Wealth, fame, power.

Gold Roger, the king of the Pirates, obtained all this and everything else the world had to offer and the last words he said sent all pirates around the world to the seas. ‘You want my treasure? You can have it. I left everything I had to offer in that place, now you just have to find it!’

Now pirates all over the world are in search of his great treasure ‘one piece’; the world is truly in a great era of pirates!

These are the first words ever uttered in the highly popular series, ‘One Piece’, an ongoing trilogy that was first published by Eiichiro Oda in 1997 and boasts over 320 million sales over its current 77 volumes. It is a Japanese shōnen jump which means that the target demographic is teen boys. However, more than 80% of readers are adults which shows that it is a series that almost anyone can enjoy. Its title, ‘One Piece’ refers to the name of the legendary treasure that Gold Roger left behind prior to his execution. It focuses around the genres of adventure but branches out to areas such as romance, deep emotion and mystery. It also has an anime (TV show) that is nearly up to Episode 700.

The main focus of the story is around pirates and the adventures that they have. The protagonist is a teenage boy named Monkey D. Luffy whose body was turned to rubber after he ate the Gum Gum Fruit, one of the mysterious devil fruits that give someone strange and interesting abilities upon consumption but cause them to be weakened when they come into contact with the ocean. There are three types of devil fruits: paramecia which gives the user an ability such as a body made from rubber, zoan which allows the user to transform their body into an animal such as a lion, and the most powerful of all, the logia type devil’s fruit that turns the user’s body into a substance such as fire or lightning.

As Luffy travels around the world, he encounters new friends who join his crew. These include Zoro the swordsman, Usopp the sniper, Nami the navigator, Sanji the chef, Chopper the doctor, Robin the archeologist and Brook the musician. The geography of the world involves four quarters. The North, South, East and West Blue which are separated by the red line, a giant wall travelling the circumference of the world and the grand line, the terribly dangerous ocean which is the location of the one piece. As the Pirates travel the world, they are always perused by the marines, the main enforcers of justice that run the world. As the Straw hat pirates (Luffy’s crew) go on more adventures, their bounties get raised and Luffy’s is currently at 400,000,000.

This is truly a great story with many different adventures. I enjoy reading it so much and have been doing so for over two years. The sense of adventure and freedom is a highly enticing experience that will always keep you wanting to continue reading. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the previously mentioned genres that is looking for a new, and highly original story to read.

Age group: young teens to adulthood

Rating: 10/10

Sage M Year 8