One Piece Anime Review!

So for the last couple weeks/months I’ve been kinda getting back “into anime” and after seeing the conclusions of 2 of the best animes I had ever seen, I decided to pick it up as a hobby again.

I’m about 60 episodes deep into One Piece and I gotta say so far it is very entertaining. In a nutshell, One Piece is a fabled treasure left behind by the greatest Pirate of all time. It is often considered to be “everything in the world”. Enter Monkey D Luffy a goofy, lanky aspiring young pirate. He’s a one man crew and the only 2 things that set him apart from all the other pirates is his golden heart and his rubber body. In the world if One Piece, there exists many magical items including “devil’s fruit” which, when eaten, will give the “eater” a special power at random. Luffy’ happens to turn him into a man of rubber (more on this later). Luffy wants to be the greatest pirate ever, also known as the pirate king, and get the One Piece.

The anime is actually pretty kiddish in terms that the story lines are simple, the colors are vivid and the characters aren’t exactly multidimensional or complex. However that should not stop anyone from enjoying this lively show. Though often “immature” seeming, the themes are definitely mature, the storylines are engaging, the fight scenes are exciting, and the voice acting is great!

One of my favorite story arcs so far is a short one about Luffy’s voyages where he and his crew (which he picks up as he goes through his adventures) combat the most feared pirate in the entire East Blue (the One piece world is split into 4 “blue” seas) whose crew is 50,000 men strong. What I loved about this storyline was both the heavy foreshadowing that happened for the future of the show in addition to the 3-4 episode fight at the end against the captain of the enemy crew. The anime takes careful care to “set up” the battle field in a very clear way so even though the battle is unfolding before your eyes as you watch you really feel like you are on the sidelines and know who all the spectators and settings are. It’s not at all like Dragon Ball Z’s super bland desert battlefields that seem to stretch on forever no matter what happens in the fight.

In comparison to other similar animes, Naruto in particular, I think this show holds up very well. It does a very similar thing in the way it takes an idea that everyone likes (pirate world) and creates a fantasy world out it and allow the user to experience the whole world one episode and place at a time. I still think Naruto is better in pretty much every way at this point in time but One Piece is almost 2-3 times longer than Naruto in series length so it must be doing something right! Even my Anime Conosieur friend Joshua Yoo has told me on several occasions that he likes One Piece better.

I’m on episode 60 out of the 3xx something episodes out right now. It’s drawn me in really well so far so I’m excited to watch more!!

And here is a fitting song about pirates!
Pirate by The Ethiopians

Anime Review: Hajime no Ippo

SECONDS OUT!

Hajime no Ippo is without a doubt my second favorite anime next to Naruto. Its really close actually.

Makunouchi Ippo is a young timid boy who helps his mother with their family fishing business while getting picked on at school by the bullies. One particularly bad day of bullying where Ippo admits that he and his mom both smell like fish in order to avoid being even more severely beaten, he is rescued by the Japanese middleweight boxing champion Mamura Takamura. Takamura quickly dispatches the bullies not with punches but rather by showing off his superior strength, speed and stamina. Ippo watches in awe and follows Takamura to his boxing gym where he discovers his strength. It turns out Ippo’s extensive history of balancing on his family fishing boats and routine carrying of heavy boat equipment has honed his body to be a boxing machine. Hajime no Ippo follows Ippo’s boxing career as he goes from a timid rookie to a confident professional earning the respect and admiration of all those around him.

Much like Naruto, it is not simply the story and moving parts of this anime that makes it so good. Rather it is the way the storytellers show Ippo’s heart as he makes his first friend, has his first date, wins his first fight. I have never seen an anime where I almost cried so many times! The emotional presence in this show is amazing. The relationships created through the 76 episodes are equally amazing as the watcher also learns to love Ippo’s rivals, opponents, and his friends.

As I mentioned earlier, I started working out pretty consistently lately. I a little embarrassed to admit this this anime is more than just partially responsible for my change in attitude. Haha, I suppose this is the point of watching good materials as it drives the audience to make changes in their lives for the positive. In fact I even listen to the score while I run. It sounds silly but whatever gets me off my ass i suppose right??

Anyways, the show has a slightly older style of animation for some reason that is a little wierd to get used to at first but you definitely learn to love it.

I highly recommend it! Please watch and tell me what you think!

Enjoy this famous boxing song courtesy of Rhapsody.com!

Gonna Fly Now (Theme From “Rocky”) (2006 Digital Remaster) by Bill Conti

Monster…

Hi All!

I’ve been meaning to make a post about this for a while now and finally here it is! I recently finished a long… unfinished piece of business. I finished the “Monster” anime.

In short, it was AMAZING.

Here is my attempt at a synopsis of the amazingly intricate plot of Monster.

Kenzou Tenma, a brilliant and kind brain surgeon working in Germany makes the worst decision of his life when he decides to save the life of a young boy who was shot in the head for apparently political reasons. Kenzou succeeds in saving the boy, flash forward 12 years, the boy, Johann, has grown to become one of the single most influential people in the world, committing murders throughout Europe in a ruthless, seemlingly random plan to execute his “plan”. Kenzou sets off to right his wrong by killing Johann.

Gosh, even reading that now I feel I cannot do it the justice it deserves… Anyways, along the way Kenzou discovers dozens of complex characters who all play into Johanns plan somehow. Each of the 74 amazing episodes feed into the suspense and mystery of this startlingly involving plot.

I Highly recommend. 10/10.

Excellent animation.

Excellent voice acting.

Excellent score.

Excellent Character development.

Excellent plot.

Excellent <insert characteristic>.

Enjoy this song commemorating my feelings toward this anime!!!

Monster by Steppenwolf