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you know what every fandom needs more of? bodyswap!

Today's episode in things that are great:

I've been itching to reread One Piece for a while now and

lil_blossom delivered the final push last week. I used to read it, years ago, but got totally distracted by Naruto and god knows what else. Jpop?

So I started my reread and my reaction can be summed up with a few emoticons: >w< ♥o♥ and \o/!

I'm up to chapter 160 of One Piece now (OUT OF 646, GOD IT'S SO LONG), which is roughly the beginning of the Alabasta arc. There is a long way to go, I know. Oh god. I'm past where I stopped reading years ago so all this is new stuff to me (though I already know a number of spoilers thanks to, as always, fic) and I am loving every bit of it.

I wish I knew how to articulate what I think OP does better than a lot of other series (cough, lookin' at you, Naruto): as others have put it, it's basically the quintessential shounen series. What every shounen series aspires to be! It has epic journeys, epic themes, epic relationships and friendships, epic character backstories and character growth. EVERYTHING IS EPIC. But it's told in a way that is lighthearted and fun (plus it's set in an over-the-top madhouse world), so you never feel like you're being bogged down with Deep Heavy Themes. You almost don't notice the themes, because you're too busy laughing at Luffy's simple-minded love for food or cringing at Sanji's heart-eyes for everything female or holding your breath in anticipation at every fight because you know the Straw Hat Pirates are going to be awesome enough to come out on top, but it's still nervewracking! (Or maybe I am just too empathetic.)

I fucking love Zoro; he is my favorite. Luffy is a close second. Or maybe it's Vivi. Honestly, I knew I was going to love Zoro because I loved him in the past and also because his character-type is the type I crush on hard. Scary kickass and super competent, the type that comes off like he's too cool to care, but is actually a really great friend even though he rolls his eyes and mutters sarcastic comments all the time. He always comes through though, when it counts.

But VIVI. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, VIVI. I love Nami too, god, she's smart and brave and so unapologetic about her greed. ♥ But Vivi ahhhhh. SMART, BRAVE, CONSIDERATE, REGAL, HONORABLE, KICKASS, READY TO TAKE RISKS, PRETTY alksdfjksl. Kind of ditzy sometimes. \o/ IDK I JUST LOVE HER.

I LOVE EVERYONE THOUGH. I LOVE THIS MANGA. I LOVE THE CHAPTER PAGE ART AND THE RIDICULOUS BACKSTORIES FOR EVERYONE, EVEN VILLAINS, AND ALL THE CANONICALLY AU ART AND ADVENTURES and also jsyk all the animal stories made me CRY. The whale Lampoon and Chopper and that dog on Arlong Park. ;____;

This is not a primer. I...do not have the attention span for that. I MUST RETURN TO READING, YOU SEE. I'm still reading and, hey, finally sort of getting five years after the fact why people shipped Smoker/Ace.

Let's be honest, though, Zoro/Sanji is still my ship of choice. (When I choose to ship at all!) I am sort of fond of the idea of Zoro/Nami or Luffy/Nami though. Mostly I want everyone to be nakama forever and ever, argumentative and ridiculous and badass and loyal and protective as ever. ♥

I'll catch up on Revenge tomorrow. Possibly also stop at the library! Yay, books!

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week alskdfjkd.

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Just wanted to say that I will never not be amazed by your info posts, regardless of your level of incoherency~ ♥

Nooo you can't compare this to my previous fandom primer posts this one is just alskdfjdlk IT BRINGS ME HAPPINESS AND ALSO HAVE SOME PICS. If I were really organized, I would have proper bits on each character (with pics!) and a bit on plot and a bit on fandom.

...I am rarely ever capable of posts like that, I feel.

OH WELL, IT BRINGS ME HAPPINESS AND ALSO GREAT CHAPTER PICS.

LOL I WROTE THAT BEFORE I READ THE ACTUAL POST, SO I TAKE THE WORDS BACK--

this is not even remotely an info post, this is more like an explosion of rainbows. BUT THAT IS OKAY B/C I LOVE YOUR RAINBOW-EXPLOSION POSTS TOO \o/

I'M SORRY DID YOU WANT INFO, TELL ME WHAT INFO YOU WANT ;___;

you judgy judger, you are guilting me into wanting to make an info post

IDK, HOW ABOUT BASIC STORY PREMISE AND CHARACTERS? /o\ though idk if that will matter in the long run b/c i'm pretty sure my favorite character will be luffy (probably followed by zoro) regardless of pimping.

fkdsljaflk i can't help it, it's in my nature to judge! and better me judging you and telling you about it than me judging you in secret i think b/c it is an indication of how much i love you! or something! so uhm yes, do what you want? if you don't make an info post, there is always wiki \o/

lmao wiki is a good place to start. OKAY.

