New to One Piece (Well Sort Of)

MisterTen

Hey everyone I am a new One Piece Fan (for the most part, I've only just found this site by typing in Arlong on google) and I thought it might be fun to share my experiences with you guys as I watch and read the series.

When I say I am sort of a new fan I mean I have been for a while. I have seen the first 99 Episodes (Funi Dub) and read the first 62 chapters. I have pre-knowledge of the series having seen an episode of the 4Kids dubbed Drum Island arc in late 05/ early 06 and did a bit of research on the series before I started watching 2 months ago (was spoilered a bit but not massively) and it intrested me greatly so I decided to start watching.

So far I am anjoying the series greatly but I am watching at a steady pace, before today I hadn't watched for 6 weeks. The series is more fun than I imagined and has a different atmosphere to other animes I have watched.

The cast is likeable and the villains are good. It's refreshing to come out of a dragon ball/z/gt marathon and see characters who cannot blow up planets etc.

My overall general feeling towards the manga varies from the anime as it doesn't seem as fun without the music and the voices yet I still manage to enjoy it. I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed the manga more but still it's a nice read.

The anime seems well done and not full of contradicting plot holes like Z tended to be (well then again that had a lot of filler). I have to be honest and say that the soundtrack is hands down brilliant, true I don't like some tracks that get overused but for the most part it's pretty dam good and my favourite japanese soundtrack.

The voices are well suited and Funi seems to have taken much care with the casting. From the vague mermories and clips I have seen of the 4Kids dub I think they cast people based on what the character looked like which didn't bode well for some characters.

So for the most part I am loving the series. My favourite arc so far would have to be a tie between the Alabasta arc and Kuro arc (the latter being when I started getting into the series properly) but mentions must go to the Baratie and Arlong. Least favourite arcs so far would have to be Little Garden and Drum Island.

I'll update regulalary to let you know what I think. Bye for now.

Cyan D. Funk

Don't leave this section of the forums before catching up with the manga.

I'm warning you, it's a jungle out there.

Cream-of-Chicken

I agree, be careful what you click on here. Most people put anything considered spoiler-worthy under a tag, but to most, spoiler-worthy is within 10 chapters of the most recent installment. Episode 99 is in Alabasta, right? I encourage you to keep watching and to catch up on the story before becoming super active here; that's the best way to both enjoy chatting and to keep yourself from being spoiled.
However, clarification questions are welcomed, feel free to ask anything and I'm sure you'll get some good answers.
Hope to see you around!

Psycho_Kenshiro

You're jumping aboard an awesome adventure!

Always fun marathoning huge amounts of One Piece. And agreed the Kuro arc is great early One Piece, a lot of fun. Plus, JANGO.

OnePieceUnleashed

I remember a year and a half ago when I first started to get into One Piece, ahh good times good times.

skeletonbrook

yeah i would stay out of the manga section until you catch up with current chapters if you dont want to be spoiled

Maxwendal

~Hallo Hallo!~I agree you should stay in the anime section or even the general section if you haven't caught up. Things are pretty crazy as of the current plot. Oh and a better spot for this probably would've been the introducin yourself section of the forum. The anime section seems a bit off. Annnnddd did you just say that you didn't like the Drum Island arc? Shame on yooou. (I kid I kid)

man I haven't posted it a while.

Envy

@skeletonbrook:

yeah i would stay out of the manga section until you catch up with current chapters if you dont want to be spoiled

Sadly you wouldn't even have to go into the manga forum to be spoiled.

The best advice for the TC is to just… stay away from the internet altogether. Stay away from manga reading sites (totally spoiled me of a certain very important event just by the title of a chapter. And I didn't even have to go to the One Piece part of the site, all I did was go to the main page.), avoid this forum (I could have just as easily have been spoiled by my eyes looking in the wrong place because the manga section puts the chapter's title in the titles of the talkback topics.), avoid everything One Piece/manga/anime related on the internet.

One Piece is a great series, and you should enjoy its twists and turns without having it spoiled.

It sounds crazy to go to the length I mentioned, but people are jerks. Sometimes spoilers slip out in a non-jerkish way because this forum is really geared towards the manga readers to begin with.

And you didn't like Drum Island? =(

Maxwendal

One moooar thing. I wouldn't really try reading some of the old scanlations off of onemanga or so. The translations can be pretty bad sometimes. Try the official volumes or look for some good translations. insert shameless plug here

CuttyFlam

I remembered when I started 4 years ago staying up late and downloading the episodes from Kaizoku Fansub IRC. Good times.

Ichnob

Go to Borders, Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks, or whichever bookstore near you that sells manga and read the English volumes. They might also be at your local library. I'd recommend buying them to support the series, but not everyone can afford it right away (but still buy related media to support things you love).

