About One Piece

Post 1416:

Netflix recently put out a show called One Piece. I saw the little trailer and dismissed it. Mostly, because I’ve got other things to do. Even more mostly though, it looked like an aesthetic nightmare. I’m big on looks. No, not like that. I’m talking about the way things are shot. Lighting. Lenses. Colors. Set designs. Honestly, One Piece is an aesthetic nightmare for me. This series looks wildly colorful, like a carnival exploded on the screen. It’s shot with a fish eye lens. Each shot is festooned with busyness.

It’s got a style that some people like, sure. I’m not one of those people.

And yet, I’m going to tell you that it’s one of the better shows I’ve seen for some time. They take the simple premise of pirates and a treasure hunt and build on that foundation to create a big bag of originality.

Even with all the insane costumes and makeup and crazy characters, the ironic thing about One Piece is that it is really quite traditional. The main characters have clear motivations. There’s tons of setup and payoff. Good stuff.

I like that even though the setting is completely fantastical and ridiculous, it takes itself seriously. I found myself caring for the characters. This is important, and though it’s storytelling 101, writers often forget the fundamentals.

There’s a few moments I could do without, and sometimes it feels like we’re doing side quests in a video game, just killing time. That’s a fair criticism, but unlike lesser shows, One Piece is usually doing more than one thing at a time. If the plot is stalling there is probably an info dump about the world or more character work being done.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. It’s fun. The message is simple. Friendship and freedom are important. Stick by your people. Never give up hope. See what I mean? Quite traditional.

Cheers and see you after.