Before the release of what may prove to be one of the most important lore revealing chapters of One Piece, I thought it would be prudent to reflect on my time as a fan and what One Piece truly means to me. In 2005 at the age of 9, I discovered Toonami on Cartoon Network. Although I had watched Yu-Gi-Oh and Beyblade before, watching Toonami on Saturday nights was my proper introduction to the world of anime. All of a sudden, I felt the flutters of anticipation regularly every week and my brain expanded with the skills and backstories of countless characters. I was particularly fond of Naruto and I began to learn hand-sign weaving and folding my wide ruled notebook paper into ninja stars. I stayed up later than I had any right to, just to catch re-runs of Inuyasha or Ghost in the Shell. I even sat through the entire bount arc of Bleach, a horribly paced filler SEASON that vexes fans till this day. However, one thing remained consistent for the next 10 years. I refused to watch One Piece.
Maybe it was the fact that pirates as a genre had grown stale due to the Pirates of the Caribbean series or the fact that no one I knew watched it, but One Piece had been classified as lame in my adolescent brain. Why would I want to watch a show about peg legs and eye patches? Then in 2008, Toonami was officially shut down by Cartoon Network due to “low ratings” and anime as a whole slowly disappeared from my life. Years later in 2013, a few fellow nerds in my AP World class introduced me to a website where I could watch Naruto Shippuden, the continuation of the story I loved so much as a kid. Still though, One Piece stayed far from my mind. However in 2015, I found myself depressed and deeply burnout after a tough first semester of college and the fallout from a few unaddressed personal issues stemming years back. I was looking for a lifeline. Something tangible I could look forward to. I thought back to the comfort of my days watching anime and decided to restart my watch of Naruto Shippuden but it wasn’t enough. The pirating site (the irony isn’t lost on me) I was using had a sister site for One Piece, that old series I had avoided. I clicked and found that there was, at the time, 678 episodes of the show. 678, 22 minute episodes beckoning me to watch. That was around 248 hours of distraction and without thinking any more about it, I jumped straight in and my life was forever changed.
I fell totally in love with the series. I found myself laughing hysterically, free of the restraint that comes with adulthood. I also sobbed my way through half of it, if I’m being honest (I owe my poor roommate an apology). It quickly took over my free time as I found myself skipping parties and club events. There were weeks where all I did was watch One Piece and study. My grades reflected this as I found myself doing better in those classes than I ever did in my entire academic career. By the time the semester ended, I had watched all 678 episodes plus the 15 or so episodes that had been released in that time and I made the dean’s list. I was also overjoyed in knowing that whatever happened in my life, I could always fall back on One Piece. I had a new normal and that continues to this day. Whether I’m letting the episodes build up so that I can binge over a long weekend or reading a new chapter at exactly 2 p.m. on Thursdays when they release on a clandestine scan page, One Piece is always there.
As I’ve grown, my relationship with One Piece has changed. I have convinced several people to begin the series, acting as an impromptu One Piece ambassador. Two years ago I started reading One Piece so I could be updated real time on the story and now I get to both watch and read the story and I’m never going too long without the straw hats. A Live action was made and despite mine and the entire fandom’s reservations, it’s fantastic and has so far been a heartwarming tribute to the series we all love. I also keep a running document of predictions that I can refer back to and seeing some of them come to fruition has been more satisfying than you know. However, none of that compares to what one Piece has done for me as a writer.
When the current arc started I saw the full breadth of Oda’s planning and carefully character placements it dawned on me just how special this story was turning out and how absolutely epic the ending will be. Seeds planted decades ago now bare beautiful fruit. Even today, the mystery that (hopefully) will be solved for us in chapter 1115 is 22 years old. Do you know how much of a genius you have to be to keep people guessing for 22 years? My opinion of Oda has completely shifted from awe of him to desire to emulate his ability. So much so that this past year I finally began putting pen to paper for my novel with the goal of writing a story that’s at least 1/100th as captivating as One Piece. I’ve been given so much through One Piece that I felt as though I had to give someone else something back. I don’t know what the future holds for the story but I know hope from the bottom of my heart that Oda is able to deliver the ending safely and that I’m around and active in the fandom to see it.
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Taking this as my sign to get back to watching One Peice, thank you 🫶