So, whenever I write a post I try to think of something interesting, but I'm starting to see my blog become an awful mess. There are just a ton of unorganized, scattered opinions coming from every which way. Although it appears that this pattern will be coming to an end, with my plan to start writing Chapter Reviews, it is not. Also, I am immensely unhappy with myself for deciding to do this. I mean, if I'm gonna write Chapter Reviews, this is the only way to go, but why would I start reviewing One Piece from the first chapter?!!! I'm just an idiot I guess.
Chapter 1 of One Piece is titled Romance Dawn. The Subtitle is The Beginning of the Adventures. One Piece, to give context, is a fictional, action/adventure comedy manga. It is published in Weekly Shonen Jump, and has been in publication since 1997.
The story begins in a large town square, with an execution taking place. The narrator of the story introduces the pirate known as "Gold Roger", a legendary pirate known for having every single treasure in existence. Before being executed by two long swords being shoved into his body, he speaks the 2nd most overused lines in the series.
"You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place. Now you'll just have to find it!"
- Anime translation, "Gold Roger" to "A Certain Town's Square", Episode 1, One Piece
taken from One Piece Wikia
another excellent translation:
"My fortune is yours for the taking... but you'll have to find it first. I left everything I own in One Piece!"
- 4Kids dub, "Gold Roger" to "A Certain Town's Square", Episode 1, One Piece
taken from One Piece Wikia
and finally, the manga translation:
"Want my ultimate treasures? It's possible... Hmph.. I will give them to those who can find them. I have gathered everything in this world and already hidden them in "that" place"
- mangareader.net translation, "Gold Roger" to "A Certain Town's Square", Chapter 1, One Piece
and "Gold Roger's" message was based upon Olivier Levasseur's (real pirate, nicknamed La Buse- The Buzzzard, or La Bouche- The Mouth, because of his speed and ruthlessness) message-
"Find my treasure, the one who may understand it!"
- Olivier Levasseur, French pirate, Wikipedia (yeah, I don't care, it's not academic)
So... What the heck is the correct translation? It doesn't really matter. Except 4Kids' dub. Because 4Kids ruins everything. If anything, that translation is always wrong. At this point in the story, the purpose of "Gold Roger" is to explain the One Piece world's radicalized perspective towards pirates. Whether they hate pirates or they love the romanticism of pirates, people take sides on the idea of piracy in this world.
It's not really explained super well in the manga or the anime in the first chapter, but "Gold Roger's" execution was supposed to send a message of warning to pirates. Like, only death awaits ye who decide on a life of piracy. However, his statement of challenge for pirates to find his treasures only incited the wishful thinking of average people even more, creating an era of piracy.
Thus ends the prologue.
Another thing that I should mention is that when Eiichiro Oda, the author of this manga, mentions very vaguely, "a certain town" or "a pirate ship", it is most likely a plot point for a future story arc.
In this instance, the narrator states that a year before the current year of the story, meaning any time after the death of Roger, "a pirate ship" landed in "a small peaceful village".
And, we are introduced to "A Child From the Village", Monkey D. Luffy. Say hello to the main character, 10 years before his story begins. He's kind of a little brat right now. AND HOLY SHIT HE JUST STABBED HIS FACE!!
At this stage of Luffy's childhood, he wants people to take him seriously. He furiously states, "I'm not joking this time! I've had enough!" and proceeds to stab himself in the cheek.
While the pirates were originally playing around with his chaotic nature, they immediately freaked out when he did stab himself in the face. This stab wound warrants a party for his crazyness, but other than character design, the stab wound holds no purpose to the story. Although it is completely canon, it doesn't impede his eyesight, it doesn't really prove that he's more mature. I think that it acts as a defining physical feature of Luffy, to differentiate him from other characters. If you didn't know, it is really difficult to make an interesting charismatic action manga hero. If you just add spiky hair, readers will think nothing of it. Manga is the creation of exaggerated features. Naruto has yellow spiky hair, "whiskers", and he wears an orange jumpsuit. Ichigo from Bleach has orange spiky hair, wears a long black robe of sorts, and wields a giant sword. The look of each character is a hook for a reader, the author uses it to try to interest the reader in the story.
Moving on from physiognomy, the scene moves to a bar in Luffy's village where the "friendly/good" pirates are eating and drinking and having a merry time along with Luffy. This is where we are introduced to the leader of the pirates, "Red-Haired Shanks". Luffy is trying to convince Shanks that he is strong enough to travel with the pirates, and that he is ready to become a pirate. While Shanks seemingly unreasonably continues to tease Luffy and tell him why he can't become one, another pirate tries to get him to understand Shanks' responsibility.
"He knows that being a pirate is interesting, but he also knows that a pirate's life is hard and very dangerous. Do you understand? He doesn't purposely tease... your ambitions of being a pirate."
- "Pirate" to Monkey D. Luffy, Chapter 1, One Piece
The bar owner, Makino comes in and comments on how cheerful the place is, with Shanks and his pirates having a good time. While Luffy says that someday he'll pay off the food that he eats with the treasure that he finds, she tells him that she'll be waiting for it.
