One Piece!

One Piece. I'm up to episode 313 now and it's proven to be a really great anime. There is two particular episodes that touched me greatly. I'll try to describe the episodes and my feelings here to the best of my ability (although it's better to watch it first hand).

They are episode 236: http://www.anilinkz.com/one-piece/one-piece-episode-236/#comment-5156

and episode 312:
http://www.anilinkz.com/one-piece/one-piece-episode-312/

Here's a quick summary of the story- Monkey D. Luffy the captain of the ship and his crew are on a journey to fulfill their dreams. Each of the crew member has a different dream- Luffys' to become the "pirate king", Zoros' to become the greatest swordman in the world, and Usopps' to become a brave sea warrior. It kind of reminds me of the Wizard of Oz.

On their journey, they experienced great adventures and their ship, "Going Merry" underwent heavy damage such as being bombarded by cannons, falling 10,000 feet from the sky. Having their ship's mast fallen apart and so on. After they arrived on an Island that provides repairing and maintenance, Luffy heard from the best shipwright's around the world that Going Merry was too damaged to be repaired. Luffy's crew possessed great feelings for the ship, especially Usopp. When Usopp heard Luffy's decision, to let the ship go (akin to dismantling it and getting a new one), he was furious and refused to accept it.

A great quarrel started and in the heat, Luffy in his anger shouted to Usopp:

"If you don't like my decision, you can leave the ship immediately"

Realizing he said something he shouldn't have, Luffy apologized. But the damage was already done. I'm sure everybody has experienced a quarrel where our emotions got the better of us and even after how much we regret it later, it's too late. T_T

Usopp on hearing those words, juxtaposed his situation with Going Merry's situation. "You just move forward, casting away useless Nakama" Nakama is used to describe a group of really close friends, akin a family.

In a pirate's world, the Captain is the the rightful owner of the ship. Usopp refused to cast Merry aside, and challenged Luffy to a battle to fight between the ownership of the boat. The winner earns the right to the ship.

The outcome was obvious. Usopp, in this story is the the weakest member of the crew. He has no super human strength, is always scared of battling and always the first to run away from the fight. This fight was an exception- Usopp fought till his last ounce of strength. I really admire this Usopp and his determination here although Luffy won.

Luffy in the fight although knowing of Usopps strength limit did not hold back his punches. It's kinda like a pirate honor thing and respect for the opponent. I once was told by my coach while training for competitive canoeing. "Don't slow down, no matter what lead you have over your opponent. Never look back. Just focus on giving your best from the start until past the finish line. To slow down is to insult all the tough training that they endured"

The scene switches from a brutal fight into a melancholic sad solo piano piece. Luffy endured all the emotions he had inside throughout the fight. When he turned around towards his other crew mates, there was a long pause of silence. When Luffy finally spoke, he whispered three words, sotto voce: "It's heavy." It brought tears to my eyes at this point because I've experienced those feelingsbefore and understood what the scriptwriter and Luffy was referring to.

Zoro the cool swordsmans explains to the viewers:
"It's a captain's burden. Don't hesistate. Who can we rely on if you falter?"

John C. Maxwell, understands this too. He says, "A friend once told me, "It's lonely at the top, so you had better know why you're there." It's true that leaders carry a heavy load. When you're out front you can be an easy target. But you don't have to do it alone. That's why I say, "It's lonely at the top, so you'd better take someone with you."

In the end of this episode, Luffy gave up ownership of Going Merry to Usopp but they went their separate ways.

Usopp went about his "repairs" of Going Merry in his own stubborn and determined way. As the story moves on, Usopp lost Going Merry to a bunch of bad guys who cast the ship out into the sea. I assumed the ship was a goner because of a huge storm outside and also because of the shipwright's prediction that Going Merry wouldn't make it through the next island.

In episode 312, it connects back to the episode (ep236) I just talked about.

Luffy and his crew "battling" it out with another group of bad guys and trying to rescue their "kidnapped" nakama, Nico Robin" Usopp, refusing to join back Luffy's crew, but wanting to save Robin, went undercover as "Sogeking" and manages to conceal his identity from Luffy. (I find that really funny cause it's pretty obvious with his pinochioish (sp)" long nose =D.

Toward's the end the pirates were cornered and trapped on land with nowhere to run and enemy battleships surrounding the sea around them. Just before the pirates were obliterated, they heard a voice come from the sea below them to look down. Guess who they saw?! Going Merry! Well, it was the voice of Going Merry! I like the way this show is designed- Rumor goes that for ships that have been treasured and taken really well care by the crew, they have a life of it's own. And the ship will likewise protect it's crew from harm.

Luffy being an idiot and even after well knowing that he can't swim, jumped down into the sea to board the ship. Luffy's crew mates on seeing their captain jump down, followed his steps. If you notice, in this show, the crew mates have a great deal of trust for each other. They do have their doubts sometimes, but when the need arises, they will trust each other wholeheartedly. I played this team trust game before. It's called "free fall" and basically we have to stand on a very high platform and take a plunge (fall backwards) while expecting your team to catch you. It really feels great to know that there are people you can depend on.

and

Wasn't Going Merry destroyed in the storm? Yes it was!

It was in really bad shape after the storm messed it up. It was so bad that the ship spirit was unable to fix it up to become "sailable". So happened the island's best shipwright was around the area, and he heard a hammer knocking against some wood.
When he arrived at the scene, he found nobody there but voice whispered to him "I want to sail. Just once more, I want to sail."

Kind of freaky if you ask me but this shipwright stayed behind and fixed the ship up. This "ghost ship" or angel ship after the repairs set sail by itself and rescued its' crew mates from danger.

The story at this point is kind of fairytaleish. It has a good feel to it though, just like Toy Story. "Treasure those things around that has been good to you and they will take care of you" My room has two monitors, the old one is a 19inch, and the new one is a 26 inch.

After this episode, I was like OMG, I'd totally cast aside my 19 inch monitor after my 26inch one arrived! Well today's an exception- I'm using back my 19 inch and blogging while I'm at it. You can't imagine how happy it is for my monitor that I'm using it again that it actually smiled back at me. Believe it or not =D Some of my friends call me a sucker that I actually act like I believe these inanimate objects have real feelings but you know, that's just me.

O some side notes~ Check out my favorite character in the show. His/it's name is Tony Tony Chopper!

He's name Chopper cause of his antlers. Chop chop and a tree falls down. Strong! He's a reindeer btw. With a blue nose (not red). Don't mess with him he's scary when he gets mad.

My favorite Girl is.... *Drums rolling* TADA!!!!!

Nico Robin! Cause she has really nice eyes and black long hair and that voice! omg... so husky and sexy. Think I can just fall in love with the voice acting itself. If there's such thing as love at first hearing, that's her! =D