One Piece Vol 1: Romance Dawn

Title: One Piece Vol 1: Romance Dawn
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Series: One Piece #1
First Published: December 24, 1997
Publisher: VIZ Media
Pages: 216
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Shonen
Format: Web
Source: VIZ.com
Rating:


Synopsis:

As a child, Monkey D. Luffy was inspired to become a pirate by listening to the tales of the buccaneer "Red-Haired" Shanks. But his life changed when Luffy accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit and gained the power to stretch like rubber...at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, still vowing to become the king of the pirates, Luffy sets out on his adventure...one guy alone in a rowboat, in search of the legendary "One Piece," said to be the greatest treasure in the world...

Review

One Piece has been one of the anime and manga series I’ve been the most hesitant to start simply for how long the series is, and it’s still ongoing. With the success of the live action adaptation I plan to watch the series with my husband who is a fan of the series when he returns from deployment next year, so to prepare myself for our watch along I thought it was time to finally dive into the series.

After finishing the first volume I can comfortably say that I can see how this series hooks people. I found it really fun and Luffy’s energy is infectious. The first chapter immediately charmed me and sets up the series beautifully. I really enjoyed Koby’s arc and the friendship that he forms with Luffy. Nami’s introduction also made me chuckle and made me excited to move onto the next volume.

On the other hand, there were only two aspects of the plot that I didn’t like. The first is simple, and it’s that Luffy is effortlessly stronger than every opponent, and one sided fights are boring to read. I get it from a plot stand point with the devil fruit and I know this won’t always be an issue, but it’s makes the first volume less exciting. The second weakness to me was Zoro’s back story. I was surprised and impressed that the story acknowledged the dread that comes with puberty for young girls as compared to boys. Then the story slaps the reader with the absolute laziest trope for a tragic back story. Zoro is a cool character, he didn’t deserve this!

The art style of One Piece I know can be really polarizing and many are put off by the wacky cartoonish style. I was one of those people, particularly with some of the ridiculous proportions in the anime. As I’ve gotten older though the manga’s art made me feel nostalgic for the art styles of the 90s when I grew up and it’s aged remarkably well. Overall, I enjoyed the first volume, despite my criticisms I’m excited to take my time reading this series and seeing Luffy’s crew grow.

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