The great work of Eiichiro Oda, One Piece, was released in 1997 by Shonen Jump, and my first contact with it dates back to 2008 when I was introduced by a good friend who I believe he barely knew, but One Piece changed my life, also I will not say here that since childhood was someone politicized, on the contrary, for a long time I remained aloof to this subject because I was a supporter of “no discussion”.
Because it is a relatively long work (only more than 1000 episodes, it goes by fast, although it is not even over yet…) I had a lot of time to follow One Piece, I remember going through several situations in life and, regardless of what I was doing, the Straw Hat crew was there every week.
After I understood myself as a political person, I began to observe One Piece in a layer above the fights and jokes, I saw that the story and the references that the author talked a lot with our society, and when I realized this, I did something that seems unthinkable for people who criticize the size, after watching more than 500 episodes, I decided to go back to the 1st episode and watch the work with another look, and I was impressed! Then I decided to talk a little about social issues addressed throughout the work, inevitably there will be spoilers, but I will try to contain myself as much as possible because I believe that both reading the manga and the anime are excellent works to be consumed.
East Blue: Dreams and convictions.
The first saga of One Piece introduces us to the protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, and his dream, to become the King of Pirates. This is not an empty dream, after all, the former owner of this nickname, Gol D. Roger, possessed a treasure called One Piece, and during his execution, he announced to the world that this treasure exists and is “in that place”, and then the Great Age of Pirates begins!
The young aspiring pirate, Luffy, begins his journey quite independently, motivated by the dream of being the next King of Pirates, and for this, he knows that one cannot be a king alone, so he goes in search of a pirate crew, the character’s charisma and unwavering will are attributes quite inspiring within the universe of One Piece, it is through his confidence in conquering his dream that Luffy convinces everyone who knows him that, in fact, he can achieve this feat.
During the first saga, Luffy manages to gather a crew of 5 people very different from each other, the only apparent similarity between them is that they all have life goals, and it is through a companionship that arises naturally, they trust that each one of them will help them stand firm in pursuit of their goals and constantly we can observe that each one fights their own insecurities, fears and uncertainties because nothing can stop the dreams of those who want to feel free, in this case, the pirates.
The end of the first One Piece saga represents the decision and the new paths that will be taken in search of the dreams of the now members of the “Straw Hat Gang,” the importance of the barrel scene (one of the best scenes in One Piece to date for me), and the unshakable verbal contract between great friends, make me think about all the promises and responsibilities we make to ourselves on a daily basis and that believing is only the first step to pursuing your dreams, even if it is not something simple, the conviction that we will succeed is the reason why the beginning of One Piece is a great beginning to a great adventure.
