An Introduction to Anime

     

The word anime — pronounced "ah-knee-may" — is an abbreviation of the word animation. In Japan, the word is used to refer to all animation. However, outside of Japan, it has become the catch-all term for animation from Japan.

For decades, anime was produced by and for Japan — a local product, with a distinct look-and-feel to not just the artwork but the storytelling, the themes, and the concepts. Over the last forty years, it has become an international phenomenon, attracting millions of fans and being translated into many languages. A whole generation of viewers in the West has grown up with it and are now passing it on to their own children.

Because all things anime tend to be lumped together, it's tempting to think of anime as a genre. It isn't, at least no more than animation itself is a genre, but rather a description of how the material is produced. Anime shows, like books or movies, fall into any number of existing genres: comedy, drama, sci-fi, action-adventure, horror and so on.

 

What Makes Anime So Special?

Most anime fans can sum this up in two words: "It's different." Anime is as unlike most American cartoons like "Batman" and "Spider-Man" are different from the comics that run in daily papers. These differences show up in many ways including the artwork storytelling, breadth of material and even cultural nuances exhibited by the characters.

Anime art styles range from the flamboyant and outlandish in shows like "Samurai Champloo" and " FLCL" to the simple and direct in shows like "Azumanga Daioh!." That said, even shows with more "basic" artwork can still be visually striking. Anime has this way of making everything look fresh and new.

It doesn't shy away from epic storylines, either, which often run for dozens (sometimes hundreds) of episodes. The best anime, though, no matter what their length, all demand great emotional involvement from the viewer. 

The sheer range of anime shows out there means a fan of most any other kind of TV or movie can find an anime series that mirrors its style. For fans of hard science fiction, the show "Planetes" would be perfect for you; romantic comedy fans will love "Fruits Basket" while crimefighting lovers will enjoy "Ghost in the Shell." There are even adaptations of classical literature like "The Count of Monte Cristo."

Not only that, fans of anime also get an intimate look into Japan's history, language and worldview, woven into a great deal of anime on many levels. Some shows are takeoffs on Japanese history like "Sengoku Basara" or raid Japanese mythology for story ideas like "Hakkenden" or "Hell Girl." Even shows that are outwardly non-Japanese in their presentation like "Claymore" and "Monster" have tinges of a Japanese sensibility to them.

What's most striking is how anime's impact is coming full circle. Some recent American cartoon productions, like "Avatar: The Last Airbender," are openly inspired by anime itself, and live-action English-language versions of anime titles are starting to come into production more frequently. 

Is Anime Okay for Young Kids?

Because anime's so broad-reaching in its subject matter, it's possible to find anime aimed at just about every age group. Some titles are specifically for younger viewers or are suitable for all ages like the animated series "Pokémon" or Studio Ghibli film "My Neighbor Totoro" while others are aimed at teenage audiences and older like "InuYasha." There are even some animes aimed at older teens like "Death Note" and some for mature audiences only like "Monster" and "Queens Blade." 

Japanese cultural attitudes about sexuality and violence require some titles to be placed a category higher than they might normally be. Nudity, for instance, is handled much more casually in Japan; sometimes a show that isn't meant specifically for adults will have material which may seem racy to Western viewers.

Anime distributors are generally quite conscious of these issues and will include either an actual MPAA rating (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17) or a TV Parental Guidelines rating as an indicator of what the intended audience is for the show. Check the show's packaging or program listing to see which rating applies.

Confused about where to start? We recommend checking out the sci-fi, cyberpunk "Cowboy Bebop" or a swords-and-sorcery tale called "Berserk." If you already know a friend who's an anime fan, clue them in on what you like to watch — they should be able to guide you towards what's best and what's new in that category.

How Japanese Anime Became the World’s Most Bankable Genre

 

It was once considered a niche genre just for hard-core fans, but streaming has helped turn it into a globally popular juggernaut. Now the Japanese animation industry is scrambling to meet an almost insatiable demand: "It’s increasingly becoming a borderless form of mass entertainment."

The coronavirus pandemic has yielded many surprising insights for the global film and TV business. One of the most curious new facts to emerge is that Japanese anime might just be the world’s most COVID-resistant form of popular entertainment.

