To the Grand Line

Okay, picture this: a scrawny 17 year old rubber kid, a three-sword wielding powerhouse, a sexy, greedy navigator, a lying and cowardly marksman, a perverted chef whose life is food, a talking reindeer doctor, a lady with a lot of hands, a muscular cyborg, and a musical skeleton with an afro. What could all these things have in common? Well, as a matter of fact, they have at least two things in common. Firstly, they all belong to the same pirate crew, and secondly, they all come from the dementedly creative mind of Eiichiro Oda, the creator of the manga One Piece.

The Straw Hat Pirates, minus Brooke, the skeleton. (From left to right): Usopp, Roronoa Zoro, Monkey D. Luffy, Sanji, Nami, Franky (Top), Tony Tony Chopper (Bottom), and Nico Robin.
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The story focuses on Monkey D. Luffy, a kid who aspires to be a pirate like his mentor and father figure, known as "Red-Haired Shanks". He sets off at the tender age of 17, with nothing but a small boat and his straw hat, his most prized possession and a gift from Shanks. Soon he arrives on a port where he meets the notorious pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro, who is arrested and being tortured at the time. Luffy rescues him on the condition that he joins his pirate crew. From there they travel the seas in search of the great treasure known as One Piece, left by the pirate king, Gol D. Roger. They meet Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, and Brooke along the way, each crew member with a valuable talent or specialty essential to the crew's well-being. Through a government war on the pirates and many other hardships, Luffy plans to ascend to the top and become the Pirate King.

This series is one of my favorites, although I've been neglecting it as of late. It's incredibly creative, each new person met is one that's never forgotten. Oda has quite the imagination, and uses it to his extreme advantage. It's a very colorful and hilarious series, especially since Luffy never quite takes things seriously. At over 663 chapters spanning 65 volumes, and over 540 episodes, it is amazingly long, and thus difficult for me to catch up on.

Oda, Eiichiro. One Piece. Vol. 1. Tokyo: Shueisha, 1997. Print.