IT IS THE STORY OF AN EPIC JOURNEY. OF FRIENDSHIP. AND ADVENTURE. AND THE PURSUIT OF DREAMS~

Luffy wants to be Pirate King, the best pirate in the world. In order to do that, he's on a quest to attain the legendary "One Piece" (no one actually knows what it is at this point, I think). He has eaten one of the magical devil's fruit that has turned his body into rubber, so he's super stretchy. (There are other devil's fruits with different effects that crop up throughout the manga.)

Zoro wants to be the greatest swordsman in the world. To do this, he trains constantly. His goal is to defeat Mihawk "Hawk Eyes", who is currently the greatest swordsman in the world.

Nami had a backstory but they sort of solved that, so now she's traveling with them as their navigator and also because she loooooves money. Unashamedly. Off to steal all the treasure she can get her hands on!

Usopp is a compulsive liar and grandiose tale spinner. His goal is to be the bravest warrior of all time and to have grand adventures as a pirate. Right now he's probably the most cowardly of all the pirates, but he's hilarious and actually really smart with strategy. Also a great shot - their current sniper/sharpshooter.

Sanji's dream is to find the legendary All Blue, the sea where all four seas (East Blue, West Blue, North Blue, South Blue) meet and there is a plethora of every kind of fish in the world. He's a chef, see, so he wants to build a restaurant there and feed anyone, friend or foe, because that's what chefs do. He fights only with his feet (super powerful kicks) because his hands are saved for his cooking. He adores women. Worships them. Almost in a creepy way askldfjlks. Has a great yelling antagonistic relationship with Zoro, imo, where they don't actually get along most of the time but will always, without question, have each other's back.

Vivi joins their crew only for a few arcs and I shouldn't spoil you too much for her, but she is great. She is the princess of Alabasta!

Chopper is an adorable reindeer most of the time! But he also ate a fruit that made him half-human. So he can transform between, and talk when he's in reindeer form. He's their doctor.

Later on, more people join! Even the villains are entertaining. The villains being other pirates (usually amoral and terrible compared to our Straw Hat pirates led by Luffy), the Marines (working under the world government), and members of the Shichibukai, who are the 7 ~elite~ pirates who have contracted with the world government, so they are sort of Officially Sanctioned pirates who keep all the other pirates in check through their massive badassness.

So lots of arcs as they get each member and go into their backstory, then once they hit the Grand Line in pursuit of the one piece, more arcs as they go from island to island. Epic adventure, like I said.

SO GREAT.

fdjskalfjkl omg okay all of these characters are kind of stupidly adorable, but oh god this manga is SOOOO LOOOONG MEIIIIII which is really intimidating ;____; but-but-but I WILL TRY \o/

THEY ARE ALL SO GREAT. YOU WILL LOVE ALL OF THEM SO MUCH, EVEN IF YOU MANAGE TO HAVE FAVORITES. So far it's been almost pitch-perfect in being hilarious and touching and exciting with adventures. Nothing's dragged on. Nothing's felt weirdly forced or awkward. Nothing has made me roll my eyes in exasperation. (E.g., even HOLiC dragged on for me sometimes. Or, say, in Naruto, the completely obvious Yondaime/orphaned Naruto set-up made me eyeroll a lot. There was a lot more telling than showing in Naurto.) It helps that their world is sort of just RIDICULOUS but OP really handles both the characters and plot well and pretty consistently, I think.

BUT I AM BIASED. I REALLY LOVE IT A LOT.

This whole post, I just... ♥♥♥♥♥ I will never stop loving this manga, even if I can't catch up ever *sob*

Oh god I want to go reread all my Zoro/Sanji doujin again orz

WHY DO I HAVE NO ZORO/SANJI DOUJIN. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START FINDING THOSE ANYMORE. alksdfj so out of manga fandom I don't remember how it works. ;___;

But you should totally read it again with me! ♥♥

lololol I actually bought mine at a con! For translating purposes, and the most hilarious part is I am being entirely truthful when I say that.