During the height of pandemic lockdowns in 2020, when total U.S. box office sales fell 80 percent for the year and Japan’s theatrical market slipped 45 percent, Japan’s total anime industry contracted just 3.5 percent, with a market value of about $21.3 billion (more than 2.4 trillion yen). In that same fraught year, the anime business also produced its biggest theatrical hit of all time: Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train, an action-packed period fantasy that earned nearly $48 million in North America, $365 million in Japan and $504 million worldwide, becoming the biggest theatrical blockbuster of any kind in 2020 (it beat the Chinese war film The Eight Hundred, which took in $461 million in its home market). And the outsized earnings for anime have only continued. The top three titles at the Japanese box office in 2021 were all anime hits; and Jujutsu Kaisen 0, a dark fantasy anime based on a manga series of the same name by Gege Akutami, brought in $106 million there earlier this year, as well as a healthy $34 million in North America for a $187 million worldwide total.According to consultancy Parrot Analytics, global demand for anime content grew 118 percent over the past two years, making it one of the fastest-growing content genres throughout the pandemic (the firm measures its demand metric by combining consumption data with social media activity, social video and independent research).

“Even in pandemic times, still the anime market thrived,” noted Kana Koido, a partner at Japanese indie distributor The Klockworx, during a recent panel discussion at the Far East Film Festival. “Japan is such a unique market, where even though total box office in 2020 was almost half of what it had been in 2019, still there was this rare content that did better than ever.” 

Those who are tapped into Japan’s anime industry say the precursors for these boom times have been building for years. During the decade before the pandemic, from 2009 to 2019, Japan’s anime industry doubled in total market value to $22.1 billion, according to the Association of Japanese Animations.

 

The key force behind such growth has been a widening demographic embrace of anime culture, both within Japan and among consumers virtually everywhere. Once the province only of otaku — Japan’s hard-core anime and manga fans, formerly stereotyped as socially awkward misfits too absorbed in their fantasy worlds to participate in “normal society” — anime is already far along the well-trodden path of niche subcultures that have found themselves suddenly embraced by mainstream society as the next cool thing.

“Over the past five to 10 years, in Japan and in the West, there’s almost been this anime renaissance that has happened, where it went from being this thing you would get bullied for liking to being something all kinds of people want to talk about,” says 27-year-old anime influencer Joseph Tetsuro Bizinger, who goes by Joey the Anime Man on YouTube, where his channel has grown over the past decade to 3.2 million followers. “It’s going through this motion that gaming went through in the 1990s, where if you played games you were a nerd, until suddenly everyone played games. That’s why anime films are just becoming such a massive thing. It’s not just a few nerds from your class who go see [the latest anime release] — now the entire class is going to go.”

Bizinger adds: “And I think that’s the big reason why the streaming sites are trying to get as much anime as possible, because they see the bigger potential in it now.” 

During the AnimeJapan convention in Tokyo in March, Netflix revealed that it would launch 40 new anime titles, spanning a growing range of genres, in 2022 alone. Characteristically, the streamer had data to justify the expansion: In 2021, over half of all Netflix subscribers worldwide watched at least some anime content on the platform. 

 

Other platforms report the same findings. 

“We’re seeing more and more appetite for anime throughout all demos, in all countries,” notes Gaku Narita, executive director of original content for Japan at The Walt Disney Co., which is also in the process of dramatically boosting its output of licensed and original anime titles on Disney+. “It’s increasingly becoming a borderless form of mass entertainment.”

But anime also continues to operate by its own unique logic. Setting it apart from most forms of filmmaking, anime’s theatrical earning power has been enhanced rather than eroded by the streaming revolution, which continues to increase the accessibility and awareness of key titles, while also shortening the cycle between the release of hit anime TV series and the spinoff feature films that typically follow in theaters. And anime’s strong fan culture and the event-like nature of its releases would seem almost tailor-made for a moment when the theatrical model more than ever needs to emphasize the benefits of the in-person communal experience. 

“The atmosphere of going to the theater to see anime is very different from watching a normal Hollywood film,” notes Asa Suehira, chief content officer at anime streamer and distributor Crunchyroll, which has been building the U.S. anime audience for years by making Japanese TV releases instantly available via simulcast. “People dress up in cosplay, they scream from the crowd when their favorite character comes onscreen or sing along with the songs,” he explains. “It really is more of an event than just watching a movie.”