Also, Hulu has some of the older One Piece Funimations dubs and sometimes subs as well. I recommend looking those up, too. Unfortunately, you're already slightly spoiled when browsing through the forum from seeing peoples avatars and signatures, though you can turn off signatures.

ABSMr.Prince

I have to agree with Ichnob, If you can buy them please do, I'd like to keep One Piece alive in the states (I've been buying the DVDS myself, I don't often re-read manga)

And even if you just catch up on some older episodes on funimations OP site, that helps, it gives them AD revenue and such

skeletonbrook

yeah definitely buy the manga to support the series plus in my opinion its always nicer to have the book in your hands than reading of a computer

Sage

First of all,

Welcome to APForums!!

Glad to see that another fan is being born. I know finding this site after seeing and reading what you mentioned made you feel all warm and excited but heed this warning! Like most above me are mentioning, you pose a great spoiler risk for yourself by coming to these forums!!

There are spoilers here that can very well discourage you from continuing the series or at the least ruin the experience greatly.

My opinion is to not frequent these forums or just bookmark this thread and hope those whom are posting here have enough respect to keep you spoiler free, whether it be in their reply or signature.

Also, no offense to all those dub lovers but I feel One Piece can be fully appreciated only in it's subbed version. Give it a try at least.

Other than that, ENJOY!

Sammsy

well seeing as how you mention plot holes and refering to fillers in dbz, i will say this with best i can for not spoiling things.

not sure exactly where 100 is episode wise, but only plot hole i can think of that fillers made at least at this point would have to be that Zoro CAN NOT cut Steel like he says during that dragon/apis arc. That was a mistake by the anime. He cannot repeat cannot cut steel.

and dont' listen to them. one piece is GREAT in Dub form from funimation. I enjoy it more than japanese, for sole reason I can fully watch the show without having to have half my concentration down below reading. You dno't miss some of the small things on screen or animation due to busy reading and can just sit back and enjoy the show.

but enjoy, and as many said, be very weary on this site. spoilers will fly around like nothing, and maybe not intentionally, it could be just avatars adn sigs that spoil stuff for ya

MisterTen

Thanks a lot for making me welcome everyone.

I don't intend to venture farther than this topic as I like to be surprised when it comes to watching and reading things. Yep 99 is Alabasta stuff, don't know if it's filler though. I intend to watch the sub eventually but I've always been a dubbie at heart and it's how I started watching One Piece so I'll continue to watch it till I've caught up with it then watch the sub.

Would you reccomend me re watching it in japanese or is it alright for me to jump ship from dub to sub just like that.

Sage

@MisterTen:

Would you reccomend me re watching it in japanese or is it alright for me to jump ship from dub to sub just like that.

I say jump ship now and start the sub :ninja: There is no telling how bad the shock of transition would be if you wait any longer

Lord Starfish

@MisterTen:

Would you reccomend me re watching it in japanese or is it alright for me to jump ship from dub to sub just like that.

It should be safe… as long as you know what the word "Nakama" means, seeing how most One Piece-fansubbers seem to be under the impression that this IS AN ABSOLUTELY SACRED TERM CANNOT POSSIBLY BE TRANSLATED IN ANY WAY THAT CAN CONVEY THE DEEP MEANING BEHIND IT!!!!!!!! and therefore, just leave it in Japanese. (For the record, it means "Crewmate", or "Member of a group".)

GrizzlayLeslay

@MisterTen:

Thanks a lot for making me welcome everyone.

I don't intend to venture farther than this topic as I like to be surprised when it comes to watching and reading things. Yep 99 is Alabasta stuff, don't know if it's filler though. I intend to watch the sub eventually but I've always been a dubbie at heart and it's how I started watching One Piece so I'll continue to watch it till I've caught up with it then watch the sub.

Would you reccomend me re watching it in japanese or is it alright for me to jump ship from dub to sub just like that.

If you're a dubbie at heart, stick with the dub. If you get so addicted that you can't take waiting for new DVD releases, then switch to the sub. OP is dubbed by Funi up to episode 195 or something, so you'll be fine for awhile.

Cyan D. Funk

@Vegard:

It should be safe… as long as you know what the word "Nakama" means, seeing how most One Piece-fansubbers seem to be under the impression that this IS AN ABSOLUTELY SACRED TERM CANNOT POSSIBLY BE TRANSLATED IN ANY WAY THAT CAN CONVEY THE DEEP MEANING BEHIND IT!!!!!!!! and therefore, just leave it in Japanese. (For the record, it means "Crewmate", or "Member of a group".)

It's not "crewmate"! IT'S headdesk NA- headdesk KA- headdesk -MA! headdesk

Sage

@Vegard:

(For the record, it means "Crewmate", or "Member of a group".)

