on.

It also has a fantastically intrigueing plot line, there are so many mysteries going on and so many things to find out about. One of my favourite things about one piece is the action/fight sequences we get. Whilst most shounen you tend to get good guys get beaten, find resolve and overcome bad guys for pretty much all the fights, in one piece when the opponents have been of a lower level they just tend to get wiped out. Prime example being Bellamy, with Luffy having a higher bounty than him I was wondering what was going to happen in their fight, would it be a drawn out struggle. Only to see Luffy completely destroy Bellamy with a one hit KO :D

I just think that One Piece does everything so well and I'm very glad I started reading

[S.o.L]

I started off somewhere in the Skypea arc because I wanted to know what was going on. I used to only watch the anime, K-F subs, but they were taking a long time to come out with episodes. So I just read to catch up to where Gerusama subswas at, but now I am still reading the manga cause I'm hooked.

[kapsi]

It's soo slow

[gaarasai]

I've pretty much started about 4 years ago
Its been a painfully long but awesomely satisfying journey so to speak

[Freija]

i think i started reading , 99' or 00', what i felt was well indescribable, it sorta just sucked me up >,> OP is like a drug :D it's split #1 place on my manga list together with SDK ^_^

[pakku]

I guess it would be two or three years ago now that I would only watch K-F's subs, and tried not to spoil things by reading the manga, since the scans were... eh... compared to K-F's flashy appearance and better translations than Null (or whoever it was at the time... can't remember). Then, I remember we went two months without seeing a single episode from K-F... and it was summer vacation too, making it especially painful. So that's what made me succumb to the scans. I read Skypiea in its entirety on that MSN group's page and never looked back. Luckily, Null's improvements and my discovery of Stephen's scripts have made the experience much more appealing, and besides, I would be missing out on the Water 7 arc, the high point of the series so far.

I was initially drawn to it for a few reasons, the big one being the way that OP takes the genre's clichés (shounen manga melodrama, little to no death, etc.) and embraces them, exaggerates things even more, like it doesn't really even take itself seriously. This is a pretty rare quality, in my opinion- I've yet to see anybody else pull it off nearly as well, without demeaning its other qualities. For some reason I find it to be a pretty attractive quality, it's what really sets it apart from the other shounen manga as the king for me.

...Aaand of course I fell in love with the characters, sense of adventure, offbeat art style and all that, too.

[Rice Ball]

hehe

Always amkes me chucke when people talk about pirates as They're, drinking, pillaging, partying men, that love to rumble once in a while. Roaming the seven seas. It's the epitome of a life of freedom

I don't suppose you've heard what real pirates did/do.

[Raptor]

I began with one piece after a lot of search when Naruto anime became the horrible thing it is now. I coudln't be more glad either.

It is fantastic. the world is overwelming and the characters are deep completed with their stories. There hasn't been a single moment where I felt bored with it. Sure it's going slow, but who cares?? After you read the next chapter you feel the need to read more and the desire to know what the heck will happen.

No wonder why it's the most readed manga in Japan now, and the anime is the 3rd best of all time only surpassed (in the rank, not in my list, for me it's no. 1) by DragonBall and Doraemon. I would put it in the 1st place though. Even the fillers are good and have more sense than most of the anoying fillers of any other anime.

A true masterpiece. It was so hard to get all the episodes, movies, specials, music and everything, but it was worth it.

[furious styles]

It's amazing =)

Amount of issues still nothing on HnI, though.

[Superman no jutsu]

do someone know where I can get episode 397 and 398??
need them now:):):)

[rubbereruben]

hehe

Always amkes me chucke when people talk about pirates as

I don't suppose you've heard what real pirates did/do.

Of course I'm not so naive that I believe the romanticization.

It's just that I want pirates to be the way they are in One Piece... And of course everybody knows that pirates are cool... :nod

do someone know where I can get episode 397 and 398??
need them now:):):)

There ya go. http://groups.msn.com/onepiecemangav-2/

[Superman no jutsu]

Ty very much:)
I owe you one

[gallacher]

Rich history on Usopp's background and why he cry wolf every morning about pirates coming to attack his village. Teary.

[Pulp Fiction]

i started from 1-339

[Ah B]

Watched up to Skypiea arc (KF Subs), then switched over to manga because its what I usually do (watch up to latest releases (good quality ones), and then switch over to manga).