 

The anime boom times have sparked a predictable wave of consolidation and dealmaking in the sector. Last year, Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired Crunchyroll, one of the largest U.S.-based anime specialty streamers, for $1.2 billion from AT&T. The Japanese conglomerate has since merged Crunchyroll with Funimation, the anime streaming service it already owned, creating the largest specialty platform devoted to the subculture. AMC Networks followed in January with the acquisition of Houston-based Sentai Holdings, a global supplier of anime content and merchandise, best known for its popular anime-focused streaming service, HIDIVE. Meanwhile, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video also continue to expand their anime offerings, while HBO Max, which has yet to launch in Asia, is known to be lining up licensing arrangements. 

Anime also appears to be immune to the recent reassessment of the streaming business model — at least so far. Netflix’s disappointing first-quarter financial results, which entailed the streamer’s first subscriber fall in a decade and a 25 percent plunge in its share price, have only increased the value of anime. 

While Netflix is trimming its profligate content spending in most areas, it’s likely to spend more on anime. The U.S. and European markets are believed to be fully saturated for Netflix, but Asia Pacific is the one region where the streamer still has headroom for growth — and it’s the area of the world that watches the most anime. As subscribers stalled or fell virtually everywhere else last quarter, Netflix added 1.1 million Asia-based subscribers. And as the world’s third-largest economy, Japan, in particular, is a vital growth territory. Just 5 million of Japan’s population of 121 million people currently subscribe to Netflix — but 90 percent of those who do subscribe watched anime in 2021, the streamer recently reported.

 

A similar logic will apply to to the various other Hollywood and Silicon Valley streamers that are now clamoring for growth in the region.

‘Jujutsu Kaisen 0’ COURTESY OF CRUNCHYROLL

Predictably, as in so many other areas of the economy today, the torrent of global demand has spiked prices for the finite existing supply of top anime titles and production partners. 

“The overflow of capital isn’t necessarily a great thing — because of the relatively small size of the industry and the number of people who are working in it and actually drawing the frames for these shows,” says Netflix’s creative director of anime, Kohei Obara. “It’s not like we can have twice or three times more of them instantly, just because the money is there.” 

Obara estimates that there are only about 5,000 anime artists and creators at work today in Japan — a figure that shows how profoundly Japan’s creative community already punches above its weight on a global basis. (The U.S. is estimated to have thousands more, with Disney’s Pixar — just one of the many Hollywood animation giants — employing a staff of more than 1,200.) 

The cascade of foreign investment has brought benefits too, though. Despite its centrality to Japan’s popular identity, the anime industry has always had a darker side — studios known for punishing hours, exploitative conditions with few benefits and a workforce that many employers viewed as disposable. Companies that violate Japan’s labor laws in this way are referred to as burakku kigyō, or “black corporations,” and Tokyo’s anime world was once notorious for them.

 

“If you take a snapshot at some particular point in time, then you still see some of those old antiquated ‘black’ conditions existing throughout the industry,” says Disney’s Narita. “But overall, the influx of capital has really brought on a lot of positive changes. It’s not just the select few who are getting rich; the artists on the ground are starting to make decent money.” 

The boom should bring exciting developments for fans as well, aside from easier access to titles. Production budgets for premium anime projects have increased anywhere from one and a half to three times, insiders say. And with ever greater demand for their talent, top anime artists are experiencing more creative freedom than ever before. 

“There are more and more opportunities and options for distribution, which has really increased production budgets,” adds Genki Kawamura, one of anime’s most prominent producers, who works regularly with leading artists like Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai), Makoto Shinkai (Your Name) and Tetsurō Araki (Netflix’s latest anime feature, Bubble). “That means that there is more breadth to what we can express creatively — which is a really great thing.”

Action-packed anime Chainsaw Man review

 

What comes to your mind after hearing the phrase “Chainsaw Man”? Well! You might think that it is a person who really enjoys the Chainsaws, a person whose name is on a power tool or you may assume it is an upcoming superhero. It can be anything if you are not into anime series, but if you also fantasized about anime series, you might know that this is an upcoming anime series centralized on a guy who developed a cute chainsaw devil named Pochita (Shiori Izawa). The interesting thing about this character is, it is able to turn all of its body parts into chainsaws. Well! If you’d ever suddenly come across any such news, your reaction would be probably like “What the heck is this happening?”

So! We will jump into Chainsaw Man review soon to let you know what are the most interesting parts of this series and why should you watch this bloody, bash and bonkers show.

Chainsaw Man- It cuts as a knife but feels all right

The plot revolves around young Denji (Kikunosuke Toya), who is a sadboi and creates a devil. It is created by the renowned anime studio MAPPA. If we talk about the character- Denji, he has been forced to take on odd occupations and sell off pieces of his body in order to exist because of the dues his deceased father left. His only company is the aforementioned Pochita, he first encounters him in an extremely depressing flashback while he was standing in the pouring rain at his father's grave.

