(Please keep in mind that Luffy’s definition of pirate is considerably more about teamwork and good morals than the widely accepted vision of a seafaring murderous thief.)
Continuing their quest to find the Pirate King’s treasure on the Grand Line, this show alternates between wacky hijinks and life-or-death battles against strangely powerful enemies. The characters are actually pretty fun to watch, despite the terrible circumstances they hail from and encounter on a regular basis, and each one has characteristics that are easy to root for. Monkey D. Luffy is the focus of the series, and his never-ending optimism and idealistic view of how life should be make him a very lovable underdog.
The action is never-ending, as well, and coming from creators with ties to the classic Dragonball series it shouldn’t be surprising that fights rarely fit into less than 3 or 4 episodes. The art is simplistic and approachable, if somewhat static, but does a fine job of conveying the overall extraordinary fighting abilities of the crews. The music is…well, the music is there, and is used mostly as background to heighten excitement or convey a carefree attitude. Not particularly inspiring on a spiritual level, but does its job conveying the background on an audio level.
A fun series on many levels, and easily approachable, the main storyline and alignment of any random episode is pretty transparent. A good buy for fans of wacky piratical adventures.
Personal thoughts:
I do have a few gripes about this show, but they’re likely based on my aversion to some of the key characteristics of the series. A lot of still shots are re-used during episodes, and each mid-battle episode can contain up to 5 minutes of “last time on One Piece” rehashing before starting new action. Personally, my exposure to new and fantastic anime produced on a very complex scale prevents me from fully enjoying this simplistic art-style and less-than-collegiate storyline. Perhaps a good pick for a night of vegging-out, but not really my style.