Infectiously Entertaining
Summary
One Piece is wonderfully escapist fun with memorable characters, crazy action and fight scenes where it genuinely feels like a Manga brought to life. It won’t be for everyone as even I thought the Fishmen were a bit silly, but I found this series nearly impossible to dislike due to it’s sheer energy.
Plot: Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew explore a fantastical world of endless oceans and exotic islands in search of the world’s ultimate treasure to become the next Pirate King.
Review: I’m just back from vacation and catching up on some shows and movies I’ve missed lately, and One Piece has had very good reviews and word of mouth which got me intrigued. I’ve never read the Manga, so I’m just judging this as a TV show, and I must admit I really enjoyed it.
I mean, it’s ridiculous stuff with the Fishmen likely to turn off many viewers with its silliness, but this is a fantasy series where our hero Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) eats a Devil Fruit and suddenly becomes Mr. Fantastic where he can stretch and is essentially made of rubber. If you can get past that One Piece is one of the most charming and entertaining television series I’ve seen for some time.
It’s rare to see such appealing characters in this more nihilistic day and age, so I found this refreshing with Luffy being a positive role model where he respects his friends and builds them up, so they believe in themselves making him a true leader. He wants to be the King of the Pirates and puts together a ragtag crew who (of course) don’t all get along at first but after various adventures and betrayals they become the ultimate team.
It’s hard to pick a favourite character as they are all unique but equally captivating with Zoro (Mackenyu) wanting to be the greatest swordsman alive, Nami (Emily Rudd) with her own ulterior motives, chef Sanji (Taz Skylar) who has a troubled relationship with his boss Zeff (Craig Fairbrass), and Yasopp (Stevel Marc) who likes to make up stories of his own great adventures.
One Piece is beautifully shot with vibrant colours and an uplifting atmosphere which has been sorely lacking in many franchises of late.
There are some crazy villains too like Buggy the Clown (Jeff Ward), Arlong (McKinley Belcher III) and Kuro (Alexander Maniatis). I love (fellow Scot) Vincent Regan as Marines leader Garp who is tough as nails but may not be the villain we first suspect. Every character in this show is interesting and by the end of the quick 8 episodes I was wanting more and can’t wait until we get season 2.
The music score is wonderful with a memorable main theme and it just makes the action all the more rousing.
Speaking of action, we get regular fight scenes and the final episode is practically one big battle. The visual effects are impressive but as I said it might be a bit too out there for some tastes, so if you say you hate this show I get it, but I disagree with you.
Overall, One Piece is one of the most feelgood television series I’ve seen for some time with fantastic characters as well as innovative action scenes which makes it feel unique to anything else out there at the moment.
