The One Piece: Master Shounen Formula

I don't know if this is a new post series for The Otaku Reviewers (since we're always loving One Piece, publicly and privately), but I'm going to talk about what makes One Piece a shounen masterpiece. It hasn't been around for as long as the Dragonball (DragonballZ, Dragonball GT and Dragonball) series but it's fast catching up to them, in both selling and fan popularity. It frequently makes the top five in anime TV ratings in Japan.


It's only a matter of time before the much better Funimation version is broadcast on one of the three main young people networks (Disney, Nickelodeon, or Cartoon Network).


So what is one thing that makes One Piece so great?

Ultrasacrifice (Compassion)


It hasn't happened once, it hasn't happened twice, it hasn't happened three times. No it's happened plenty of times. As a one piece fan you're expecting the next time someone on the good side sacrifices something for their nakama... 


Ultrasacrifice is crap by itself. Make a shounen story and put tons of ultrasacrifice in it then watch people call your story fatalistic or negative or just stupid. Only a genius like Eiichiro Oda can weave it in so that it flows flawlessly, evokes smiles, fluttering heartbeats, and tears. And the feeling of being loved :)



In One Piece ultrasacrifice is balanced by the other things... Including but not limited to; kicking ass and taking names, extreme friendship, MMMsupar!, and other things. Ultrasacrifice by itself is kinda dumb. But also part of Shank's story, he barely knew Luffy. Luffy was just some kid that bothered his crew with his ranting but he still sacrificed his arm to save him from a bloodthirsty eel/shark. Especially since he liked Luffy's heart/courage, no other reason was required.. Oh and I forgot the keyword... The keyword is Compassion, that should be the real reason in fact I'm gonna change it now.

Clannad :::Anime Recommendation:::

Hello fellow bloggers! Interesting... how it took me this long to recommend my FAVORITE anime: Clannad! yay! :)

We all know what school is like: There are different personalities here and there, fun and funny moments we can never forget, as well as relationships that last forever. Clannad is a masterpiece by Key, filled with almost an infinite amount of heart-warming and amazing KMM (especially in the second season). But it's not as normal as you think. Created by the famous Jun Maeda (the co-founder), who I have the deepest respect for, it's filled with psychological moments that will leave you in awe, in tears, and on your knees.

The first season of Clannad is basically like a normal life of an average teenager at school who plans to waste his days living day to day poorly, skipping classes, and just not making the best of what's in front of him. After he meets Nagisa, he realizes his life isn't as dull as he once thought, and he begins to open up to the possibilities.

The second season (although I can't give you too much detail) blew me away. The first season built up to the second season perfectly and Clannad After Story remains to be one of the highest ranked animes on MyAnimeList.net (currently #5).

Very slight spoiler (nothing too drastic):

Clannad After Story has been the first anime I've seen that takes you from high school to graduation and then after that! (Hence why it's called "After Story"...)

So it may seem like a normal school anime but... What if... What if there was a parallel universe that... *ahem* Sorry, almost spilled some important details =P. If you wanted to know what I was going to say, you're going to have to watch Clannad to find out! ^^

It is truly touching and I hope everyone has the chance to see the anime that has literally changed my life. It has so much slice of life that it changed my outlook on many things and Kyoto Animation (KyoAni) does such a great job of character design that it's both pleasing to look at the wonderful art as well as watch the story unfold before your eyes to truly define what a masterpiece is. Keep in mind that the title of "My Favorite Anime" does not come lightly. It battled with others on my list until it climbed to the top =P. I felt really vulnerable while watching it because it made me cry a few times... and I don't cry! It wasn't a "I can hold it back" moment. I literally found tears in my eyes (although I wiped them away quickly before they started to climb down my face) and was in awe of the wonderful story portrayed. I liked everything about it--and I hope you do too!

So what are you waiting for? Go watch Clannad! ^^

That's all for today, thanks for reading! :)
:::Deretsun:::

Spoiler (2nd Season Opening):

You can watch After Story's opening, which I think is very amazing--to get an idea of the art and masterpiece in it. It doesn't really spoil that much so feel free to watch it if you're still hesitant about watching it or you just want to enjoy another awesome opening! ^^

Here you go: