God... I was so obsessed with this

When I started gaining my interests in manga and anime as a young girl, I used to read Shonen Jump. A manga called One Piece caught my attention one day when I was seven, so I began to read it and never stopped. When I heard the anime was gonna be released on TV I just had to watch it.

It starts off with a small prologue of the execution of Gold Roger, a man who was known as the King of the Pirates. Just before his death, he announces that his treasure, the One Piece, is up for anyone's taking. Thus began the Great Pirate Era as numerous pirates set out to the Grand Line for Gold Roger's treasure.

Twenty years later, a young 17-year-old pirate named Monkey D. Luffy sets out on his journey in search for the One Piece. Ten years prior to his adventure, he was inspired by the pirate "Red-Haired" Shanks to start off his own crew and one day become the next King of the Pirates. However, at that same time, he accidentally ate what's known as a Devil Fruit which allows his body to stretch in outrageous ways, but takes away his ability to swim.

It doesn't matter to him though as he slowly builds up his crew such as bounty hunter swordsman, Roronoa Zoro, navigator and thief, Nami, and many other interesting characters. Along the way however, he faces many enemies such as Buggy the Clown, the Black Cat Pirates, and many others including the Marines who eventually put a bounty on Luffy's head. Yet Luffy won't stop until he gets to the Grand Line and becomes the King of the Pirates.

Okay, I know this sounds like a cool anime, but here's the truth: It goes nowhere fast! The original Japanese is STILL running with over 500 episodes! I mean, at first it's okay, you can get through most of the extra filler stuff that gets a bit annoying, but after a while I got bored with it and was kind of an on-and-off status with it for a small time. Then after a while I thought, "This has turned into such a boring show." I still like some of the characters like Zoro and Sanji but everyone else gets really annoying. I'm still surprised I have friends who actually still like it. But I guess it depends on preferences in anime. It's not totally bad since there is a good intended story line with great characters, but it's slow in delivering the actual story. Just my opinion.

~Liz~