I always thought the English translation is someone who may/may not be family but is still treated like family and/or better. Your ride or die buddy. A person you love so much that you are willing to die for them.

To me I would just say family that is not confined to blood.

If you love someone the way Jesus would love them, then there your Nakama.

Kaizoku Mele

@Ichnob:

though you can turn off signatures.

You can turn off avatars too, so he/she should be fine.

Adamant

@Sage:

I always thought the English translation is someone who may/may not be family but is still treated like family and/or better. Your ride or die buddy. A person you love so much that you are willing to die for them.

To me I would just say family that is not confined to blood.

If you love someone the way Jesus would love them, then there your Nakama.

Nah, that's just what them thar fansubbers and their "it's a sacred word that mustn't be translated ever" crap tries to make you think.
It's a somewhat situational word with no "real" 1:1 English translation, but essentially means "a member of the same group as you, but not necessarily a friend". Given that One Piece is a series about pirate crews, "shipmate" or "crew member" is the general idea behind the word 99% of the times it's used.

It's used quite a bit over in Pokemon too, where it generally describes the relationship between the different pokemon in the group, and we tend to translate it as "travel mate" if "friend" doesn't fit quite right. It generally does, though.

Sage

@Adamant:

Nah, that's just what them thar fansubbers and their "it's a sacred word that mustn't be translated ever" crap tries to make you think.
It's a somewhat situational word with no "real" 1:1 English translation, but essentially means "a member of the same group as you, but not necessarily a friend". Given that One Piece is a series about pirate crews, "shipmate" or "crew member" is the general idea behind the word 99% of the times it's used.

It's used quite a bit over in Pokemon too, where it generally describes the relationship between the different pokemon in the group, and we tend to translate it as "travel mate" if "friend" doesn't fit quite right. It generally does, though.

Sigh.

Putting it the way you just did (travel mate) I can't understand why a character in OP would be touched when Luffy calls them his Nakama. According to what YOU are saying, he is just telling them that they are his crew member/travel mate…nothing special...of no major importance....doesn't sound right to me, sorry.

Nevermind that anyway, this isn't the topic of this thread. Thanks for your input though.

king haki

welcome to this forum, and the best shounen manga alive currently, enjoy the adventure.

Badass SnoCone

Welcome to the forums. Everything you need to know has been said already. Spoilers can be a bitch.

I'd say stick with the dub for as long as possible, and then switch to subs.

MisterTen

What I'm planning to do is watch the dub up to the most recent episode. Then go back and re watch the series in subbed format (which will also let me share my opinions on earlier arcs).

Will try and watch some One Piece later, looking forward to the Luffy and Crocodile fight which I just know is gonna happen.

dirt monkey AL

New to One Piece?

GET OUT NOW WHILE YOUR SPOILER VIRGINITY IS STILL INTACT

nexusil

If you are still reading this, definitely stop and turn off the internet. It's ridiculously easy to be spoiled, particularly regarding crew-mates.

People call me E

@MisterTen:

What I'm planning to do is watch the dub up to the most recent episode. Then go back and re watch the series in subbed format (which will also let me share my opinions on earlier arcs).

Will try and watch some One Piece later, looking forward to the Luffy and Crocodile fight which I just know is gonna happen.

And why don't you buy the manga? I don't get why some ppl ruin their OP experience in starting with Anime. The anime is boring and childish (I'm curious to know what they will censure in the next arc to not shock the poor little kids). This is a product to make money from Oda work, forget it. This is way better to discover OP with the original work, you know, the guy who created all this epic story.

Sage

@People:

And why don't you buy the manga? I don't get why some ppl ruin their OP experience in starting with Anime. The anime is boring and childish (I'm curious to know what they will censure in the next arc to not shock the poor little kids). This is a product to make money from Oda work, forget it. This is way better to discover OP with the original work, you know, the guy who created all this epic story.

You DO realize that your posting in the ANIME forum? Coming in here and bashing the anime is of poor taste.

I don't know what version of OP you have been watching but I haven't experienced any kid-safe "censors" the way your putting it. But then again I am a sub lover till death. Not sure if the dub censors the way your putting it and if it does…that's even more reason to forget that dubs exist and start watching the subs...

I dunno why people don't like the subs....you guys don't like to read?

Mr.Ammar

^
you can always ignore the trolls

JERK DISEASE

@Sage:

You DO realize that your posting in the ANIME forum? Coming in here and bashing the anime is of poor taste.

It took them many years and atrocities, but the Conquistadors made South and Central America christian.

@Mr:

you can always ignore the trolls

Hmm, I'm starting to think this section (that I never post in, coincidence???) is like some sort of creampuff territory not used to real posting violence and noble forums survivalism.

