By: Thomas Horvath

For a long time, anime and manga were shunned by most people in America. They were seen as weird, foreign cartoons that only nerds liked. But recently, anime and manga have become very popular in the mainstream culture of America. Manga has become so popular that Demon Slayer alone was outselling the majority of American comics combined. Anime started to become popular when popular series were being dubbed on Cartoon Network in the mid-2000s. This is where many kids got introduced to Naruto, Dragon Ball, and many other series. But the most popular manga worldwide has been very niche in America for a long time until recently. That series is, of course, One Piece, with the series selling over 500 million volumes worldwide. One Piece received a dub on the 4Kids network, notorious for censoring and butchering popular anime. This dub got One Piece a very bad reputation in America and it was like that for a while. One Piece slowly started to become popular in America and recently peaked with its live-action Netflix series. Still, many refuse to read or watch One Piece. If you have this mindset, you are severely missing out. 

One thing many dislike is the art style. I understand that the art style can be off-putting at first since it’s very cartoony, but this art style allows for diverse character designs and expressive movements. It also makes it easier to tell who is who when reading fight scenes in the manga since it’s in black and white, which is another off-putting thing for non-manga readers. You get used to it being colorless, but if it is an issue for you, there are colored versions online. Another thing I hear often is that it’s too long. While 106 volumes with no end in sight is pretty intimidating, each volume takes about half an hour to finish, and once you get engulfed in the world, the story does not feel long enough. 

For me, the best things about One Piece are the characters and the adventure. The main characters are the Straw Hat Pirates, characters that you’ll struggle to pick a least favorite out of. The protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy is one of the most endearing, entertaining characters I’ve seen, and the vast villains and side cast are each entertaining. The world-building is One Piece’s defining feature, with each arc taking place on a different island. On each island, you learn something new about the world and get a crucial piece of information or a new crewmate that will help Luffy reach the One Piece and make him the King of the Pirates.

I could sing the praises of One Piece all day long, but hopefully, I have painted a picture of one of the greatest pieces of fiction of our time, and hope I have convinced you to check it out.