I just might! :D

I will trawl the internet for scanlations! ...after I read some more of canon. :D

YAY JOIN ME. /DANCES YOU AROUND IN CIRCLES

One Piece!! ;o; Once upon a time, I started reading it but then life got in the way and the chapter count scared me so I never started again. I think I got to.. hm. ah chapter 175! (is it weird I have a note with progress on all anime/mangas that I'm watching/reading ._.; ehehe)

Maybe I will start again.. ^^

You should! That's basically what happened to me. By the time I thought vaguely of getting back into it, it was already in the 500s of chapters with anime eps to match. But I kept hearing about how great it was (and stayed) so I finally gave in.

SO FAR, LIVING UP TO EXPECTATIONS. ♥ You should read with meeee. We can flail together! And the nice thing about having so much to read, at least for me, is that I know there's always something to read if I want. I actually hate being up to date and reading, like, 13 pages a week and then being like alksdfjslk AND THEN WHAT HAPPENS? I am tremendously awful at WIPs.

Haha started re-reading.. up to 130 again. Oh how I missed you OP.

YES lmao I always failed at reading weekly so I'd just come back every few months and read chunks of chapters XD;;

YAY. Come flail or discuss or whatever with me! I am anxious for someone to !!! with, heh. Here or on gchat or MSN works~ I could go on about OP forever. I just finished the Skypiea arc and am about to start the Water Seven arc - maybe thinking of taking a break for Thanksgiving, lol. So much consumption.

Hahaha now in the middle of Alabasta Arc, gchat okay? kitschful \o/ Consumption is so easy though! It just sucks you in *--* and before you know it, there go another 50 chapters.

OH MY GOD ONE PIECE

I keep meaning to read more of it, because I really really like it for all the reasons you have listed above, but somehow never got around to it. The character designs are fantastic. I adore how all the characters are so uniquely bizarre -- the mangaka has creativity up the wazoo. Just my type.

SO. MUST. CORRECT. LACK. OF. READING. NOW.

also, I approve of all library pitstops and give your endeavors my badge of approval!

Edited 2011-11-18 05:13 (UTC)

Yes! That is something I forgot to address - how freaking imaginative every character is, good or bad, and the world they live in. Sooo creative. Nothing ever feels boring or recycled, really.

YES JOIN ME IN READING OP. ♥

there is an amazing old blog post by the leader of fudanjuku about zoro/sanji & explaining what it's like to have yaoi goggles on when watching anime lol

ahaha that's hilarious, omg. SUCH IS THE WAY OF THE FANGIRLS. They are everywhere!

(deleted comment)

Ooh, what you said, yes, absolutely. I want epic adventures and friendship that will never let you down ;o;

WE CAN BE NAKAMA, ANNA. /PUTS A STRAW HAT ON YOU

Firstly, ASDLFKJASF YESSSSSS. This is actually my favourite manga of all time, for all the reasons you have listed above.

Secondly, you forgot to mention that Zoro is also an idiot, just like every other male on the ship. WHICH JUST MAKES ME LOVE HIM MORE OBV.

Lastly, YAY YOU SHIP WHAT I SHIP. Well, the Luffy/Nami and Zoro/Sanji. :p But as you said, the nakama!love is the best forever and ever.

Also, to be honest, I've reread the series 2 times now, and I'm on my third round, but I still don't see the Smoker/Ace. But anyway, the everything just gets more and more epic so you won't get bored! (I hope)

Hikago is still my top favorite and Slam Dunk is up there too and I will be fond forever in my heart for CCS, but alskdfj OP. SO FANTASTIC. Already up in my favorites, and I still have so much to go.

GOD YES HE IS AN IDIOT. THEY ARE ALL IDIOTS. IT'S GREAT. I realized I totally forgot to mention his utter lack of direction too, lmao. Which, granted, is not as bad as, say, Ryoga from Ranma 1/2, but still hilariously terrible. ILH. ♥

Ah, I get Smoker/Ace in that...they are badass and attractive and there would be Marine v. pirate conflict and that's always a super popular shipping dynamic. Considering that I had no idea who they were five years ago (having stopped reading before even the Drum Empire arc), I "get" shipping them now that I know who they are, haha.

ONE PIEEEEEEEEEEECE.

Best shounen manga ever. Ever.

When people say the art is bad, I want to scream because it isn't. It really, really isn't, it's just different. And Oda's colorspreads are absolutely amazing.

My fave character is Usopp and I don't really ship anyone. It's a series where I feel the gen pretty hard. But you're in the majority with Sanji/Zoro!

