2012
02.06

So, right off the bat you must be wondering what the hell I’m doing writing-up about a single episode of an EXTREMELY long-running established series such as this (as opposed to reviewing some DVD set for it or something of the sort). Well, to be frank, this series’ length is actually a big part of the importance of this entry, and why I’m even writing about it in the first place. For those unfamiliar with Eichiro Oda’s insanely popular long-running series One Piece, let me just briefly clue you in on what exactly this particular episode is: Its basically the tried and true inescapable concept that is found in almost all long-running shonen series, simply known by many as the “time-skip.” Even for a series with as many unique quirks as One Piece, this sort of plot-device was inevitable (though, to the series’ credit, it was extremely well handled in this case). Normally that wouldn’t qualify it for an entry on the list, but for this to happen so late in the run of such a long series, and due the huge plot-points that build up to this, its almost like an event among fans of the series, so let’s just say that this entry is an exception.

Now, I should mention that Toei animation isn’t exactly known for their quality. In fact they are known for quite the opposite, usually cutting as many corners as possible and producing cheap productions values where they can to cut costs, but even they decided to put some effort into the premiere of One Piece’s so called “New World” arc.

The episode opens with a brief little prologue building up to Monkey D. Luffy’s grand return on the television screen since….like, a week ago (but this is after a 2 year in-series time-skip so it still carries an epic feeling to it….sort of). I must say that I quite enjoyed how even such a little thing as showing the face of the main character who every fan of the series already knows so well is built up to like its a big deal, as it honestly does effectively build an effectively impressive atmosphere around him. In fact, this whole premiere is basically a series of character re-introductions, and in the case of newcomers to the series who decided to jump in here, they can be considered first time introductions. This may sound completely pointless and sound like it makes for a boring slow-paced episode, but if you know anything about shonen and the concept of their larger than life characters (well, only so few shonen can be bold enough to claim that their characters achieve such status), then this actually makes for a pretty grand opening, and in many ways it reminded me of other classic anime that used such techniques, such as Lupin III in the first episode of the Red Jacket series.

Well, to be fair there is a fair amount of plot happening in the background. The series’ narrator goes into brief detail recapping the events leading up to this episode, which should no doubt be helpful to any newcomers to the series. After the short prologue piece the anime starts off with a brand new opening song sung by the Golden Team who in fact sung the original opening for One Piece which is now all but iconic in Japan, even among people who aren’t fans of One Piece. The episode continues on Saboady Archipelago which fans will know as the site in which the Straw Hat pirates agreed to reunite at. Over there people are buzzing about the return of the Straw Hat pirates after having been missing for years, except (as we the viewers find out) it just so happens that a group of imposters claiming the famous name of the Straw Hat pirates have been using their infamous status to higher the toughest pirates in the area to work under them in their conquest to the new world. This may sound completely ridiculous, and it is, but so is a Skeleton that plays rock music and sings “Bone to be Wild,” an overly-cheery talking Reindeer, and a sun-glass wearing Cyborg among other things. If all of this sounds completely ludicrous to you, you clearly must be unaware of the strange, strange world of One Piece, in which crazy stuff like this is the norm. However aside from just comedic effect, the episode manages to hit some serious notes the imposters show their cruelty by mercilessly killing other pirates and innocent bistandards.

In the middle of this all, the real Straw Hat pirates start appearing on the island one-by-one as they begin making their way to their destined meeting place. This of course effectively sets up the scenario of some inevitable ass-kicking that you know will be coming as the series proceeds from this point.

One Piece is a series that has had a long and healthy run with maybe some hitches along the way. Nevertheless, the fact that it can still to this day capture such a grand feeling of excitement is a testament to its quality as a series. The main question is whether or not this is a good starting point for anyone who has watched little to none of the series beforehand and does not feel like doing so. Admittedly while One Piece as a series is a slow-starter, most of the fun of premieres such as this comes with the rewarding feeling of having followed the characters of this long-running story right from the beginning. Originally they were all no-name pirates who had to struggle their way through much weaker seas. Seeing the series opening with all of them having achieved world-famous status elicits a sense of accomplishment to the viewers who had spent so much time just watching them do it. I doubt that a newcomer would enjoy this premiere nearly as much as a fan. That said, if one were to jump on the One Piece bandwagon from this point in the series, I can say that there are worse places to start, and for all intensive purposes the minimal references to past events so far would ensure that you could generally follow the story elements present at least from this point. That said, I would only recommend it to newcomers if they absolutely refuse to invest too much time in the series by starting from the very beginning.

Overall though, for what its worth, this is a great premiere for what’s supposed to be the 2nd half of the series (assuming that its even half-way done to begin with), and a fantastic way to start off an entire brand new era to such a renowned, long-running series of this nature.

Originally posted on Sunday, October 16, 2011.

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