spoiler
(Pictured: One of my favorite moments, from the Marineford arc)
I watched ALL OF IT! All episodes, filler, OVA, specials, Movies, manga cover stories, even the dub voice actor blooper reel.
So many fantastic moments, “good” filler and “bad” filler, side character plots continued in the cover stories, the discussion on this stuff is limitless.
If you have a favorite moment, an OVA you really enjoyed and wished was canon, a movie you didn’t think worked, an underappreciated character you need to discuss, the best parts of the soundtrack, anything at all, let’s talk about it!
Note: Even though I watch the sub and dub interchangeably, I stopped at 1096 where the dub arc is currently halted at. I found that, without a ton of free time to dedicate to the show, I was able to still squeeze in a few episodes during my weight-lifting workouts to keep progressing through it. It’s easy and surprisingly motivating to lift weights to the dub, but near impossible to accurately read the subtitles during intense sets. That said, impatience might cause me to trade sleep or other shows/games/social-stuff for time to watch the subbed 1097 and beyond instead of waiting for the dub.
PSA for new adventure seekers: For anyone like me that loved the anime as a kid but was massively intimidated by how big the growing episode count for one of the longest running shows in history has gotten to now, let me say that you can catch up and it is absolutely worth your time if it’s something you truly want to see. I did things the “hard way” but you can skip the filler, drastically cutting down the episode count and fixing the pacing, and experience an adventure unlike any other. (If the earlier stuff still feels like a slog, maybe wait for the reanimated early seasons that Netflix is putting out).
At some point I’ll post one of those chronological/recommended watch order lists with all the specials, movies, cover stories, etc., put in reasonable timeline order with the main arcs.
any plans to read the manga?
I definitely want to own the manga in its entirety someday, but don’t plan to read the current issues ahead of the anime. I’m a bit of an odd duck but I like watching the adaptation first and reading the manga after for shows like this.
I read the My Hero Academia arc for Season 4 before the anime adapted it and found myself building up expectations and watching them pile up into disappointment when the season finally aired. I probably would have enjoyed it for what it was if I’d watched it first and read the source material after, which has been successful ever since!
Are you OK?
I guess it depends?
If you mean in terms of watch exhaustion, I’m totally OK! I did try to watch too much too fast at first, but eventually taking breaks from the show and spreading it out over three years was definitely the smarter way to go in the end. Now that I mostly only watch it during workouts, it’s become just another part of a normal healthy routine which helped keep me from going crazy with it (otherwise I’m sure I would have stopped sleeping to binge the Wano arc every night like I did with Impel Down/Marineford and that would have exhausted me). After it all, I’m still super into this story and am very much looking forward to continuing!
If you mean in terms of the massive emotional hits that this series deals out, I’m OK but absolutely impressed at how this story has genuinely brought me to tears more than a few times. Shout out to Bon Clay and Pedro.
If you mean just in general completely outside of anything to do with the show, nah but I keep going anyway. After all, if I have any say in the matter, I want to see that kid become King of the Pirates before I die!
