The first shot in the first episode of One Piece after the wonderful "We Are!" plays is that of the sky. The sun is shining, the blue is pleasant, the seagulls are aimless, and the clouds seem arranged in a rippling circle, as if the barrel that sits in the ocean below was dropped through them. "The sky is so blue ..." says one of Alvida's henchmen in a later moment of bliss among disaster. That even this guy, who has done nothing in this episode but be punched by Luffy and struck by Alvida, can find a slice of peace in the chaotic world of One Piece is indicative of what makes early One Piece so memorable and such a great set-up for the heavy lore and rising stakes to come. Its vibes are perfect.
As the Straw Hats come together through East Blue and into the Baroque Works saga and Skypiea, there's a lot of dedication put toward time spent on the Going Merry. Nothing is really accomplished and there are no bullet point pieces of plot development. Instead, it's an allowance for the crew to just be, to relax and goof around on the deck of the Going Merry at their leisure. They're able to exist outside of story arcs and narrative momentum. They may have someplace grand to go, but they don't have anywhere to be right now.
Rather than feel like fluff, they instead serve as affirmation. Character personalities and relationships aren't always established through huge moments of realization. To think that way renders the atmosphere worthless, reducing a world and the people that inhabit it into action figures to be posed rather than a breathing semblance of life. We sometimes gain more from the ease of nothing rather than the push of something, especially when it comes to characters like the Straw Hats who are often at their most delightful with their guard let down. It's anything other than anime-only filler — it's the Romance Dawn into morning.
It's an era of tremendous triumph and empty calm that lets us appreciate what One Piece would evolve into. It's honestly beautiful that a series with such a constant sense of worldbuilding and a massive endgame feels so lazy at points. We get the chance to treasure and root for Luffy before the Gears and increasingly momentous attacks. He's only able to beat Crocodile once he gets blood on his fists, an everyman coup de grace rather than a chosen one impact. He can only tackle Eneru thanks to his surprise ability to resist electricity, something that doesn't so much seal the defeat of the false god but ensures that the good guys might get to survive a little longer. His defeat of Kuro is with a funny headbutt and the final moments of his duel with Don Krieg are a last-ditch effort using creative means rather than an over-sized wallop.
A lot of people I know have referred to the Straw Hats as being akin to friends that you get to check in on every week and I think that's a more than apt comparison. First of all, hang out with anybody, fictional or otherwise, for over 20 years on a weekly basis and you're bound to form some sort of attachment. Second, early One Piece makes me nostalgic for not just the show but for that time period when you and your friends are on the cusp of adulthood and everyone is kinda trying to figure out what's gonna happen next. The lazy afternoons, the impromptu parties, that kind of communal "I don't know where we're going but I hope I go there with you" feeling. It's a special moment, a blend of reprieve and connection before life is like "OKAY, GIMME YOUR MORTGAGE."
One Piece would change, but that's not a bad thing in the slightest. I doubt many of us would like it as much as we do if we hadn't gotten to just hang out with the Straw Hats before they jumped into tackling Big Mom and Kaido and everybody else usually found swinging their weapon at the screen during the anime opening. It also makes it prime rewatch material, a flashback to when the skies were blue, the sea was calm, and you and your friends had big dreams and all the time in the world to reach them.
Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!
Source: Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!
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