One Piece

Without regard for age, generation, or gender, with only love for a good plot, wild imagination, and japanese merchandise that conquered the world subtly and without warning being the top considerations, anime has not lost its grip on the hearts of those who let it in.

During my Christmas vacation in the Philippines last year, I was transported back to my childhood days when one sunny Sunday morning, while I was toggling in between channels in search of a good show, I stumbled on an episode of the anime One Piece, dubbed in the local language. I almost had forgotten that part of me, that anime-loving, cosplay-drooling part of me. It was dug deep within, buried beneath my new self I have presented to the new world I now evolve in. Funny how those thirty minutes could be so powerful that it brought me back to my senses.

A friend at work mentioned yesterday that a One Piece film is now showing, and that she and her group of friends had booked the tickets. Unaware of such phenomenon, I blamed her for making me miss it. Today, due to an unforeseen and unstoppable event, both a friend and she could not make it for the movie. I know unfortunate events should be dealt with a heavy heart, but this turn of events sent me sky-rocketing to the heavens. Two free tickets! An opportunity to unleash the kid in me again, without consequences, responsibilities, nor obligations! And the best part was, I would not be alone in this! I could drag a big fan of a friend with me! What a blessing!

Batman and Goofy watching One Piece!

The texture of the movie was of its typical anime on TV; not digital, not even 3D. There was a bad guy, the good guys, which is Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat crew, some half-bad-half-good guys, sprinkled with humor, and a pinch of obscenity, topped with a very good plot. The antagonist transformed into a protagonist he deserved, the group of Marines who was supposed to be the adversaries has a dignity of their own to protect, making them protagonists in their own right. At the end of the film, everyone bloomed into becoming heroes, each in their own time, goal, and honor. All had their fair share of the pie.

I admire the japanese for inventing the anime, for, unlike the common cartoons, their version defies rules and imagination. It has become a tool for harbored grudges, wild sentiments, a platform for anything and everything a proverbial ventriloquist can ever dream. It is the world for the unexplored, for the explorer, for the timid, and for the adventurous. It breathes life to the personification of the good of goods and the evil of evils. It is the reality of fantasies. It is a tear-jerker. It is the fountain of youth. It is the embodiment of the time machine.