Should you start One Piece? Superfan has the perfect answer

One of the biggest barriers to entry for author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece anime and manga series comes from the series’ massive length. For many prospective fans, watchers, and readers, the series simply feels and sounds too large for them to feasibly comprehend beginning, catching up with, and eventually finishing.

It’s a reality that many current fans of One Piece, especially in its anime adaptation form, are begrudgingly aware of. After all, it is difficult to convince friends, family, and acquaintances to try and check out a series that already eclipses one thousand installments and still has no end in sight.

However, Twitter user and apparent One Piece fan @aizenika56 (Nika56) posted a thread on why they felt the series is worth starting and reading. Even better is that Nika56 can do this without going into major spoilers for the series, successfully preserving the joy of reading through it while still arguing why it’s worth starting.

---

Twitter user and One Piece superfan makes compelling argument for why the series is worth starting

After providing some background information on One Piece, such as its author and illustrator, publishing history, and so on, Nika56 dives into the series’ intimidating length. As of Nika56’s posting, there are 1084 manga chapters and 1062 anime episodes.

Nika56 acknowledges that such a length can be daunting but argues that it also has its charms. She asserts that one such way in which the series’ length has its charm is that it functions almost like a time capsule. Likewise, it allows audiences to look back and realize just how much they’ve grown alongside the characters.

Nika56 then goes into the basic premise of One Piece and acknowledges critiques that the series only gets good at certain points. The two points she acknowledges are also the most popular in time for the argument: the Arlong Park and Water 7 arcs. However, she argues that the series is “great from chapter one,” pointing to a “genuinely charming” art style and the “great start” to the series’ story.

Nika56 also acknowledges that the series actually takes a while to expand on what it means for protagonist Monkey D. Luffy to achieve his dream of becoming the Pirate King. She commends Oda for his great storytelling, calling it one of the strongest points of the series. Likewise, she points to how Oda often uses a lot of tropes, twists, and turns to give readers a surreal narrative experience.

Nika56 then dives into the themes and morals of the series, accurately claiming,

"One Piece explores themes such as justice, freedom, dreams,... slavery, racism, corruption, oppression, and human experimentation.”

She then shares their personal belief that the series is “one of the best to do it when it comes to exploring found family and freedom.”

Nika56 also asserts that the series “has something for literally everyone,” pointing to a wide, diverse group of topics and saying one can “have it all” by reading it. Likewise, she points to a common comment from current fans that 1000+ episodes and chapters aren’t enough, saying they’re not lying in the slightest here.

Nika56 then shares what she personally enjoys about the series, pointing to One Piece’s portrayal of characters who would be considered a part of the LGBTQ+ community in real life. She then lists off some of these characters, calling them “really well-written, beloved, and amazing.” She then accurately points out how one among them, Bon Clay, “is one of the best characters that the series has to offer.”

She then offers the best, quickest ways to catch up on the series, referencing the fan-made One Pace project and even saying to read the manga for the absolute fastest experience. From here, Nika56 essentially concludes by emphasizing what a great feeling undertaking that journey and all it has to offer narratively is, as well as pointing to the series’ long runtime and how there must be something there.

All in all, Nika56’s claims about the series are incredibly accurate and fair. While there are some inherent flaws she doesn’t address, such as the slow-burn nature of the series overall and how some arcs are less desirable than others, her argument is accurate and persuasive on the whole. Hopefully, it helps to persuade prospective fans to take the plunge despite the aforementioned length of the series.

---

Be sure to keep up with all One Piece anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.