I never wanted to jump into something that big because it felt too daunting. I had seen maybe 3 episodes on Toonami like 20 years ago but that was it. I gave the first couple of chapters a read since we liked a lot of the same stuff.
I was hooked right from that start. I read a ton of it, and then picked up the anime from the start around when I reached Fishman Island.
That was a little over 2 years ago, and I’ve been caught up on the manga for months, and the dub anime since last week.
It hasn’t been anywhere near the only thing I’ve read or watched, but it’s always just been that good I haven’t wanted to put it down for long.
My SO is nowhere as into this stuff as I am, and she cannot believe she’s just watched 1100+ episodes of the same thing. She’s needed more breaks than I did, but she is kinda bummed there’s no more at the moment.
I had held off on the Gunslinger series from Stephen King forever for similar reasons and it turned out the same way. Some things are so loved for good reason, and the time goes by way faster if you agree than for something you find mid.
Yeah, it took me a while to catch up to where the anime is (haven’t read the manga yet) but, like, I enjoy the show, so it’s not exactly a chore. I feel like a lot of people see long shows and books/comics as something they need to “get through,” like it only counts as enjoying something if you’ve consumed the work in its entirety. The only thought I had when I was so early in the series was “sweet, I still have so much One Piece I can watch.”
I stumbled on DBZ to start my anime journey like a lot of people probably did, so associating big with filler isn’t an unfair assumption.
Seeing something so big in both story size and fan base hyped up all the time also feels unrealistic for most things, but One Piece to me lives up to its reputation.
If you’ve watched it already first, in my opinion I don’t think you need to go back to read it. I can’t think of anything significant they’ve skipped like in some adaptations of manga.
I’ve gone back to reread things like Golden Kamuy where some stuff was too graphic to put in the anime or if the anime was well behind the manga like MHA was, but One Piece is wholesome so nothing got skipped and I imagine it prints money so it’s only one partial arc behind for the most part now.
While I love manga and the artwork…
I read and comprehend words much, much faster.
For a massive opus like One Piece, I would love a novel version of the manga that I could dig into, with the novel and manga chapters lining up or notated, so I could go back and read chapters of the manga and enjoy the artwork for especially key or poignant scenes.
Then I could start just consuming the manga and anime in real time…
Right now it’s just too daunting to start.
I’ve seen the first season of live action and anime. I’m very interested, I just can’t justify the time commitment.
That’s a bit why I waited until I was a huge chunk into the reading to start the anime. I could just enjoy the animation and to see how previous events tie into where I am in the reading. The anime feels pretty true to the manga. Continuity feels great, and I really wonder how much was planned to play out this way 30 years ago or if Oda is just that good at not painting himself into corners with plotlines.
With the huge online fandom, it isn’t hard to search up what chapters events take place in if you want to reread a section. I think if you really want to get deep into it and work on your own theories and such, doing an arc and taking a break to roll it around in your mind and to go back to key events and hint drops, that feels very doable.
There’s only 2 arcs that drag on a bit, but I think it’s paced nicely and there’s good delineation between key events.
I dislike fights in manga since I can’t seem to visualize it clearly, so I like a bit of jumping back to watch the anime and get an experience like what you seem to describe. Since so much is out already too, you can watch some of the anime to get the voices and outfits in your head too, which I always find helpful too.
You naturally know what works for you though, but One Piece is truly top notch and it would be sad to see someone skip it for its size. It is almost all solid gold material, and while there is absolutely some stuff less interesting than others, it really isn’t much, and there is no filler in the manga. The anime has filler between arcs, but it’s easily skipped if one desires and slower parts of the story drag even more animated than read, but I think that’s true of any story.
It’s not a race and you can wait to start whenever, but I’m glad I’m caught up and don’t have to risk having the ending spoiled in a few years when it wraps up.
I never wanted to jump into something that big because it felt too daunting. I had seen maybe 3 episodes on Toonami like 20 years ago but that was it. I gave the first couple of chapters a read since we liked a lot of the same stuff.
I was hooked right from that start. I read a ton of it, and then picked up the anime from the start around when I reached Fishman Island.
That was a little over 2 years ago, and I’ve been caught up on the manga for months, and the dub anime since last week.
It hasn’t been anywhere near the only thing I’ve read or watched, but it’s always just been that good I haven’t wanted to put it down for long.
My SO is nowhere as into this stuff as I am, and she cannot believe she’s just watched 1100+ episodes of the same thing. She’s needed more breaks than I did, but she is kinda bummed there’s no more at the moment.
I had held off on the Gunslinger series from Stephen King forever for similar reasons and it turned out the same way. Some things are so loved for good reason, and the time goes by way faster if you agree than for something you find mid.
Yeah, it took me a while to catch up to where the anime is (haven’t read the manga yet) but, like, I enjoy the show, so it’s not exactly a chore. I feel like a lot of people see long shows and books/comics as something they need to “get through,” like it only counts as enjoying something if you’ve consumed the work in its entirety. The only thought I had when I was so early in the series was “sweet, I still have so much One Piece I can watch.”
I stumbled on DBZ to start my anime journey like a lot of people probably did, so associating big with filler isn’t an unfair assumption.
Seeing something so big in both story size and fan base hyped up all the time also feels unrealistic for most things, but One Piece to me lives up to its reputation.
If you’ve watched it already first, in my opinion I don’t think you need to go back to read it. I can’t think of anything significant they’ve skipped like in some adaptations of manga.
I’ve gone back to reread things like Golden Kamuy where some stuff was too graphic to put in the anime or if the anime was well behind the manga like MHA was, but One Piece is wholesome so nothing got skipped and I imagine it prints money so it’s only one partial arc behind for the most part now.
While I love manga and the artwork… I read and comprehend words much, much faster. For a massive opus like One Piece, I would love a novel version of the manga that I could dig into, with the novel and manga chapters lining up or notated, so I could go back and read chapters of the manga and enjoy the artwork for especially key or poignant scenes. Then I could start just consuming the manga and anime in real time… Right now it’s just too daunting to start. I’ve seen the first season of live action and anime. I’m very interested, I just can’t justify the time commitment.
That’s a bit why I waited until I was a huge chunk into the reading to start the anime. I could just enjoy the animation and to see how previous events tie into where I am in the reading. The anime feels pretty true to the manga. Continuity feels great, and I really wonder how much was planned to play out this way 30 years ago or if Oda is just that good at not painting himself into corners with plotlines.
With the huge online fandom, it isn’t hard to search up what chapters events take place in if you want to reread a section. I think if you really want to get deep into it and work on your own theories and such, doing an arc and taking a break to roll it around in your mind and to go back to key events and hint drops, that feels very doable.
There’s only 2 arcs that drag on a bit, but I think it’s paced nicely and there’s good delineation between key events.
I dislike fights in manga since I can’t seem to visualize it clearly, so I like a bit of jumping back to watch the anime and get an experience like what you seem to describe. Since so much is out already too, you can watch some of the anime to get the voices and outfits in your head too, which I always find helpful too.
You naturally know what works for you though, but One Piece is truly top notch and it would be sad to see someone skip it for its size. It is almost all solid gold material, and while there is absolutely some stuff less interesting than others, it really isn’t much, and there is no filler in the manga. The anime has filler between arcs, but it’s easily skipped if one desires and slower parts of the story drag even more animated than read, but I think that’s true of any story.
It’s not a race and you can wait to start whenever, but I’m glad I’m caught up and don’t have to risk having the ending spoiled in a few years when it wraps up.