Found an entry by someone on LiveJournal talking about all the reasons as to why everyone should read One Piece. Unusually, I found myself agreeing with every single one of her statements.

I myself got into One Piece despite all the reasons that have been listed quite often; the art was weird, where was the bishounen [I don't like bishounen], the character designs off-putting - etc etc and other procrastinary bull(I believe the final convincing argument was, 'ah, what the hell, my OTP in Naruto is getting pretty boring anyway'. Yes, my main reason for getting into One Piece was because I had worn a universe-sized hole in my old fandom. I'm not ashamed.).

Words are immaterial compared to the brimming emotion of pure happiness and relief that I found in One Piece. Men who are drawn like men! Character designs that don't hold back! A pair of brothers who don't have an incredibly angsty relationship!

It's like Oda didn't just think outside the box, he blew the box to smithereens and then created One Piece from the shattered remains.

But I digress.

In any case. I've been an avid anime fan for some years now, as has my twin brother. My younger brother (aged 15)? Not at all. At all at all at all.

But.

He doesn't like One Piece.

He LOVES One Piece.

He laughs at Luffy's antics (look, he's picking his nose!), winces at the battle scenes, boos the villains, oohs the cool moves.

My younger brother. LOVES. One Piece. We go through about three-five episodes in a row. He'll play first-person shooters until late at night, then come into my room and say, 'Hey, I'm really sorry...I know it's late, but can we watch One Piece?'. Or, 'We'll make breakfast, and then watch One Piece'. Or, 'You make breakfast, I'll get your laptop, we can watch One Piece while we eat.' Or, 'We can watch One Piece after dinner'. He turns his phone on silent and ignores texts while we, yes, watch One Piece. One Piece physically converted him. And since my twin doesn't read it, I can make One Piece jokes with him!

(The first thing I said to him after Sanji's arc was: Hey, you know Mihawk's boat? The one shaped like a coffin? Yeah. What does he do when it rains? Does he open one eye, then the rain gets scared and runs away? Where does he keep his food? Also. My younger brother thinks Mihawk is THE SHIT. And that Zoro's three sword style is the coolest thing ever. And that Shanks is AWESOME. And we've only just hit the Arlong arc. I can't f*cking WAIT until we hit Water 7, goddamn.)

One Piece is just such an unbelievably, incredibly special manga. And I thank Oda every day for creating it.

That, and oh gods the incredible yaoi, I can't believe I actually picked the mainstream ship for once, ZoSan forever, have you read Pirate Ship Noah, hot damn, ONE PIECE THANK YOU FOR EXISTING.

And tonight? When I asked him if he wanted to watch some One Piece? He turned to Will and said, 'Sorry, I can't watch 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' tonight. I didn't get to watch One Piece last night, so...'

My brother.

Picked.

One Piece.

Over.

Clint.

EASTWOOD.


One Piece: it'll make you laugh until you pee, cry until you get a headache, and power your soul to the extreme.

It also builds new and irreplaceable bonds.