The two then decide to support one another and spend their days seeking what they should do and how they can refer to "devils" in order to make as much money. He is making the best of his challenging existence, despite lamenting the absence of a woman to play video games and afterwards dozing off in each other's arms. Yet, all is not lost since he now has an adorable friend who saves him when he finds himself up against a wall and nobody else is there to assist.

Well! Everything that comes after must be more exciting and mysterious than what was just encountered in the last section of this first episode since this is only the beginning. Although the harshness and bloody action we have seen has been successful as if it doesn't persist, it will soon turn dull.

This Chainsaw Man anime is fully packed with action, comedy, horror and mystery, you must experience the most miserable characters and an amazingly interesting story that gets deeper and deeper after every passing episode.

Summing Up!

As the Chainsaw Man anime series is getting the highest rating at all, it is not hyped but it has that craze. It has the ability to glue you up on the couch and Chainsaw, the human-devil hybrid is enough to thrill you. Denji is damn fun, almost every character is great and engaging. If you are a demon-fighting anime lover, you will enjoy it from the core as it deserves a hats-off in this category.

Naruto Top characters and their abilities

 

Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto has given the shonen jump anime a new name altogether. With over 70 manga volumes and 700+ entries of animated television episodes featuring the simple-minded knucklehead ninja Naruto Uzumaki the argument of the top 5 strongest characters is still a hot topic in the anime community.

Over the course of two decades, Masashi Kishimoto has introduced its readers and viewers to tons of memorable characters. Some of these characters are goofy and stupid, while others are incredibly threatening like the likes of Madara Uchiha. But the main question which is still present amongst us is “Who is the strongest?”

In today’s article, we will be looking at the top 5 characters in Naruto and take a look at their breathtaking abilities. So let’s begin!

Top 5 characters in Naruto and their abilities

• Madara Uchiha: Who can forget this iconic character who turned out to be the greatest villain the world of shinobi had to face? Madara was the founder of the village hidden in the leaves and was the main antagonist of the show. He was known to be the strongest among the Uchiha clan who had mastered the powers of Sharingan.

• Tobirama Senju: What makes Tobirama Senju so powerful is his immense control over his chakra and his supersonic speed. He is so fast that he can plant explosive tags on the backs of enemies without even getting injured or noticed. Additionally, he is also a genjutsu user which is a power that makes their enemies feel like they are in complete darkness during a fight.

• Hashirama Senju: Hashira was the first Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves and was as strong and formidable as Madara Uchiha. Being the first Hokage it should be noted that Hashirama Senju went into a head-to-head battle with Madara and emerged victorious. He was a rare wood Jutsu user and a great ninja. He had the ability to control all plant life which included mending and bending it according to his will.

• Sasuke Uchiha: The Uchiha clan was known to be the strongest clan history has ever known and its last survivor Sasuke Uchiha arguably is the strongest. Sasuke had control over the power of Rinnegan, which was the most highly regarded eye among the “Three Great Dojutsu”. Sasuke is truly one of the only few ninjas in the anime who ever posed a threat to the protagonist of the show Naruto Uzumaki. 

• Naruto Uzumaki: Naruto is known to be the strongest shinobi in the show. As he is the main character of the show he truly outmatches every other character in the show in terms of ability and power. He possesses unrivaled amounts of chakra flowing through his entire body and on top of that the Nine-Tailed beast is sealed inside of him.

Conclusion

With that, we have come to the end of our exciting talk about the top 5 characters in Naruto. This is my evaluation of the most badass and strong characters ever to face on the show. This might be different from person to person as Naruto is a big show which contains thousands of characters. 

If you feel that I have left out some of the most noticeable characters in my evaluation please feel free to write your thoughts on the most powerful and top characters in Naruto in the comment section below.

Turning back to understand the Void century one piece theory

 

The void century is also called the “Black Century”. This theory belongs to the timeline of 600 B.C.-700 B.C.  This century holds such blood-curdling facts that it has been banned by the world government and the scholars who even tried to study this century were also killed. Despite all this, this theory was written on the Poneglyphs and Rio Poneglyphs, which only a few people can understand.

In this read, we will be covering only the major highlights relating to this century, just to acknowledge the same. Void century one piece theory is about two kingdoms – the Great Ancient Kingdom and the powerful alliances of Twenty Kingdoms, which later came to be known as “World Government”.

