Originally Posted by LenMiyata

Grumble Grumble Grumble

(Under Moderator Prerogative, I'm reopening a thread that is dead by one day...)
At this moment, I have the first DVD of the Uncut 'One Piece' collection sitting in my DVD Player, and with the crispness and bright colors of the official DVD release, (which is better then what I remember from the fansubs), I am once again reminded on why rubber boy routinely beats to a bloody pulp, both 'Naruto', and 'Bleach' in the Japanese TV ratings.

One of the major differences between 'One Piece', vs 'Naruto' & 'Bleach' is that the story told is one big grand adventure, where instead of moody characters who have trouble deciding what the want, you have main characters who are always true to themselves and their ultimate goals in life, and will gleefully risk life and limb to accomplish them. Having just finished off the first four episodes of the original uncut Japanese release, the series brings an instant smile to my face, (which doesn't happen very often...) and it already appears that 'One Piece' is going to be one of the highlights of 2008 anime releases. My only regret is that Funimation can't release the collection fast enough to appease my anticipation for this series. The episode stories are very good in the early episodes, but Luffy and crew don't get a Pirate ship until episode 17, but once the initial crew is completed (and starting from the Arlong story arc) the series becomes FANTASTIC!!!

With the affordable costs of the Funimation 13 episode collection releases, there are only poor and pitiful excuses for not seeing why 'One Piece' is considered one of the great franchise anime series for the 21st Century...