It really is great. ♥ I have to find time today to go read more. :D

Oh god, no, the art is not bad. I'm the kind of person who will fall in love with any sort of art style given time and enough love for the characters/plot, but ngl I get annoyed at people who only like ~pretty~ art and their definition of pretty is "unbelievably unrealistic and disproportionate flowery shoujo art". Which I can love sometimes too! BUT EXPAND YOUR GODDMAN HORIZONS, I want to yell. ;___;

I looove how creative and imaginative the artwork for OP is, actually, and the details of the environment/background. There are a lot of manga (coughNarutoagaincough) that barely ever bother with backgrounds and overuse DRAMATIC ACTION LINES and sfx while people fight and talk in floating blank space.

OP gen makes me happy. Sanji/Zoro makes me happy. It's a good place, overall! :D

I love the entire OP crew. They're all so lovely and adorable and I want them to be happy together forever and ever.

After Luffy (because he's my #1) I have such a hard time picking a second favourite. They all have their moments.

For this series I ship nakamaship. And Ace/Luffy growing up as children stories (because they're cute and dysfunctional children). I just love how those two have such a normal sibling relationship without any drama. I also ship Luffy with a character that you won't see for a million chapters. All I'll say is she has the cutest crush on him ever (and he's just as oblivious as ever).

I definitely ship their friendship above all else ♥♥ I didn't expect to love Vivi as much as I did. I could probably write paragraphs ruminating on her character & why it appeals to me, but I think we can wrap it up with a big heart:

Luffy is sooooo great. I really do love all of them. aslkdfjslk I am almost excited I have so far to go, actually, because I fucking hate WIPs and with a series this long I know I have a lot to look forward to before I have to deal with the dreaded Wait. :D

*high fives*

Good job ~~converting seducing~~ convincing Mei to glory in One Piece.

Only 95% of the population is now in need of enlightenment.

:P

I LOVE ONE PIECE. although I've forgotten most of it ;___;

YOU HAVE TIME NOW, YOU SHOULD START A CASUAL REREAD. THE ENTIRE MANGA IS ONLINE AFTER ALL~~~ :D Join meeee.

I'M UP TO THIS ARC AS WELL... BUT I'M NOT READING I'M WATCHING.

KYAAA KYAAAAA. I have been spoiled time and time again though, because of all the fanfiction and fanart I look at. So I basically know most of what's going to happen.. goddamnit!!!!!

Speaking of Zoro/sanji I want to share with you some fanart (http://teeething.tumblr.com/post/12625510492) that i did kinda recently..shameless pimp I'm sorry I regret nothing. Also, I have to admit I am quite partial to some Zoro/Luffy as well...

Lol anyway, I'm at work right now, but I wish I was at home watching more One piece ♥

/rant ♥ ♥

aksdjf I have just finished the Skypiea arc, because life is boring compared to reading OP. The series continues to be so epic and adventurous and fun though. I HAVE ALSO BEEN SPOILED FOR THINGS. Not everything but a lot of things. That make me go ;___;.

YAY FANART. alskdjfls lmao that is so cute. Luffy being ever helpful. ♥

\o/

One Piece and the glory of the the Straw-hat Pirates.

Luffy is my favourite because he is ridiculous and ridiculously strong and oblivious and raring for a fight. Zoro comes a close second because he's likewise ridiculously strong (kicks 3 kinds of ass), generally lives at his own pace and has no sense of direction (and it is still amusing after 50 volumes).
Picking between everyone else for third place is extremely hard.

I nakama!ship for the most part because they're all so darn loveable.

EVERYTHING IS EPIC

And AWESOME!

I love Luffy so much alskdjflsdk. I am weak to my hormones though and my hormones always love Zoro-types a lot, so in that he has edged Luffy out a tiny bit. He is so growly and like WHATEVER LET ME SLEEP but so stupid and ambitious and determined and will stand up for his friends (and his relationship with Chopper! ♥ and the way he went from suspicious of Robin to protecting her so much alskdjf). I COULD GO ON.

ABOUT ALL OF THEM. Their nakama-ship is the best thing. I love love love how smart the girls are ahhh I love Nami. And Vivi, who is all heart. Spoil me a little bit: does she make a reappearance in the series after the Alabasta arc, or is that the last we see of her? ;__;

She does show up in the manga again. But not with the Straw Hat crew. I think it's just a reaction montage from various people the crew know when something big happens.

He's so stupidly honourable and believes that putting a sword in his mouth is a good way to fight. :S
:D

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you know what every fandom needs more of? bodyswap!

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