Like a MMORG or something. This is uh….Hillsbrad Foothills, and the Manga section must be like the Eastern Plaguelands, and the General Section is a place like Icecrown Glacier.

Kaizoku Mele

@Sage:

Not sure if the dub censors the way your putting it and if it does…that's even more reason to forget that dubs exist and start watching the subs...

Yeah, the story has never been edited on the transfer to anime. I mean, Toei must be complete jerks to pull something like that.

freedom

@MisterTen - If you like the dub, and you're from the US or Canada (I believe), you can watch some of the eps from onepieceofficial.com

I've temporarily closed your thread for now, as to avoid excessive off-topic discussion, and also to help you avoid spoilers.

When you're ready to provide your next update, you can PM me personally, or any other mod or admin to re-open this thread.

MisterTen

Episode 100
A nice little episode. The plot didn't interest me too much but it was a nice little episode with plenty of good moments. I can't help feeling that I've seen way too many kidnap storylines in just about every show I've watched so seeing another one made me groan. But I did admire Kohza's determination which is why One Piece is so great, it has great characters and Kohza is another. Kinda wishing we get so see more of what Baroque Works is up to.
3/5

Episode 101
Another nice little episode but the ending let it down a bit. It just seemed that Scorpion had almost straight away decided to go and hunt down this pirate. Bearing in mind I'm watching the dub so I don't know if this was expanded upon in the original. As un-epic as it was I did like the whole reveal of Scorpion being the kids father. I wasn't too keen on the new tracks that debuted around this episode, they just didn't fit well for me. Shame to see Ace go, hope he'll meet up with the gang again later.
4/5

Cyan D. Funk

@MisterTen:

Shame to see Ace go, hope he'll meet up with the gang again later.

Hoo boy…

Should...Should I tell him now?

kotelo

i started watching One Piece in 2009, in two weeks i catch the anime, around chapter 400 and something :o

in two weeks, the entire anime xD

candrew

@Cyan:

Hoo boy…

Should...Should I tell him now?

If he managed to avoid spoilers this far, it'd be too cruel to spoil him now.

MisterTen

@candrew:

If he managed to avoid spoilers this far, it'd be too cruel to spoil him now.

I know about him coming back if that's what you're talking about and something about meeting up with Buggy.

Anyways expect me to be getting through a lot more episodes as soon as the World Cup is over.

MikeyDPirate

So you are out of the filler episodes. Those I think were good and I enjoy them. Luffy's bro is a cool guy.

Not sure if you mention this already but what country do you live in?

Master O

@MisterTen:

I know about him coming back if that's what you're talking about and something about meeting up with Buggy.

That's not what they're referring to….

Hoo boy...

freedom

Guys, cut it out. Final warning.

herr_sebbe

This post is deleted!

DesertSpada

Well, I'm glad that You are enjoying it so thoroughly. The great adventure aspect of it is certainly something that I really love about it. Then the places, characters and relationships are all paramount to what makes One Piece, well, One Piece.

Maron

@MisterTen:

Episode 100
A nice little episode. The plot didn't interest me too much but it was a nice little episode with plenty of good moments. I can't help feeling that I've seen way too many kidnap storylines in just about every show I've watched so seeing another one made me groan. But I did admire Kohza's determination which is why One Piece is so great, it has great characters and Kohza is another. Kinda wishing we get so see more of what Baroque Works is up to.
3/5

Episode 101
Another nice little episode but the ending let it down a bit. It just seemed that Scorpion had almost straight away decided to go and hunt down this pirate. Bearing in mind I'm watching the dub so I don't know if this was expanded upon in the original. As un-epic as it was I did like the whole reveal of Scorpion being the kids father. I wasn't too keen on the new tracks that debuted around this episode, they just didn't fit well for me. Shame to see Ace go, hope he'll meet up with the gang again later.
4/5

I'm impressed to see that you're so lenient towards 101 (FYI, it was a filler episode, and Ace's meeting with Luffy and the Straw Hats was much shorter in the manga). The only thing in the episode that is truly canon is the final part where Ace give Luffy that piece of paper. So yeah, don't forget about that.

Glad to see you're enjoying yourself here! I can't wait until you can participate in the FUNi DVD Discussion thread!

Badass SnoCone

@MisterTen:

I know about him coming back if that's what you're talking about and something about meeting up with Buggy.

See, Cyan, he already knows. Oh well. There goes the surprise.

Cyan D. Funk

@Badass:

See, Cyan, he already knows. Oh well. There goes the surprise.

I had balloons and everything.

herr_sebbe

Can we still drink the Champaigne?

MisterTen

For those who are wondering I'm from the UK.

Going to watch some more One Piece tommorow, I've just been rather busy this week so haven't had much oppurtunity to watch. Though I have read some more of the manga, even if it's only 6 more chapters.