Sounds quite interesting. Isn’t it?

Yes. It is. Let’s puzzle up the pieces together.

Are you ready to pack up your bags?

Great!! Let’s begin learning then.

What happened in the Void century one piece theory?

The advent of the void century is related to a timeline when there were around 500 countries. 700 hundred years ago, the world witnessed the existence of a large number of countries. Each country was different from the other one based on its lifestyle, or habitat. Politics remain an integral part of society since the very beginning. Dates back then, countries formed alliances based on their preferred conditions and familiar environment. The two most famous ruling parties of that time were the “Great Ancient Kingdom” and “Alliances of Twenty Kingdoms”, each of which specialized in different fields.

What was the basis of the war?

Great Ancient Kingdom: This kingdom represents powerful people, triumphant militia, and weapons that hold the ability to ruin the entire island. Despite this fact, the kingdom was also the symbol of liberty. On the other hand, the Alliances of Twenty Kingdoms on realizing these specialties of the Ancient Kingdom decided to declare war to take away the absolute control of the world from them.  

The war continued for decades. Individual countries had a fear that they will be wiped out or soon they will lose their existence. This fear led the individual countries to become a part of the alliance. Looking at the strength and increasing capacity the Ancient Kingdom realized that they are going to lose the war. On realizing this, the kingdom decided to secure their bloodline, so that the future generation get to know how the alliances took absolute control over their kingdom. 

Thinking of what the kingdoms did next?

Even after predicting their defeat in the war, they kept on thinking about the welfare of other countries, and in this context, they made a few important moves. They are:

• They tried to hide lethal weapons to prevent them from getting into the wrong hands.

• The children who were not old enough to be a part of the militia were sent through the sea secretly so that they can grow and keep their kingdom’s bloodline alive.

• Lastly, they carved the location of lethal weapons and their history on the stones and spread them all over the globe.

What happened next??

And then the alliances defeated the kingdom. Years passed and then Rio Poneglyph, the only true will of the kingdom discovered and revealed the true face of the World Government to the other people of the world. This action was taken to free the slave countries from the trap of the alliance and to serve true justice.

Strongest anime character and their abilities and powers

 Strongest anime Characters and their abilities and powers

Over the years the craze for watching Anime has increased drastically. Youth have been inspired by anime so much that they have started to update their profile pictures with some anime characters. So anime lovers this blog is for you.  

You can watch anime shows on various platforms which are mentioned below:

• AnimeFreak

• Chia-Anime

• AnimeDao

• Tubi TV

• Soul Anime

• Anime Planet

• Hulu

• AnimeLab

• Netflix

In this blog, we will discuss some strongest anime characters. 

Some strong anime characters and their abilities

• Saitama is known for his punches and is also known as One Punch Man. If we talk about other anime heroes such as Naruto, Kakashi, and L they have defeated other characters after using their full strength whereas, Saitama defeats other characters just by a single punch. 

• Giorno Giovanna in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was the strongest as compared to Jotaro Kujo. Because in a fight even if somebody manages to give serious injuries to Giorono then his Stand would bring him back to life which makes him close to being immortal.

• Although, “In Misfit of the Demon King Academy” anime is newly released as compared to other anime but the male lead Anos is 2000 years old and is the re-creation of the most powerful King which gives him so many advantages. Anos also has magical abilities and he can even destroy anything with just one look at it. Along with his supernatural eyes, he also has a blade that also destroys anything. 

• In the anime Death Note, L can also be considered the strongest character. Many of you will disagree with it but he is also the strongest. He was having possession of a notebook in which all he has to do is just to write the name, place, time, and the cause of the the person’s death and that person will die exactly like he has described. 

• Kaido from One piece is not even the main character but people still love him because of his ability to transform himself into a huge dragon. The main character Luccy was able to defeat him in the end but after years of practice and hard work. 

If you have never watched anime, then you should try to watch the ones mentioned above. Also, given below is a list of some popular anime that you should watch:

• Trigun

• Dragon Ball Z

• My hero Academia

• Made in Abyss

• Attack on Titan

• Ouran High School Host Club

• Devil man crybaby

• Demon Slayer

• Samurai Champloo

• FLCL

• Mob Psycho 100

• Monster

Conclusion

Although it is difficult to determine which anime character is the strongest because every character is unique in their way which makes the comparison more difficult. And there are so many characters to compare for. This is a list of those characters which we think are the strongest but our choices might differ from your perspective. You may be right from your point of view. Hope you liked our blog on the Strongest anime characters and their abilities and powers. 

