RETRO-VIEW One Piece ch:1-25 [This is going to be a long journey isn't?]

Alright so, introduction to the concept. One Piece is an ongoing shounen manga published in Weekly Shounen Jump, and pretty much has been running weekly since 1998. So as of January 2017 there is over 850 chapters. That is a lot of manga. And I have signed my self to the gargantuan task of reading and catching up to it. Will this be a tedious task seeing as I have already sat through large swaths of the anime? Probably but seeing as for me I watched some time ago, I'm hoping that I barely remember the goings on.

My first experience with One Piece was regretfully the original 4kids dub. I have very fond memories of the experience, but I have a distinct feeling that it should be left in the past. maybe except the opening, there is still a part of me that will have a giant grin when I hear that song. So because this was my first exposure to One Piece I did not understand the large grandeur of the story till much later when I watched the Funimation dub, and then switched to original japanese when the dub ran out.

So that's where I am at. I have a long history of watching this story on and off again. But I realised that I really do love this series. So in fear that if I don't catch up now I never will, I decided to start a retro-view for the manga, starting all the way back in the beginning. Why, why not. I'm a quick reader so to me if feels like it shouldn't take to long to catch up. So let's go.

So we start with some basic world building. There once was the world's most badass pirate. However he got captured, and this gave a cryptic message to the world of the whereabouts of his greatest treasure. This kicks off a new era for pirates. We then focus in on Monkey D. Luffy. We start off by meeting him as a young child, looking up to some adult pirates, namely a man named Shanks. Shanks and his crew are living it up in Luffy's home village. One day however Luffy eats the Gum Gum Fruit, allowing his body to have the molecular composition of rubber. Due to some mishaps while protecting Luffy, Shanks loses his arm. As Shanks leaves for another adventure he gives Luffy his straw hat. Years later as Luffy has aged he set sails to try and become the king of the pirates.

And so we set off. First things first however he gets caught by another pirates crew. Teaming up with Coby, a young boy who wishes to become a Marine, they escape from Alvida’s pirate forces. Next they find themselves in a port town where there is an incarcerated pirate hunter, a corrupted Marine captain, and his son Helmeppo. The pirate hunter named Zoro is convinced by Luffy to join his pirate crew. They then go on to defeat the Marine captain.

We have now reached what could be considered the first sizable arc of the series. That being the introduction of Nami, and the major battle with Captain Buggy and his crew. Throughout this arc we see some amazing battles involving a juggler and a beast tamer. The climactic battle showcases how different Devil Fruits can be used by different people. Also in this arc we see one of the first major themes of the series, that being how treasure is defined by the person not the monetary value. Ultimately this is a great intro to a major crew member and an ongoing antagonist of the series.

Next we head of to a small island, home of Usopp, a liar. We see the goings on of the village, and set up the pace and details of the arc. Seeing as I am not going by arc but by number of chapters I will leave my thoughts on these chapters till next time.

REVIEW Hand Shakers ep:1 [Nausea Simulator 2017]

     As I write this I am only five minutes into the show and I am already lost. Hand Shakers is a new anime in the winter season of 2017, and by my accounts the best way to describe it is 'busy'. I could only watch for a few minutes at a time or it would just get so cluttered I could not pay attention.

     Having now finished this first episode, I must say I am cautiously impressed. Much in the same was one is impressed at a car crash. Most every part of what I have seen so far feels like the stitched together remains of three different anime. The pacing leaves much to be desired. At times it feels like I was watching the truncated version of a two part episode, and it still ends on a cliffhanger. Dialogue does not seem to be from natural conversation, as each person behaves like they are talking to a wall. While the wisps of a premise that they showed could be interesting, wisps was all that they showed leaving no room for me to be intrigued. All the characters felt like cliches pulled from a hat.  This is the anime that people who don't like anime think about when talking about anime.

     The only thing I think may be praiseworthy would be the backgrounds. While at time they did look very C.G., or like photos, either way the backgrounds did go a long way into grounding the show. To bad then should the characters often felt like they were just photoshopped in. At many points they felt as if they were not in the space, and at others felt like they were a sprite in the 1990's Doom. While the use of these backgrounds allowed for more camera angles, these angles often were more disorientating that dynamic.

     Should you watch this show? Honestly, yes. Either for a so bad it's good sense, or just to dissect what is going on here. This anime will be forgotten by the end of the year, or at least that is what I think.  And while looking at each individual part they seem good, but as a whole it's mostly forgettable. Approach this with a morbid curiosity.

REVIEW Dragon Ball Super ep:70 [Let's Play Baseball]

     Another fun comedy episode but this time we get some spotlight on a character that hasn't had any in quite some time, Yamcha. Because of that lack of spotlight he has become something of a joke. But with this episode we get to see him actually be good at something.

     We start the episode with Champa instigating a 'friendly' baseball match with his brother. Berrus agrees to play, and they decide to play in universe seven. It is then revealed to the audience that Champa just wanted to eat universe 7 food without a care in the world. However Vados convinces him to really go at it in playing baseball. And thus high jinks ensue. The teams are split. On the Solar Sevens (There is no official name as I am aware so I decided to make some up.) we have Goku, Krillin, Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks, Berrus, and Yamcha. For the Super Six we have Champa, Cabba, Botamo, Auto Magetta, with Vegeta and Goten helping fill out the rest. 

     The joke are what you expect. Goku going overboard with the pitches, both in power and under power. Vegeta and Goku having a beam struggle in the form of a baseball bat and pitch. Most of the players not knowing how to even play the game, these jokes are to be expected. However the best part of the episode was Yamcha. With him being a straight man to all the goings on, it really grounds the jokes. He also got the best visual joke of the episode, with him recreating his death pose from the Saiyan saga.  

     

   This episode was solid. One day when I would want to rewatch one episode from super this will probably be it, much in the same way the learning to drive cars episode from DBZ is. Hopefully this will go down as a fan favorite. 

REVIEW Dragon Ball Super ep:69 [So Non-canon It Hurts]

     Within an artist's lifetime of works there will be many eras. But is is not often that you see two of their eras butt heads. In this episode of DBS we see Akira Toriyama's early gag-manga characters from Dr.Slump crossover with the most modern form of Dragon Ball, and yes it is as wacky as you think.

     With this episode a plot description would be mostly pointless. This episode should be viewed mostly on its gags, and yes I did laugh at many of them, though I feel like a lot may have slipped past me due to not reading Dr.Slump. The jokes that got the most out of me were the metatextual jokes. the ones pointing out how ridiculous it is for Vegeta to be fighting a gag character, or the fact that Goku was a gag character and so was actually on par with Arale.

     The biggest thing I take away from this episode is just how much an artist can change, and how much they don't. Because for everything Dragon Ball Z did to become one of the definitive action manga and anime, at the heart of it all is just a man telling jokes. While this is probably the most non-canon that this show has been so far, in good conscience I can't say skip it. This episode shows the growth of an artist, and it shows us the value in knowing where the art we love comes from.