Why I love one piece

“If you don’t take risks, you can’t create a future”-Monkey D. Luffy. This is a quote from the main character of my favorite anime, One Piece, created by Eiichiro Oda. It has taken me on a roller coaster of emotions, such as joy, anger, sadness, and excitement. If you had told me that in 2022 I would watch an anime with over 1,000 episodes, I would have looked at you like you were crazy. I have my cousin to thank for introducing me to One Piece. He visited me one day and played a few episodes for me. He said it was a great watch, and since the world was still in a state of staying home and social distancing, I thought, why not. Fast forward to now, and I am entirely caught up with One Piece. The manga has 1075 chapters, and the anime is on episode 1051. This anime has tackled slavery, the horrors of war, how to deal with loss, racism, and many more heavy topics. It has fantastic set pieces, music, and fights, although what always brings me back is the immersive story and well-written characters. The story follows a young boy named Monkey D. Luffy. As a young boy, Luffy meets the Red hair pirates who are stopping by his village. He hits it off with the captain of the crew, Shanks. One day while hanging out with Shanks and his crew in a bar, Luffy witnesses shanks being humiliated by some mountain bandits. They ask for some alcohol, and when they discover that shanks and his crew have drunk it all, their leader pours what’s left on shank’s head. After seeing shanks try to clean up the mess, the leader of the bandits destroys all the dishes on the counter. After the bandits leave, Shanks and his crew erupt in laughter. This enrages Luffy and causes him to scream at them, asking, “Why are you laughing? That wasn’t cool. Why didn’t you fight back? No matter how many there are or how strong they look, if you don’t fight back, your not a man!”. Shanks responds to Luffy by saying that it wasn’t that big of a deal and that he’ll forget about it. Luffy storms out in search of the mountain bandits to avenge shank’s honor. However, he is only a child and is no match for the mountain bandits. Just when they are about to kill Luffy, the Red-haired pirates appear. Since the mountain bandits humiliated Shanks earlier and he didn’t retaliate, they are not threatened by the crew’s appearance. The leader of the mountain bandits calls Shanks a coward and threatens to kill him if he moves any closer. Shanks takes another step and is then met with a pistol to the side of his head. Shanks then says to the mountain bandit holding a gun to his head, “Bet your life, those ain’t for threatening.” The bandit is confused and is shot dead by Shanks’s crewmate. This immediately changes the tone and shows Luffy and the bandits that these are actual pirates. Shanks then says to the mountain bandits, “I can have food or drinks spilled on me, or even be spit at, and I’ll laugh about it. However, if for any reason you hurt a friend of mine, I won’t forgive you!” The leader of the mountain bandits, now feeling his life is in danger, takes a boat and flees to sea with Luffy. Luffy has eaten a fruit that grants him power but at the cost of his swimming ability. Now feeling as though Luffy is no longer needed, the mountain bandit throws Luffy overboard, and he begins to drown. Before the bandit can escape, a great sea monster appears and devours the bandit in one bite. The sea monster lays its eyes on Luffy and charges straight for him. Before Luffy can be eaten, shanks swoops in and saves him from the beast. He gives the sea monster a fierce look that causes it to flee deep back into the sea. Luffy cries, and when Shanks asks him what’s wrong, Luffy replies, “Shanks… your arm.” Shanks had sacrificed his left arm to save Luffy from the beast. After this experience, Luffy views Shanks as a larger-than-life figure and is desperate to join his crew. When it is time for the Red-Haired pirates to depart, Luffy begs Shanks to allow him to set sail with them. Shanks refuses but instead gives Luffy his hat and tells him to give it back to him when he becomes a great pirate. This is what drives Luffy to become the King of the pirates. I love this scene because of how powerful it is. Shanks refusing to fight the bandits showed his humility and extraordinary restraint. Some battles are just not worth fighting. Although when it came to those Shanks loved and cared about, he would not hesitate to protect them. I think this is an admirable trait. You, the reader, may be able to agree with this sentiment. I could go on forever about other things I love about the series, but it is time to wrap this up. Thank you for reading, and I hope you consider giving One Piece a watch.