One Piece Manga Chapter 1076 Early Leaks, Spoilers and First Hints Are Out!

 

One Piece is one of the longest running anime series produced by Toei Animation which first premiered on Fuji TV in October 1999. Since then, it has aired over 1000 episodes split in 20 seasons. It is based on Eiichiro Oda’s manga series of the same name and follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, and his friends in search of the world’s ultimate treasure known as “One Piece” to become the next Pirate King. Talking about the manga, it is all set to debut its Chapter 1076 this week and that is exactly what this article is about and hence it might contain some major spoilers for the upcoming manga issue. So, read at your own risk!

 

One Piece Manga Chapter 1076 Confirmed Spoilers and Hints

We do not have for you the full plot summary or raw scans for One Piece chapter 1076 but we do have some information. The raw scans and summaries will be released between Wednesday, February 22nd (at the earliest) and Friday, February 24th (at the latest). For today we have listed some confirmed as well as unconfirmed spoilers and hints provided by the leakers below:

Eiichiro Oda preview for the next chapter: The turbulent disappearance!! What will the Strawhat pirate see?!

• Chapter 1076 comment 1 – The Straw Hat crew is in a heated battle somehow!
• Chapter 1076 comment 2 – Introducing the contents of the upcoming Color Walk 10 Dragon book! The cover of Volume 105! The volume will be released in March 2023! Turbulence!
• Chapter 1076 comment 3 – What will the Straw Hat crew face?!
• BREAK NEXT WEEK

More confirmed spoilers will be added in a few hours and we’ll keep refreshing this article till Tuesday. So be sure to check back every few hours.

OP Chapter 1076 Release Date and Time

Chapter 1075 of One Piece is all set to launch on Monday, February 21, 2023 at 12:00 AM JST which is Sunday, February 20 in the Western regions. As One Piece is printed in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Leap journal, a brand new chapter comes out each Sunday.

Obviously, the date and time of this manga will change from nation to nation because of the totally different worldwide time zones and we have compiled a list of few of them below:

One Piece: The Uniqueness of Monkey D. Luffy

 Gold Roger was the King of the Pirates and when the Marines hung him from the gallows the last words he uttered were, “My fortune is yours for the taking. I left everything I own in One Piece.” These very words started a Great Age of Pirates as people from all across the world set sail for the illusive One Piece. Now jump twenty years into the future and Monkey D. Luffy, the protagonist for One Piece, is introduced. He’s your typical shonen male protagonist: not that bright, a superb fighter, always hungry. However, Luffy is a very unique protagonist in one specific way: there’s nothing special about him.

Monkey D. Luffy is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and his ultimate goal is to find the fabled One Piece, the treasure at the end of the Grand Line that will make him the Pirate King. Along the way, he recruits powerful crew members, fights even more powerful enemies, and declares war on the World Government. The series in its anime and manga adaptions is extremely entertaining, and Luffy himself is something so different.

Many stories have a driving force behind their main characters. They are special because they have a power only they possess or a prophecy that has singled them out for greatness. Monkey D. Luffy is unique in that there’s nothing special about him. Yes, he is the only person in the world made of rubber, but that’s because he ate a Devil Fruit and he’s come across tons Devil Fruit users. Up until the Enies Lobby arc, Luffy was relatively unknown to the World Government despite having a 100 million berrie bounty on his head. Currently in the series, he holds a 400 million berrie bounty and the World Government still doesn’t even seem that interested in him, even after Impel Down and Marineford.

Now, there are many arguments for the case of Luffy being special: Haki, the D carrier, the son of Monkey D. Dragon and grandson of Monkey D. Garp. I will tackle these in the coming paragraphs so hold your horses. Luffy not being special is so different from many protagonists in many forms of media, especially that of fantasy and science fiction, that he stands out. Take for instance, Naruto Uzumaki of Naruto. Naruto is the jinchuriki for the Nine-Tailed Fox, the son of the Fourth Hokage, and the Prophesied Child that will bring about peace in the ninja world, or destroy it. He’s so special it almost borders on cliché.

I’ll start off with Haki, a supernatural aspect of the world similar to the Force in Star Wars. In its three forms it allows users to accurately predict the future up to a few seconds, armor themselves against damage and even hurt Devil Fruit users, and knock people out simply by thinking. It’s a pretty wicked power. Luffy is a rarity in the world as he can use all three Haki abilities, even combining them with his Devil Fruit powers. That would make him special, right?

