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Hello! So, I figured that I start reading One Piece. I think it would be a fun challenge and I'm in the mood for something more cartoony.

If you're wondering if I liked it so far, the answer is yes, but your mileage may vary. I can appreciate the simplicity of these first few arcs, but you may feel like it wasn't good enough to justify the time.

Romance Dawn

Overall, One Piece has a strong start. It does a good job of getting me invested in Luffy, as well as the overall vibe for this new Manga.

I found it interesting how they used Koby as the audience proxy, and not Luffy, as a way to introduce us to this new world. This has the funny add-on effect of telling us that we suck shit, but of course he grows a backbone by the end, inspiring us to do the same.

Orange Town

Okay, so the main theme of this arc is "treasure" and what that really means. Buggy and Nami both value literal treasure, the mayor values his town, and the dog values his owner's pet food store.

This has the effect of hinting at us that the "One Piece" isn't just going to be a big pile of gold, it's going to be something more personal and unorthodox.

The big problem with Orange Town is that nothing really stands out too much here. I think Buggy is an excellent "first boss" and I found the dog and it's backstory heartbreaking, but that's really it.

Syrup Village

It's here where One Piece has it's first crack at a more conventional arc. I can imagine this arc being divisive just because Usopp may come across as an acquired taste. He's cowardly and a major eyesore compared to the rest of the crew.

I will say that they do a great job of giving Usopp depth right from the start. There's a lot of little things that make him work as a character for me and I can respect that.

The only thing I'll say is that I don't think every single character needs this big, dramatic backstory. When the Usopp Pirates were disbanded, that's all I really needed, his sick flashback Mom didn't have much of an effect on me.

Captain Kuro is a good idea for a villian. The idea of a pirate who is just trying to retire somewhere nice sounds interesting, but I think my issue is that he's just very normal compared to everybody else surrounding him. He makes sense, as the opposite to Usopp, but I still think he's kind of boring.

Baratie

I feel like it's at this point where One Piece is really starting to heat up. Zoro in particular has been having a tough time throughout this entire saga thus far, but it's here where that finally comes to a head.

This was a really strong introduction for Sanji, I think he adds a layer of sophistication that this cast of lost toys really needed. I also really liked his fighting style - he fights with his legs because he's a cook! You gotta protect those hands.

This arc really puts the characters at their limit and Luffy is no exception. He's got nothing, not even any crew members once somebody betrays them all. This forces the crew to split up and it's at the worst possible moment.

The big thing is that, while Baratie is very different from Syrup Village, I find that it has a lot of similar issues when pairing them up side-by-side. It does slow down a bit too much by the end, just like in the last arc, and Don Krieg is an absolutely horrible villain, I hate him.

Whereas the last arc had the hypnotist, whom I found more interesting, this arc has Mihawk, whom I also love.

Compared to Syrup Village, Baratie has big drama and cool fights, but I'd still rank it equal just because I was able to appreciate Usopp's nuanced character writing. It's one of those things that'll come down to personal preference, perhaps.

Arlong Park

I want to start off by saying that this is hands down my favourite arc so far. Not only did I like it, but I loved it. Whereas the previous arcs were perfectly acceptable, sure, here my eyes were glued to the page from beginning to end.

I really loved the fish people, all of them. The main antagonist, Arlong, is essentially a Tales of Symphonia villain – short of shouting INFERIOR BEINGS!!! As a fishman, he is significantly stronger than any enemy we’ve previously encountered (besides Mihawk) and as such, he considers his race to be superior to humans. He’s just a vat of pure ruthlessness and evil, I love him.

I was really taken aback near the end of this arc, when things don’t go as planned and Nami breaks down. It’s not just shocking, it feels realistic. As someone who had been down some dark and intense places in their own life, it was a reminder of how difficult it can be just to ask for help, it really takes everything out of you.