Good thing I did it, too. One Piece is amazing. I got hooked on so easily after reading it. I can't wait for every week for the chapter to come out.

[neostar8710]

i thought one piece was boring at first. like the kuro arc. yeah. the buggy arc was addicting ( i did newayz, a lot of other ppl didn't). Then the Arlong arc truly caught my attention. It was very well done and Oda sensei did a terrifc job making people hate Arlong for being evil. From there, everything was awesome. Especially when Luffy lost to Crocodile. That was great. It's good to see the good guys lose once in awhile. Now, the part that almost made me stop reading One Piece was the Sky Piea arc. I found most of it boring. After rereading a second time around, i started to like it, but not one of my favorites. The arc got better near the end though. After Sky Piea, everything just got great. Water 7 is possibly one of the best arcs. The question is how will Oda sensei follow up. So hopefully we won't be disappointed.

[RockLee]

The manga is amazing. I've been buying the books lately, but when I consider there's 40+ books...

Ugh. My wallet cries out in pain. However, upton reading you essay, I will buy them after all. I have up to book 7, and I guess I'll buy books 8 and 9.

Keep the Flame of Youth burning! =D

[Dark Travis]

Looking back at this manga in foresight, you really can't help but think:

EPIC

[Ruri]

I got into One Piece by watching the anime about 2 years ago. At first, I hated the art style, but I was hooked soon enough, and I started reading the manga after the first few arcs. It's been a great experience ever since. I've loved every arc, and they just seem to get better and better. The world and characters Oda has created are just awesome, with the perfect mix drama, action, and humor.

One Piece will always be one of my favorite mangas. ^_^

[dragonofraven]

Well, the first time I read One Piece was when I went through a Shonen Jump magazine. At the time it didn't seem too amazing, but months later the show came on to TV. After that I got hooked. When it ended at Drum island, I waited for a few months before deciding to start reading the chapters. Once I started to read, I once more got pulled in. The thing that I love most about One Piece is the author's creativity. How he's able to think up so many unique people and powers. I mean, who would have ever thought that the main character would be made of rubber? And who thought he'd be so good? Plus, I love Zoro, you don't see people wield three swords, and that kind of uniqueness is what really gets me. One of my favorite things, though, is how the author ties so many things in that you wouldn't think of at first. Like Norland's story with Skypea, and that one frog that kept challenging the train. I just love this kind of stuff, it pushes me on to be even more dynamic in my own stoy ideas. Right now, I've got so many ideas for my main character in my story to use his powers, and it's all thanks to One Piece.

[Wrath]

I first read OP in the US Shounen Jump (which isn't even published here, so let's not get into what I had to do to get it). I liked it, but that was only the beginning, and it hadn't really gotten going.

Eventually I found a source for it online, and there was no looking back. By the time I had it all the story was at the end of the Davy Back game.

One Piece is the true epitome of long form storytelling. You can read 400 chapters and get the sense that it's halfway done. It's defined by the sheer grandeur of the character's dreams, in a real world, you feel how far away the goal of being the world's best is. I could talk about it for a long time, but I won't right now.

Now if only Oda could draw more than two women.

[Hermie]

Funny how this section gets way more "OMG this series rock!"-threads than the others. :p

[furious styles]

Funny how this section gets way more "OMG this series rock!"-threads than the others. :p

maybe cuz it rocks. with a don!

[TenshiOni]

maybe cuz it rocks. with a don!
Correct! dereshishishi.

[Wrath]

The number of threads about how much OP rocks is directly proportional to the number of mods who hate it.

[Geese]

I started off somewhere in the Skypea arc because I wanted to know what was going on. I used to only watch the anime, K-F subs, but they were taking a long time to come out with episodes. So I just read to catch up to where Gerusama subswas at, but now I am still reading the manga cause I'm hooked.


This is exactly how it went with me. And One Piece FUCKING owns.

[TenshiOni]

The number of threads about how much OP rocks is directly proportional to the number of mods who hate it.
You'd be surprised...the haters are only down to Dani, Mel, Moe, Gooba, and Vash now.

Patman, MechaTC, and Gold Knight have been converted. =]

Combined with me, Rho, pek, and Zach (NN), we're now stronger! >D

[Raptor]

You'd be surprised...the haters are only down to Dani, Mel, Moe, Gooba, and Vash now.