Uh, no.

Haki is widely used by pirates and marines, especially the Prediction Haki and Armoring Haki, though the Conqueror’s Haki is rare. It is even stated before Marineford that all Marine Officers must have at least one type of Haki, though it doesn’t matter which one. Shanks is able to utilize all three forms of Haki, as well as Whitebeard, and though never stated, it was hinted that Kaido and Big Mom could use all three as well. A person using all three Hakis isn’t that special if all Four Yonko have the ability.

Luffy was introduced to Haki in the Skypeia arc, where it wasn’t explained and didn’t make another appearance until Amazon Lily where Luffy used Conqueror’s Haki instinctively. He would again use Conqueror’s Haki instinctively during Marineford. Haki was given a broader definition and eloquently explained by Silvers Rayleigh, who also can use all three Hakis (in the last chapter before the Time Skip). Haki was used more as a plot device to give Luffy and other characters the ability to fight with Logia-type Devil Fruit users without being completely overpowered.

Luffy’s middle name has been a point of mystery for a while, and could easily be argued that it does make him special, except for the fact that no one knows what a D carrier even means. The D for Luffy’s middle name was first brought up in an early SBS, in which Eiichiro Oda responded by saying, “that it was just a D for now and [he] would reveal the truth in time.” Though eight characters have been introduced with the D, it has not played a large role in the series and has only been mentioned a handful of times.

So, Luffy has some pretty famous relatives. His dad, Monkey D. Dragon, is the leader of the Revolutionaries, a band of outlaws trying to overthrow the World Government, and has gained the title and bounty of Most Wanted Man in the world. Luffy’s grandfather is none other than Monkey D. Garp, one of the most famous Marines in the history of the series, ranked at Vice Admiral. Despite not having any Devil Fruit powers, he is immensely powerful. You would think this would make Luffy special. In my opinion, it doesn’t. You have to add in a few quick facts about his relatives before you can argue how special they make Luffy.

The most significant argument is that his relatives barely play a role in Luffy’s life. Luffy has never formally met his father; he was even surprised when Garp told him he had a father after Enies Lobby. Dragon and Luffy have only been in one scene together, and that was during the Loguetown arc when Dragon saved Luffy from Smoker. However, Oda never detailed who Dragon was and Dragon disappeared quickly after saving his son’s life. We don’t even see Dragon’s face, confirming him as the man that saved Luffy in Loguetown, until Impel Down where he was shown in a flashback with Ivankov. Continuing, Dragon has yet to play a significant role in the series besides being mentioned by several characters, the cameo-like bit he played in Loguetown, and hints that Nico Robin might have been in his company during the time skip.

Now we move onto Monkey D. Garp. Luffy’s grandfather is another barrel of monkeys entirely. Luffy has known Garp since he was young, but he wasn’t raised by Garp. Garp, so focused on his job as Marine, left Luffy in the care of Curly Dadan, who also happened to be raising Portgas D. Ace at the time as well, another child that Garp was suppose to be the caretaker of. Garp would periodically appear to check in on Luffy and Ace, but beyond that he never influenced Luffy, except maybe to fear his fists. Garp, who plays more of a role in the One Piece series than Dragon, was not formally introduced until the Post-Enies Lobby arc, though he made numerous appearances in the Coby-Helmeppo cover stories and it’s subsequent anime arc. None of those stories revealed his full name, relation to Luffy or Dragon, or even his face, preferring to wear a dog mask instead. Since his introduction after Enies Lobby, Garp only made cameo appearances at the end of Sabaody Archipelago, Amazon Lily, and during Impel Down. In all three he seemed amused by Luffy’s behavior when Admiral Sengoku was annoyed or he was discussing what to do with the then-captured Portgas D. Ace. Garp played a larger role during Marineford, as well as many other supporting Marines from the series, and even hindered Luffy’s progress during the arc. In none of these appearances could you argue that he helped or influenced Luffy.

Part of Luffy’s uniqueness is that the world isn’t shaped by his destiny; it’s shaped by the choices he makes. Whatever decision he makes can either affect the world of One Piece as a whole, or not at all. Many of his decisions don’t have much of an effect up until Enies Lobby when he declared war on the World Government, and even then the world didn’t change that much. That choice just proved that Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates would go to great lengths to save Nico Robin, and that they might be a bit crazy.

