One Piece (ワンピース) is the epic pirate themed shonen battle anime based
on the manga of the same name by Oda Eiichiro. The second story arc of
the series, Entering the Grand Line, originally aired in the Spring and Summer of 2001 for a total of 16 episodes, episodes 62 through 77.
In the First Part, East Blue, we learn about the legendary pirate treasure One Piece. A young optimistic boy named Luffy dreams about finding it and becoming the king of pirates. He sets off on his journey alone, gathering strong companions as he heads to the Grand Line, where adventure and danger await.
The Straw Hat crew approaches the final barrier on their way to the Grand Line, the Red Line, a treacherous mountain range. Through quick thinking they understand how to navigate powerful channel currents to traverse the range. The pathway puts them into the gullet of a large whale and his strange caretaker, Crocus. The Straw Hats aren't the only strangers inside of the whale, as Luffy runs into two strange people who decide to attack the whale from the inside to escape. Luffy knocks them out and Crocus leads the crew to safety in order to calm his ward, explaining their history.
They agree to take the two strangers to their home island, Whiskey Peak, giving the crew their first taste of the perils found in the Grand Line. Expecting danger and aggression, everyone is surprised with the joyous welcome the inhabitants of Whiskey Peak give them when they dock. A grand party is thrown and the pirates celebrate to the point of exhaustion. Once the Straw Hats are sleeping off their celebrating the inhabitants true intentions reveals its self, they are members of a mysterious bounty hunter organization know as Baroque Works. During the battle to capture the Straw Hats an internal struggle erupts within the bounty hunter ranks. Two high ranking members have arrived to eliminate two people who know the true identity of their leader. One of the targets is a princess in hiding named Nefertari Vivi. After some convincing the Straw Hat crew agrees to help the princess who has been trying to fight against a rebellion in her kingdom sparked by Baroque Works.
As Luffy and crew sail off to bring Vivi home, he learns about the fate of his old friend Koby, who he last saw after they defeated Axe Hand Morgan, at the beginning of his journey. Through a series of failures and blunders, Koby and Axe-hands pathetic son find themselves under the watch of Vice-Admiral Garp as they sail through the Grand Line, hunting pirates....Luffy among them.
One their way to Vivi's home island, the crew of the Go Merry land on a strange island that appears to be stuck in time, full of dinosaurs and giant men, they struggle to understand how much danger they're really in! Here the members become separated and meet two different giants who have been quarreling with each other for a hundred years. While they try to keep the giants from killing each other top agents from Baroque Works have arrived to continue the hunt for Luffy and company. The agents this time are some of the best in the group and prove to be quite difficult to the group. Can they overcome the strange Devil Fruit powers they face and get Vivi to her home?
Things start to get beyond strange once the Straw Hats crew enters the Grand Line and begins to explore the islands within it. Suddenly everyone they face has Devil Fruit powers...I thought these things were rare and unique. I guess it make sense that an 'elite' organization such as Baroque Works would recruit people with such strange abilities. But when everyone Luffy and company faces has those powers it starts to become more annoying than anything. It's like Oda is just throwing out idea's to see what sticks and running with anything that makes him chuckle. The fight with the high ranking Baroque Works members on the giant island has been, so far, the most pointless story line in the show. Its easy to see how the story can stretch out to the length it has when it randomly meanders about without progressing the central narrative. I know more of this will continue but it still seems like a bad idea, even if its cannon in the manga.
The next arc is a smaller one but deals with the introduction of my favorite member of the crew...Chopper!!
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