“ANG susunod na programa ay rated PG. Patnubay at gabay ng magulang ay kailangan para sa mga batang manonood.”
While the titos and titas would enjoy the afternoon dramas, the kids, on the other hand, would wake up early to eat breakfast and then wait for the morning news to finish. The news anchors start to bid their goodbyes, the credits start to roll, the camera zooms out, and finally, the MTRCB rating comes in. It is an anthem memorized by the impatient kids, excited and ready to find out what happens next in their favorite anime.
This was a common occurrence in Filipino households throughout the generations where television was the medium to use when someone wanted to watch anime. Dragonball, Naruto, and One Piece: these were some of the most famous Filipino dubs that children would always look forward to, even going as far as recreating their beloved characters’ strongest techniques and abilities with their friends!
Unending Filipino Love
Who could ever forget Luffy’s iconic “Goma-goma Pistol”? This is the Filipino iteration of the original “Gomu-Gomu Pistol” from One Piece. How about Goku from Dragonball’s “Kamehame wave” and Naruto’s “Kage Bunshin Technique, times two”?
It is no secret that Filipinos love anime, and the kids who loved watching Filipino dubbed anime in the morning have grown up carrying that affection, with their favorites growing up with them.
Fans who saw Naruto struggling as a lone orphan now get to see him with a happy family, following the journey of his son, Boruto. Those who screamed with Goku, getting hyped whenever he would go “Super Saiyan” now get to witness more amazing complex fights with him, across dimensions and universes!
But what about One Piece? Fans who first saw Luffy start his adventure through GMA in 2002 to look for the one piece, are still watching him and his crew look for it. And they are not complaining about it!
What is One Piece?
With over 1100 anime episodes and manga chapters, 108 volumes, and 34 arcs across 11 sagas, Eiichiro Oda’s illustrated story tackles mature themes like slavery, racism, geopolitics, government corruption, and more through a seemingly whimsical but otherwise emotional and moving action-packed story with a cast of colorful, comical, and influential characters.
It is no surprise that despite being over two decades old, the Filipino favorite is still as famous and favored as it was back then. In fact, the attention it has gotten has only furthered since then, with the likeness of the characters being painted onto boats and jeepneys in the country, even going as far as to make statues of them.
But why, though? Why is it so famous and liked? Besides the characters’ personality and dynamics, the way the story handles its themes makes it an enjoyable journey to witness. There is a ton of action to keep watchers hooked, mysteries to keep them guessing, and reveals that are often either shocking or emotional. The way the story goes, it always begs the questions: “How will they beat this villain this time?” and “What happens next?”
Why do some people not like One Piece?
The most common complaint hurled towards the animation, and is also often the barrier that hinders new fans from joining the craze is there being over a thousand episodes in the series. It is a steep climb, needing to watch nine episodes a day (around 3 hours of runtime) for four months just to catch up to the latest episode. The reason active fans are able to keep up is because they have already gotten past that, and are now simply waiting for weekly episodes.
There is also the difference in animation qule the anime’s niche style, and to rile up the passionate fans who will defend their favorite aggressively.
A solution to some of these came in the form of Netflix’s Live Action Adaptation that came out last year, condensing almost the entire first saga (up until before Loguetown) into eight 40-minute episodes. With the series being easy to binge, it provides a headstart to people wanting to get into the anime but finding its length too intimidating. Animation also will not be an issue since the entire series is live action.
It features a set of talented and charismatic actors whose portrayal of the original animated crew incited a lot of positive reactions.
One Piece’s Live Action Adaptation
uality, with the first few hundred episodes having early 2000s animation that modern anime fans tend to dislike. It takes up until episode 517 for the animation to start to modernize, but even then it still is not on par with the ones in the episode 1000+ clips.
With the emergence of high quality animation in the past decade, Filipino anime fans who got into the anime craze through a different series will not be able to avoid comparing them. One Piece’s peculiar style can understandably push people off, with its impossible body proportions, and over the top whacky effects. Some fans just have a different taste.
This dislike towards the series is evident in the memes meant to ridic
The Netflix series under the same name serves as an accessible entryway into the great world of One Piece because it is not required to have any prior knowledge of the anime or manga to be able to enjoy it.
Netflix’s adaptation works because of the fun and wacky cast being able to bring life to the characters, with Iñaki Godoy’s accurate enthusiastic Luffy, Mackenyu Maeda’s swagger and confident Zoro, Emily Rudd’s mischievous and thieving Nami, Jacob Gibson’s proud and deceptive Usopp, and Taz Skylar’s gentlemanly Sanji.
Additionally, the production of the series’ second season is ongoing, with some of the cast members introduced last week. Most notably a fellow kababayan, Filipino-American Julia Rehwald. She is set to portray the Vice-Captain Tashigi who will be introduced immediately after the events of the first season.
“Nasingitan na naman kayo sa pila girls,” a One Piece fan page stated following the announcement, referencing how Mackenyu who is popular with fans and non-fans, will most likely be having multiple scenes with the Fil-Am actress.
Other introduced season two actors are David Dastmalchian as Mr. 3, Camrus Johnson as Mr. 5, Jazzara Jaslyn as Miss Valentine, Daniel Lasker as Mr. 9, Clive Russel as Crocus, Werner Coetser as Dorry, Brendan Murray as Brogy, Callum Kerr as Smoker, Rob Colletti as Wapol, and Ty Keogh as Dalton.
Season two’s official release has yet to be announced, but the team behind the production is hoping that it will be released in 2025.
A Beloved Franchise
The reason why One Piece, despite being over a thousand episodes and two decades old, is still favored as much as it is today is because it is a great story with meaningful themes and exciting tales to unfold.
There is fulfillment when a beloved character from a hundred episodes ago suddenly goes on screen to do something epic. There is a sense of nostalgia when a character’s development comes to an exciting climax.
One Piece’s story is not short, but the adventure and the destination that lies therein is worth the effort. Most of One Piece’s episodes are available in Netflix and Crunchyroll, with older episodes that can be found all over the internet in a variety of dubs to be enjoyed.
With reports from Prince Bryan J. M. Marquez
