“I’m Daniel! The Man Who’s Gonna Be King of the Newsletters!”
"I don’t wanna conquer anything. It's just that the person with the most freedom on the sea is the Pirate King." - Monkey D. Luffy
When did I come to the realization One Piece is special? I’m not exactly sure to be honest. Thinking back on it I would say it was probably pretty early in the series. Why else would I still be watching a 900+ episode anime if I wasn’t sold in the beginning? I’m going to go with the Loguetown arc. There were some pretty badass moments before this arc, but two events happened in Loguetown that I’m pretty sure piqued my interest considerably in this long running, but ridiculously entertaining show.
The first event: Monkey D. Luffy (pronounced Loo-fee), the dumb, carefree, and adventurous stretchy pirate protagonist whose goal is to find the One Piece (insert Leo DiCaprio meme here) and become King of the Pirates, is about to get executed by Buggy the Clown (he’s a pirate but looks like a clown) on the same platform that Gol D. Roger, the previous King of the Pirates and the reason the world in One Piece is currently the way it is, was executed. So, what does Luffy do in this sticky situation that he’s landed himself in? Instead of panicking or trying to get out of the shackles he’s in (he is a stretchy rubber man after all) he just smiles and tells his crewmates, “Sorry. I’m…dead.”
**Narrator voice: ** He did not actually die. A bolt of lightning hits Buggy’s sword at the last minute destroying the platform and freeing an unharmed Luffy. Whether he knew luck/plot armor/fate was on his side or he was willing to accept dying the same way his hero Gol D. Roger did, this was a monumental moment of the series for me. Something about smiling in the face of death just screams cool. It made me realize this Luffy kid is special; he’s definitely going places, and I want to be a part of that journey.
The second event: Shortly after escaping execution Luffy is now being chased by Marines Captain Smoker (being a pirate is bad according to the World Government that Smoker works for). The scene in Loguetown is chaotic; pirates and marines are fighting each other all while a big storm is brewing. Just as Smoker has Luffy in his grasp a mysterious, hooded figure saves Luffy, and he is able to escape to his ship with his crewmates. Once again, luck/plot armor/fate was on his side. Now on their ship and making their way to the Grand Line, Luffy and the other Straw Hat Pirates (the name of his crew) each place their foot on a barrel and each declare their dreams in a ceremonial manner. I love this moment because it sets the course for this amazing, still ongoing story. It’s five people from different backgrounds who befriended each other and were convinced to join Luffy’s crew setting out for an adventure that would change their lives and the rest of the One Piece world.
I was hooked. I wanted to know what trouble they were going to get themselves in, and how they were going to get out of it. Who would they meet, and who would join the crew and become a Straw Hat pirate? Would they accomplish their goals? Well 900+ anime episodes and nearly 1,000 manga chapters later we still don’t know the answer to that question (no end in sight either), but everything that’s happened between these events and where the story is currently has solidified my belief that One Piece is special.
If you’ve made it this far I just want to thank you for reading. If it wasn’t clear already I’ve decided to start a newsletter about anime. I can’t tell if I’m just that bored at my job, I’ve recently been inspired by friends who also have their own newsletters (check out Dime Store and The Irish Wristwatch), I genuinely want to give it a try, or all of the above, but here I am. Giving it a try.
Do you even write, bro? Ehh not really. My experience in writing originates from writing papers in last minute fashion for my history and sociology classes in college. No matter how rushed and bad I thought they were I still managed B papers with the occasional A here and there (a C paper would come when I really didn’t give a damn). So that leads me to believe that I’m not a terrible writer, but ultimately that will be for the readers to decide. I also craft a decent tweet from time to time. Not sure that translates well to writing, but I start getting a few likes, and I don’t know how to act. But yea, a friend told me a way to improve your writing is to just write, and that’s what I intend to do.
Do you even know anime, bro? I’ll provide more of my anime-watching origin story in a later post, but I’ve been watching anime consistently for about 5 years now. I haven’t watched every single anime to exist (impossible to do), but I’ve watched/binged a decent amount of shows in this 5-year span. I own enough anime merchandise to be embarrassed to show someone my room. I’ve attended anime conventions in NC and NYC (I miss anime conventions :(((). I’m in a Discord with friends I made through our love for an anime podcast we listen to. I like keeping up with what anime is coming out soon, what studio is animating it, and which voice actor will voice a certain character. So yea, I like to think I know anime, bro. I’m not a grizzled vet, but I’m certainly not a noob. I wear my weeb patch proudly.
What are you going to be writing about? And who do you hope reads this? I have plenty of ideas I want to tackle. I want to do reviews, profiles on studios/animators/mangakas, cover certain genres, try to convince readers to watch certain shows, do personal rankings, etc.; the possibilities are endless. As much as this seems like me just wanting to fanboy over anime I like I also want to provide critiques when it applies. The first half of this post where I wrote about One Piece is a good example of what I want to do (more One Piece posts to come as well).
As far as who I hope reads this, I’m hoping to reach people from all over the anime-watching spectrum. Whether it’s a close friend who’s indifferent on anime who just wants to support me, someone who wants to get into anime, my weeb friends, or a hardcore weeb who happens to come across this newsletter somehow through a google or reddit search. Some posts will be more geared towards the newbies and other posts will be geared towards the weebs. I welcome anyone who wants to take time out of their day to read about me gushing over 2D characters.
All in all, this newsletter will be for me just as much as it will be for the readers. Just getting this far is a big step for me as I’ve debated over and over whether I’m good or interesting enough to even put myself out there. And maybe I’m not good or interesting enough. Maybe I am. We’ll find that out in due time. In typical shonen protagonist fashion I’m going to venture out into this unknown world of writing and give it my best effort.
Once again I thank you if you’ve made it this far and are intrigued enough to want to continue to read what I have to say about this spectacular thing called anime. Not sure how often I’ll post, but I’ll try to have something at least once a week time permitting. Share with your friends, please. Hopefully my writing improves as I continue to post. Stay tuned!