Patman, MechaTC, and Gold Knight have been converted. =]

Combined with me, Rho, pek, and Zach (NN), we're not stronger! >D

Someday everyone will see the light don't worry :amuse

[geminis]

The sad thing is....for me, I didn't get into OP until recently since I was waiting to finish Naruto before getting into OP but I realized, OP is older by a couple of years that would make no sense! lol

So it turns out that I bumped into some co-workers at my job who I never would've thought were into anime or manga at all. I mean these guys are west indian, black, and hispanic like me and give off the impression of (I'm on the block chasing that paper.) I saw how one night one of them had an Anime in his bag so I proceeded to ask them about which animes they watch and etc. They all said ONEPIECE with a look of glea and sinister amazement on their faces! They asked me what I was into I said naruto,samurai 7, samurai champloo, cowboybebop yada yada yada. So they decided that they would hook me up with as much OP as possible ASAP. So far I've only watched the anime and up to episode 29 so I know my long journey of OP awaits me. I like it so far, still like naruto about the same yet my co-workers keep telling me OP>Naruto and that Pirates are stronger than Ninjas yada yada yada. Everybody I ask who knows about manga says OP is the real deal so I know it must be worth watching/reading.

Long live OP!:beer

[Hermie]

You guys need to help me bother GK into catching up with the manga. >_>

[rubbereruben]

Someday everyone will see the light don't worry :amuse

I think what most people scares away at first hand is the out of the world characters. First time I saw Roronoa Zoro I was thinking... 3 swords? That's way over the top, you can't make it seem believable. Ah, I was so wrong. Oda pulls it off perfectly. Same with a rubber man as the leading character, I'd never think that'd be possible.

Though I have to say that the beginning isn't nearly as good as the latter arcs... that's what makes people hesitant into getting into the manga... which is a darn shame.

[Raptor]

I think what most people scares away at first hand is the out of the world characters. First time I saw Roronoa Zoro I was thinking... 3 swords? That's way over the top, you can't make it seem believable. Ah, I was so wrong. Oda pulls it off perfectly. Same with a rubber man as the leading character, I'd never think that'd be possible.

Though I have to say that the beginning isn't nearly as good as the latter arcs... that's what makes people hesitant into getting into the manga... which is a darn shame.


And how about the sad excuse of a dub the US has done?? How do they let them do that I wonder. I am convinced that's the greatest problem and why One Piece isn't as popular around here. Heck one piece is the 3rd greatest anime of all time according to japanese polls (it's #1 for me :P)

[Wrath]

You'd be surprised...the haters are only down to Dani, Mel, Moe, Gooba, and Vash now.

Patman, MechaTC, and Gold Knight have been converted. =]

Combined with me, Rho, pek, and Zach (NN), we're now stronger! >DHaha! Excellent, excellent.

[Kucheeky Badkuya]

I was a huge fan of the ninja, DBZ, and pirate thing, a while back. Than my friend in my Junior year, recommend me this manga and said it was awesome and it was about pirates. I gace him th e"O Rly?" questions and than he replied, "No wai" and thats how it lead me to buy my first One Piece volume.

I got into One Piece before, I knew of scans. The third/fourth volume is what got me into One Piece, the Captain Kuro arc. The designs were beautifully done and truly inspired me to look out for more of this awesome manga. And so I did, I caught on some scans and flew by this amazing manga, and helped bring a forum here on Naruto Fan.

[geminis]

Raptor....

So which mangas are # 1 and 2 of all time?

[S.o.L]

I started OP a little over a month ago. I only started reading because K-F's subs were taking along time to be released, so I began reading the manga somewhere in the Skypea arc. At first I thought I was jut going to read until I got to the first episode that Gerusama relaeased. But I got hooked and now I am a OP manga and anime fan. It's kinda wierd cause I am now watching both Skypea, and the Water 7 arcs. While the manga is in the Enes Lobby arc, which is just a continuation of the Water 7 arc.

[Wrath]

Raptor....

So which mangas are # 1 and 2 of all time?Probably Dragonball and Slam Dunk.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Probably Dragonball and Slam Dunk.
Mobile Suit Gundam and Dragonball, actually, iirc.

[geminis]

HF, those are the actual # 1 and 2 of all time?

[CABLE]

yep. Pretty much.