I originalyl caught up to One Piece watching the anime. ANd when Bon Kurei first appeared, with THAT design, THAT makeup, those SWANS, and THAT VOICE…
my jaw dropped, and I twitched. I believe I said aloud.
"Okay. This is the most messed up insane thing this series has ever done." I paused as he got more screen time. And my mind continued to boggle. "What the hell IS this? How are we supposed to take THIS seriously?" Didn't help that the japanese-chinese-engrish subtitles kept calling him a hermaphrodite. I had to tell friends, and warn them in advance that this completley messed up crazy ass character was coming in, above and beyond the bizareness of anything that came before him.
And yet... he won me over. Not only is he not freaky, but he's one of the most outstanding, noble, developed and interesting characters in the series that I root for above all others.
I want that noble bastard to be a straw hat, dammit.
I love Zoro, but he would do fine in Kenshin or Bleach or any other shonen series as a badass swordsman. But Bon Kurei? Could only have hs level of heart and bad assitude with THAT design and work in One Piece. And he is awesome BECAUSE of his insane wackiness.Bon is awesome.