Luffy shows a little worry over how much time he has left to prove to Shanks that he can be a pirate. A group of troublesome bandits led by somebody named Higuma show up, and they pick a fight with Shanks over the bar not having anymore sake, and then they leave. Shanks ended up getting covered in sake and since he didn't fight back he was on the floor.
Luffy is flipping out at this point. He doesn't find the humor in a pirate as great as Shanks not needing to fight a bandit over some sake. (I'm saying sah-kay, not say-kuh). I wanted Shanks to fight him after the bandit called him a coward. Shanks tries to keep talking to Luffy while he's walking away, because he wants nothing to do with a coward. He grabs his arm and it stretches. And stretches. And keeps stretching. I mean if you're fairly aware of the story I'm writing about, you probably already know that Luffy has eaten the Gomu-Gomu no Mi, or the Rubber-Rubber Fruit. It has allowed him to be a Rubber Man. And now he can stretch much better. But he can no longer swim. Like ever. If he gets in deeper water, his strength will leave him and he will sink.
-- This is where I gave up on writing the analysis and decided to just sum up the chapter and call it a day--
Shanks decides that they have spent too much time here and decides to leave. Higuma shows up again and Luffy stands up for Shanks and his crew. Higuma beats him up and takes him hostage. Shanks shows up, has a iconic scene where Ranker.com claims he says,
"I'm saying it's not safe to point guns."
-Red-Haired Shanks, One Piece Romance Dawn
Anyway, it's a scene where Shanks shows that people die in One Piece. He tells the bandits that when you point a gun at someone, you have to know that you might die yourself. Higuma then escapes with Luffy. Shanks freaks out.
Higuma and Luffy are seen on a row boat on the ocean alone. Higuma is trash-talking Shanks again. Luffy attacks him, and Higuma throws Luffy overboard. In the meantime, Higuma gets eaten by a giant sea creature called a Sea King. Luffy starts drowning and as the Sea King comes to eat Luffy, Shanks shows up and saves Luffy. Meanwhile, his arm gets bitten off. Shanks then stares down the Sea King.
Luffy is sad that Shanks got his arm bitten off to save him. Shanks just kind of ignores it. Instead of flipping out, Shanks tells Luffy that if he wants to be as good a pirate as he is, Shanks will give Luffy his hat for safekeeping until he gives it back to him. Shanks and his crew leave the island.
Timeskip forward, Luffy is now a teenager and he's going off to sea. He's in another small row boat, and the same Sea King that bit off Shanks' arm is coming to eat Luffy again. But this time, Luffy winds back his rubber arm, and flings it forward, knocking out the sea monster.
THE END.
"I'll Become The King Of Pirates!!!!"
- Monkey D. Luffy, One Piece Romance Dawn
Chapter 1 of One Piece is titled Romance Dawn. The Subtitle is The Beginning of the Adventures. One Piece, to give context, is a fictional, action/adventure comedy manga. It is published in Weekly Shonen Jump, and has been in publication since 1997.
The story begins in a large town square, with an execution taking place. The narrator of the story introduces the pirate known as "Gold Roger", a legendary pirate known for having every single treasure in existence. Before being executed by two long swords being shoved into his body, he speaks the 2nd most overused lines in the series.
"You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place. Now you'll just have to find it!"
- Anime translation, "Gold Roger" to "A Certain Town's Square", Episode 1, One Piece
taken from One Piece Wikia
another excellent translation:
"My fortune is yours for the taking... but you'll have to find it first. I left everything I own in One Piece!"
- 4Kids dub, "Gold Roger" to "A Certain Town's Square", Episode 1, One Piece
taken from One Piece Wikia
and finally, the manga translation:
"Want my ultimate treasures? It's possible... Hmph.. I will give them to those who can find them. I have gathered everything in this world and already hidden them in "that" place"
- mangareader.net translation, "Gold Roger" to "A Certain Town's Square", Chapter 1, One Piece
and "Gold Roger's" message was based upon Olivier Levasseur's (real pirate, nicknamed La Buse- The Buzzzard, or La Bouche- The Mouth, because of his speed and ruthlessness) message-
"Find my treasure, the one who may understand it!"
- Olivier Levasseur, French pirate, Wikipedia (yeah, I don't care, it's not academic)
So... What the heck is the correct translation? It doesn't really matter. Except 4Kids' dub. Because 4Kids ruins everything. If anything, that translation is always wrong. At this point in the story, the purpose of "Gold Roger" is to explain the One Piece world's radicalized perspective towards pirates. Whether they hate pirates or they love the romanticism of pirates, people take sides on the idea of piracy in this world.
It's not really explained super well in the manga or the anime in the first chapter, but "Gold Roger's" execution was supposed to send a message of warning to pirates. Like, only death awaits ye who decide on a life of piracy. However, his statement of challenge for pirates to find his treasures only incited the wishful thinking of average people even more, creating an era of piracy.
Thus ends the prologue.
Another thing that I should mention is that when Eiichiro Oda, the author of this manga, mentions very vaguely, "a certain town" or "a pirate ship", it is most likely a plot point for a future story arc.