Nami is an excellent character, by the way, and that’s really important because female characters in Battle Shonen always suck shit. Nami isn’t just her pain – she’s brave, she’s strong, she’s weak, she feels human and she has depth.

Her only problem... is that she can’t fight and that might be an issue as we get further and further into the series. I’m not saying that she needs to know how to fight in order to be strong, I’d just really like it if every member of the crew could have a proper role in combat.

Obviously, it’s here where we get to see Nami’s big, dramatic backstory. I really love Bell-mere, Nami’s foster parent. Prior to Luffy, she was the closest to getting the better of Arlong, however, out of love, respect and pride, she could not bring herself to claim that she did not have children. The fact that she would rather die than not admit to being a mother is quite powerful.

Nojiko, Nami’s step-sister, is yet another strong female character that I really liked. There’s subtle things about her that endeared her to me, like how she got her own tattoo in solidarity with Nami.

We get a lot of satisfying payoff for the rest of the crew too. Zoro, still injured from the last arc (and perhaps the entirety of this saga thus far), affirms that he will never lose again in his fight with Hachi, the Octopus man. Which, by the way, I fell in love with his design the moment I saw him.

Usopp gets his moment to shine, acknowledging his own cowardliness and even winning his first real battle. I really feel like I’ve been cheering him on.

This is Sanji’s first real showcase as a part of the crew. You can tell that he’s going to be one of the stronger fighters, he gets some funny moments, and I like his pseudo-rivalry with Zoro.

Luffy actually takes a back seat for most of this arc, who simply vows to help Nami stop crying. It’s endearing how far Luffy is willing to go for his crew members, and I feel like it’s here where the Straw Hats truly formed once and for all.

Overall, I can’t sing my praises enough. This arc does everything right, I feel like I’ve been sat up and now I’m taking One Piece seriously.

Loguetown

Lougetown seems to be acting as a small bridge of sorts, as the end to the East Blue saga, but also the “true beginning” for One Piece as a whole. I suspect that’s what “Louge” stands for, like the English words Prologue and Epilogue.

This town holds great significance as the place where Gol D. Roger was born, as well as where he was executed. It feels like the true beginning for Luffy, who is able to bare witness to his platform and acquire a real bounty.

We’re also introduced to some new characters here, like Smoker. I’ve said before that Captain Kuro and Don Krieg sucked ass, but I think this is how a “cool character” should look like in the One Piece world. All of his cigars make him look just silly enough and without going too overboard, so we can still take him seriously. I really like him.

Two of Zoro’s swords were destroyed back when he was defeated during Baratie, so it’s here where he acquires two new ones. It feels like the true beginning for Zoro as well, embarking on his path to become the world’s best.

Overall, this was just a nice break to get us set up for the next Saga. That said, it was still captivating enough on it’s own, consolidating everything that we know about One Piece thus far. It’s just fun!

The East Blue Saga

So... here’s the thing. Don’t go into One Piece with very high expectations. If you’re looking to get into the hype and see what everybody is talking about, well, the story at this point is thematically and structurally very simple.

One Piece first came out in 1997, so you’re less likely to find something with a fast pace and with a dark and gritty atmosphere. The enjoyment here mostly comes from the simple adventure, seeing Luffy build his crew and getting to see all of their interactions.

The East Blue generally gets better the deeper into it you get, the best portion is the end. Arlong Park works so well because, while it uses the same template that it used for all of the arcs before it, it adds in a really cool plot twist and plenty of great character moments.

Probably one of the weaker aspects of the East Blue are it's villains. Buggy and Arlong are both memorable, Alvida is okay, but the others, Higuma, Morgan, Captain Kuro, and Don Krieg - aren't very good.

What matters though, is that it really excels with it's protagonists. All of them are likeable and compelling, and watching Luffy convince each of them to open up their hearts and join his crew is great.

After having digested it all, while I don’t think the East Blue saga was consistently amazing, the main characters and just the vibes were strong enough to where I felt compelled to keep reading anyways, warts and all.