In our eyes, Luffy is special. I couldn’t see One Piece without him. He’s such an engaging character, and the fact that there isn’t anything special about him makes him even more fun to follow in his adventures. He’s unique in that within the storyline he has no outside special ability beyond the others around him and he doesn’t affect the world by just being alive. He truly is a most unique character.

Don’t judge One Piece by its anime

WhenWhen I finished reading One Piece, I felt a 1,000-chapter hole in my heart. Hungry for more, I decided to rewatch some of my favorite moments via the anime. I wanted to know what the Straw Hat crew looked like bursting through the great open seas fully animated. I wanted more of this world I had grown to love over the months I blazed through the manga.

But as I turned to the animation, I was disappointed.

Boisterous, joyous scenes of the Straw Hat crew celebrating victories with buckets of booze and colorful characters seemed to fall flat. Perfectly paced frame-by-frame fights turned into drawn-out scenes that dragged across entire episodes. Luffy, the pirate protagonist of the series whose superpower is to stretch like rubber, came across as surprisingly stiff in the earlier episodes.

That’s not to say I’m here to absolutely roast the One Piece anime. It’s over 1,000 episodes long, and for any show to make it that far is a feat. Like any anime of that size, it has its high and low points — I won’t hold its early-2000s animation against it. It’s still a great story and I still got giddy during the big reveals. Rewatching arcs even helped me notice details I missed while reading.

But here’s what I told my little brother while watching: “This is fun. But you should just go read the manga.”

Image: Eiichiro Oda/Viz MediaAs of this year, One Piece presents a 25-year-long epic that follows Luffy, a pirate with the power to stretch like rubber, and the Straw Hats, his crew of pirates. Like many shonen protagonists, Luffy’s goal is very simple: He wants to become the Pirate King, and thus the most infamous pirate in the world. Creator Eiichiro Oda released the first chapter in 1997, and it has since become one of the most beloved manga franchises of all time. It’s also the best selling manga of all time, with several related spinoffs and adaptations — from the anime series to video games to movies. The series spirals into an ocean-spanning adventure that threads together themes of societal injustice, personal loss, and friendship, among others.

Additionally, the manga is extremely accessible. The entire 1,000-plus-chapter epic is available on the Shonen Jump app for $1.99 a month. Toss in a cheap tablet, and you have the perfect way to experience One Piece. For me personally, it was way easier to read downloaded chapters on the go — traveling, while waiting for appointments, and so on, than it would be to whip out a set of headphones and load up an episode. You can download up to 100 chapters at a time, which I would exceed only on the most lazy of days.

But beyond that, Oda brings the world of One Piece to life in a way that I don’t think is fully communicated in sections of the anime.

Image: Eiichiro Oda/Viz Media

One Piece deals in excess. An excess of characters. An excess of action. An excess of stuff just happening, everywhere, all the time. But Oda is also a genius at managing his page; never giving the impression of too much or confusing the reader’s eye. And that makes the world feel all the fuller; no detail is lost between panels. You can see every scuff and scratch, every drop of sweat, as the characters bear the weight of their fights. The colorful cast, while portrayed in black and white, feels especially alive on the page when you can relish in examining them closely, taking in the character designs.

Oda’s depiction of movement in the manga doesn’t just push the story forward, it teaches the reader about the world and the characters there. We love Luffy not just because he’s dedicated to his crew and inspires those around him to question the status quo; we also love him because it’s funny to watch a rubber pirate fight off the government forces of the world. Luffy stretches, sweats, and steams, and the manga steeps in constant action.

Image: Eiichiro Oda/Viz Media

Perhaps the biggest reason I’d tell folks to read One Piece instead of watching it is just that the pacing feels way better when compared to the anime. While I picked my favorite arcs while reading, there wasn’t anything that I felt I wanted to skip. (Whereas when I watched the anime I found myself skipping either sections of episodes or deciding to skip entire parts of arcs to just get to the action.) And with a manga, you never need to scrub through the intro or the episode recap.

One Piece is a silly story about a rubber pirate. It’s also a story about found family. About misfits and people who don’t fit in. It follows a group who defies the global powers that be, and will stop at nothing to pursue a world that doesn’t overlook injustice. Reading through the story was a genuine spot of light for me, during the deepest, darkest depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not just because it’s fun, but because it felt meaningful. So if all you know of the series is a few anime episodes you caught on a random Saturday as a child, you might try experiencing the zany adventure from a whole new perspective.