In this instance, the narrator states that a year before the current year of the story, meaning any time after the death of Roger, "a pirate ship" landed in "a small peaceful village".
And, we are introduced to "A Child From the Village", Monkey D. Luffy. Say hello to the main character, 10 years before his story begins. He's kind of a little brat right now. AND HOLY SHIT HE JUST STABBED HIS FACE!!
At this stage of Luffy's childhood, he wants people to take him seriously. He furiously states, "I'm not joking this time! I've had enough!" and proceeds to stab himself in the cheek.
While the pirates were originally playing around with his chaotic nature, they immediately freaked out when he did stab himself in the face. This stab wound warrants a party for his crazyness, but other than character design, the stab wound holds no purpose to the story. Although it is completely canon, it doesn't impede his eyesight, it doesn't really prove that he's more mature. I think that it acts as a defining physical feature of Luffy, to differentiate him from other characters. If you didn't know, it is really difficult to make an interesting charismatic action manga hero. If you just add spiky hair, readers will think nothing of it. Manga is the creation of exaggerated features. Naruto has yellow spiky hair, "whiskers", and he wears an orange jumpsuit. Ichigo from Bleach has orange spiky hair, wears a long black robe of sorts, and wields a giant sword. The look of each character is a hook for a reader, the author uses it to try to interest the reader in the story.
Moving on from physiognomy, the scene moves to a bar in Luffy's village where the "friendly/good" pirates are eating and drinking and having a merry time along with Luffy. This is where we are introduced to the leader of the pirates, "Red-Haired Shanks". Luffy is trying to convince Shanks that he is strong enough to travel with the pirates, and that he is ready to become a pirate. While Shanks seemingly unreasonably continues to tease Luffy and tell him why he can't become one, another pirate tries to get him to understand Shanks' responsibility.
"He knows that being a pirate is interesting, but he also knows that a pirate's life is hard and very dangerous. Do you understand? He doesn't purposely tease... your ambitions of being a pirate."
- "Pirate" to Monkey D. Luffy, Chapter 1, One Piece
The bar owner, Makino comes in and comments on how cheerful the place is, with Shanks and his pirates having a good time. While Luffy says that someday he'll pay off the food that he eats with the treasure that he finds, she tells him that she'll be waiting for it.
Luffy shows a little worry over how much time he has left to prove to Shanks that he can be a pirate. A group of troublesome bandits led by somebody named Higuma show up, and they pick a fight with Shanks over the bar not having anymore sake, and then they leave. Shanks ended up getting covered in sake and since he didn't fight back he was on the floor.
Luffy is flipping out at this point. He doesn't find the humor in a pirate as great as Shanks not needing to fight a bandit over some sake. (I'm saying sah-kay, not say-kuh). I wanted Shanks to fight him after the bandit called him a coward. Shanks tries to keep talking to Luffy while he's walking away, because he wants nothing to do with a coward. He grabs his arm and it stretches. And stretches. And keeps stretching. I mean if you're fairly aware of the story I'm writing about, you probably already know that Luffy has eaten the Gomu-Gomu no Mi, or the Rubber-Rubber Fruit. It has allowed him to be a Rubber Man. And now he can stretch much better. But he can no longer swim. Like ever. If he gets in deeper water, his strength will leave him and he will sink.
-- This is where I gave up on writing the analysis and decided to just sum up the chapter and call it a day--
Shanks decides that they have spent too much time here and decides to leave. Higuma shows up again and Luffy stands up for Shanks and his crew. Higuma beats him up and takes him hostage. Shanks shows up, has a iconic scene where Ranker.com claims he says,
"I'm saying it's not safe to point guns."
-Red-Haired Shanks, One Piece Romance Dawn
Anyway, it's a scene where Shanks shows that people die in One Piece. He tells the bandits that when you point a gun at someone, you have to know that you might die yourself. Higuma then escapes with Luffy. Shanks freaks out.
Higuma and Luffy are seen on a row boat on the ocean alone. Higuma is trash-talking Shanks again. Luffy attacks him, and Higuma throws Luffy overboard. In the meantime, Higuma gets eaten by a giant sea creature called a Sea King. Luffy starts drowning and as the Sea King comes to eat Luffy, Shanks shows up and saves Luffy. Meanwhile, his arm gets bitten off. Shanks then stares down the Sea King.
Luffy is sad that Shanks got his arm bitten off to save him. Shanks just kind of ignores it. Instead of flipping out, Shanks tells Luffy that if he wants to be as good a pirate as he is, Shanks will give Luffy his hat for safekeeping until he gives it back to him. Shanks and his crew leave the island.
Timeskip forward, Luffy is now a teenager and he's going off to sea. He's in another small row boat, and the same Sea King that bit off Shanks' arm is coming to eat Luffy again. But this time, Luffy winds back his rubber arm, and flings it forward, knocking out the sea monster.
THE END.
"I'll Become The King Of Pirates!!!!"
- Monkey D. Luffy, One Piece Romance Dawn
Comments
Post a Comment