One Piece...Is It Good?

[AsianBlossom]

Okay...so I figured that most of the threads that came up under "search" were not going to be specific, and if they were that far down the line, it wouldn't be worth gravedigging them, so...

I've been thinking about looking into buying the One Piece manga series, seeing as I like what I've seen on the anime, chopped up though it may be (please don't start anything; I'm just stating a fact). Also, Borders sells each book for about $7.95 or something each. But anyways, for those of you who have read it, is it good enough to consider buying? After all, from what I've seen, there are many books in this series; and it would stink buying most of the books in the series only to realize that something rather unpleasant happens towards the end (we had this downloadable game called "Chip's Challenge" that we've long since deleted...they wait until the 145th or so level to throw in some sort of satanic element and by then you've wasted how many hours trying to complete the dumb thing...sheesh...) Anyways...

[jon_jinn]

i, myself, find One Piece to be quite an enjoyable, light-hearted series. the artwork is quite unusual (not sure if that's good or bad) and the entire series is quite bizarre and funky and also quite funny. the story is pretty intriguing (i mean, there aren't very many mangas about PIRATES). the characters are quite original and have interesting backgrounds. overall, the series is very fun with lots of comedy and action and likable characters.

[MasterDias]

If you are fine with the earlier volumes, you really shouldn't find anything wrong with the later volumes, I don't think.
If you want a general-content review, there is a fair-amount of blood and such(but that's a given for a series of this type) although no one ever dies outside of flashbacks, occasional mild fanservice (but no female nudity, and perhaps only 1 or 2 instances of brief male rear shots)... and that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
No...eh...satanism or anything....but I've never seen that in a manga series.

It's a really fun series all things considering, albeit an extremely long one. The series is 48+ volumes in Japan currently and nowhere close to finishing. The really slow U.S. release is around 16 volumes currently.
But, yeah, it's a good series.

Meanwhile....Chip's Challenge? I think I played/had that game years ago.....but don't think I got anywhere on it.

[uc pseudonym]

To answer your question, if you liked the anime I don't think the manga will be much different. The 4kids version has general threatening elements removed (blood, alcohol, guns, etc) but if that kind of thing bothered you I doubt you'd be reading shonen.

To answer the question in the title... I don't think so. One Piece is one of the main three shonen titles today and is very popular, but I find it merely mediocre. But given that this thread isn't really about the quality of the series, I won't talk about this too long.

[creed4]

I like it. Because of 4kids the manga has more arcs in it and the stories are cleaver.

[Fish and Chips]

One Piece is entertaining with a likable stock of characters, which isn't a bad thing, but for Shounen, it's pretty much par for the course. That, and the Mangaka could put a little more effort into his work. At Oda's best, One Piece's art is fairly good, but the rest of the time it's sub standard. A good bookstore read, but that's all.

And yes, that is Sanji in my signature.

[Hana Ryuuzaki]

Well, personally, I sort-of stand the storyline (I mean, c'mon. a RUBBER pirate?)

BUT I can't handle the cartoony-ness of this series. I can't read or watch something if the art's not aesthetically pleasing to me. But it'd be a good bookstore read, like Fish & Chips said.

STORY:8/10
ART:3/10
OVERALL RATING:6/10

[ShiroiHikari]

You guys all suck. One Piece is highly entertaining, and very emotional. Also, I happen to like Oda's art style.

[Hana Ryuuzaki]

And that's your opinion! I respect that.

(I like the more..detailed drawings, like BLEACH and Fairy Cube!)

[AsianBlossom]

Thanks everybody! I bought the first book today. I really don't mind the blood much, especially since it's in black and white. If it were in color, I would probably mind a little, and if it were gore, I would mind it very much so, but so far I like how the series is going. And I really don't mind the (perhaps a little bizarre?) art style; it just fits with this series. Now, I'm picky about the artwork with other series...XD

But yeah; thanks again, everyone!

[Netbug009]

You guys all suck. One Piece is highly entertaining, and very emotional. Also, I happen to like Oda's art style.

SOMEBODY FINALLY AGREES WITH ME!

Anyways, I love One Piece. If you're wondering about content, here's a list from what I know from reading some volumes up to 16 and watching the anime for a while. some for already know, but what the heck.:

-The biggest issue is violence. There's a lot of blood. All kinda fantasy violence though.
-Sexual humor is low, but there are some characters who wear skimpy clothings and a sexual joke on rare occasion.
-The main character's powers and powers of other characters come from a food called the Devil Fruit, but there really isn't much satanic about it. That's just what they're called.
-Some cussing in earlier issues, but it pretty much all vanishes later.

[AsianBlossom]

Well, it looks like this is my brother's series...he has the first four books now, but I still like this series a lot. Whenever he's done with a book, I get to read it next, and I don't mind the blood too much because it's in black and white.

[Kaboom]

Yes, One Piece is a great, epic series. Some people will complain about it's art style being less "realistic" or "hardcore" compared to others, but... it's not supposed to be. While it can get pretty emotional and intense at times, One Piece is, at it's core, a fun, light-hearted adventure series, and the unique art style reflects that.

One warning thought... It's LONG. Viz is at what... Volume 17 right now? Oh, boy. They're not even halfway through. In Japan at the moment, One Piece is at Chapter 485, with some 40-something volumes on the market. It'll likely be years before Viz catches up (it's not their precious Naruto, after all ), so I'd suggest reading it online once you've read everything they've released so far. You'll want to; it keeps getting better and better.