Well, I am not sure I made a mistake, but I somehow got hooked onto a show that is nearing 900 episodes at the time of this post. But first, let’s give a bit of a backstory. One Piece is rather common and for someone my age it was one of the big three anime airing that everyone seemed to watch. I however did not, mostly since my parents were strict in what to watch. So, anime was not a thing for me for quiet some time. Fast forward to two years ago I decided to give either One Piece or Naruto a shot. People told me to check One Piece out more, so I did. I stopped rather early into the series, around episode 36, which is the Arlong Park arc. A few weeks prior to posting this, I was bored, it was hot mid-summer night, and well, I wanted something to watch. With it being One Piece’s twentieth anniversary this year, I decided to give it another shot, and wow, I watched a lot.
Due to the fact there was a 2-year gap between watching the first 30ish episodes and watching the following 200 episodes, since I am going through this at an alarming rate at this point and thought it would be a good idea to talk about these sagas before I forget them. I wanted to cover both the remainder of the East Blue Saga, since I am more familiar with it and the Alabasta Saga, which got me really hooked on the show, then there is Skypeia, which will be the last arc to cover. I hope to continue to the recent episode by covering by mostly Sagas, until the arcs get really long. So, hopefully writing about it every now and again will keep me motivated to do so.
Of course, since this is my first time watching One Piece, please do not spoil anything, or try to avoid spoilers. I am already well aware of a certain fire character’s death due to well, there being a special based on it. So, aside from that try to avoid spoiling me, but still feel free to talk about some of your favorite moments in the series, mainly what your favorite arc is.
East Blue Saga
As I said I do not remember too much about the early episodes, as it has been a few years. The Arlong fight really got me into the series, it was interesting, action packed, and honestly there was not a fight like it until the end of the Alabasta saga. Overall the arc to me felt like it dragged on at the start, which ultimately made me stop at first.
I did rather enjoy the following arc, with Smoker. I did like this introduction to another type of Devil Fruit, since it was one, we haven’t seen before and also really put Luffy in a tough situation. But that island where they were, it really gave a sense of direction of where they were going, after the One Piece, which at times later on feels like it is just a destination they are aiming for. It was the fight with Smoker and a few of the older enemies, who I did not realize would be reoccurring later, that made this arc stand out more. Enemies return, and I was perfectly okay with that. But it also served as a founding point for everyone and while there was some filler throughout it gave a reminder of everyone’s goals and what they hope to accomplish.
The last arc in the East Blue Saga, well, I did not realize it was original until after it ended. It did come off as odd and out of place by the end of it. Honestly it was just okay. Considering One Piece doesn’t have that many filler arcs in its twenty-year history, I did not mind this one. Otherwise I would have skipped it if I know sooner.
Alabasta Saga
This is really when I got into it, I think on two separate occasions I watched nearly twenty episodes in a day for this arc, and considering it was over 70 episodes long, I found it rather enjoyable. Vivi was fun, and I did like the first introduction to her and the Grand Line. She came off as goofy, but really, she was a princess trying to put a stop to a conspiracy to her kingdom. It was the journey there that made it enjoyable, followed by the adventure on Alabasta that made the fight so worthwhile with the build up to it. I did like the approach for this arc, how they needed to travel to several islands first before getting there. It allowed for them to show off the Grand Line and what to expect to come, from snow covered islands, to a volcano one with dinosaurs. I mean, it opened up the world a lot on the possibilities on what they might find. As well as bring about the fact that the crew will keep growing with the introduction to Chopper, who is honestly one of my favorite characters.
This arc I did have a lot of fun watching, and the ending was certainly satisfying. I really will miss Vivi, she was a lot of fun for the short time she was part of the crew.
Skypeia Saga
This arc, was the first instance where I had trouble watching it, not because I was busy, but because I was bored. It started off with a few filler episodes, which I skipped, then two mini filler arcs, again, which were rather boring, then it had a lot of build up for the arc itself. Between making it to the sky island and then being on the sky island, by the time the first real fight of the arc started I found myself falling asleep mid episode.
This arc, to me did not pick up until the final fight, which was a shame. This arc to me had potential, then it became something that felt like it was trying to go in one direction, only to go in a completely different one. The start was just not satisfying. The ending was.
By the time the arc finished, they gave it a filler arc, which I was told was one of the best, if not, the best filler arc of the series. It was honestly pretty good, it got me back into the show at full swing and really pushed me forward to the point of being able to finish part of the next saga that same day.
Of the three arcs covered, Skypeia certainly is my least favorite of the series so far. This mostly comes down to the lack of direction it had going for it.
Either way, feel free to comment your favorite things about One Piece, try to avoid spoilers.
Next time I will hopefully just cover Water 7 Saga, however talking about the arcs on an individual level over the whole saga.
As always I hope you enjoyed.
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Again, I hope you enjoyed and see you next time.
– Joe
The Reviewer's Corner 
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