First off, I would like to mention that there has been a change of domain. We have a new URL which is www.onepieceatatimeblog.com to be your blog for anything that is One Piece. At least anything that I can get my ears on. Due to something that is going to happen soon. I thought it be best to just go straight for my own domain then having Blogger as part of the URL. That way it be easier to say and type up.Also I am thinking after two months that I may actually stick to this blogging gig. It has been fun and has open a lot of things for me to experience. So you guys, better update your bookmarks so you can get the full fun of One Piece at a Time since you don't get my Tweets and can't become Followers.
I so promise to get a better image of this up....For some reason my scanner decided to be diffcult so I couldn't scan anything from the actual Shonen Jump. Sigh....
Still enough of me being lame and such. Time for my first ever Manga post that is SPOILER FREE! Wow...That is strange. This manga post will be going over the recent release of Oda's first draft to what would later be One Piece.
Romance Dawn was a good read. I kind of knew what to expect since before starting this blog I read the anime adaptation of it. I was going to do a blog post for it but really I didn't want to take screenshots for a 15 minute episode. Instead I decided to be lazy and do the 24 minute episode for that week.
Warning. This may be spoiler-ish if you haven't read Romance Dawn but it won't ruin anything if you are watching the anime or reading the manga.
So for those that don't know. Romance Dawn was the names of the drafts that Oda used to base what today's One Piece is. Some of the elements transfer over while some things did not. Shonen Jump (US) release the first Romance Dawn draft in their December 09 issue as a celebration to the skip to Impel Down. Something that transfer over to today's One Piece was Luffy's story, Shanks, and well Luffy! haha
So we start off this story with a young man riding in a small boat. He looks lost and confuse like somebody else that we will or have known to be. Clearly Oda knew what he wanted with Luffy from the beginning. A confused young man that is loveable and awesome. Well we don't get that from this image of Luffy sailing in the seas but that can be gathered later.
One thing that I like to mention is that one of the flags on Luffy's little ship looks like Alvida's jolly roger. Maybe a sign of things to come in the final version?
From there on we kind of get what feels like a small chapter from the manga or anime arc. It feels a lot like the Buggy arc minus Luffy falling from the sky and getting captured. Well Luffy did got capture but that is for later on.
We have a small town where a girl that looks almost like Nami. The body frame is a bit different from our would-be future navigator with differences as in being taller and not as developed if you know what I mean. She was a good character. Kind of everything that Nami is in a sugar way. Both character want to protect their hometowns that took them in but Nami had the dark and dirty way.
It seems that Luffy from the start was meant to be a silly and good character. Oda knew what he wanted from Luffy from the start and used these drafts as a way to mess with Luffy, practice drawing him and experiment with what he wanted from the character. There is a difference though that took me a while to realize and that is the scar under Luffy's left eye. It isn't there. I stared at the picture for a few minutes wondering what was missing then I blinked and said, "His scar is missing."
I am not sure if anybody notice this but I think I noticed this since I cosplay so many times as Luffy that I kind of remember there is a scar there. I mean after you draw the scar on your face for so many conventions, it kind of stick in there. I can now do it without looking at the picture but still have to use a mirror.
One thing that I would have liked to have crossover from Romance Dawn to the actual story was the terminology. Like the word Peacemain. I mean after awhile of watching One Piece, I was thinking, "Don't pirates steal and stuff? Why haven't Luffy and crew stole anything or something?" Later on I realize that Luffy if just the type of guy that likes to have adventures and he is happy with what he got. Then I saw the end of Skypeia and shook my head...haha Still if Oda had used the word Peacemain to describe the pirates who don't steal and such and told us that Luffy was one of those pirates then I would have been cool with that. It would have added more depth to the series and the world of pirates. As in why Oda didn't use this in the final draft I don't know. Maybe he wanted to keep it real and decided to drop Peacemains since maybe there isn't such thing. Oda has been known to take real things from pirates as in real pirates and use them in the story. Maybe he just wanted to keep it simple. Or maybe he just thought that it would be too smart of Luffy to know about such terms since really he just wants to be just like Shanks. Isn't that just a good enough reason to become a pirate? haha
So we see some battle scenes as Luffy beats Cresent Moon Gary and just walks away. haha Gary feel weird and lame overall. haha He reminds me of Buggy but the thing that makes Buggy better is that Buggy is funny. haha He doesn't make me look at him and say, "Why are you still here?". Gary just makes me wish he would go away already. The guy was funny but mostly childish. Good for a first villain to a limit.
If I could put a picture here then I would put the picture of Luffy being tied to the pole after being captured by the townspeople. The one where the townspeople are cheering for capturing 'Crescent Moon Gary'. haha This part made me laugh but also made me think of Rurouni Kenshin. That face that Luffy is showing looks like something Kenshin would express or something. Still now looking at this chapter overall I can see where Oda's time with Kenshin's creator kind of rub off on him. Gary gives me the feel of Gohei since both are weak characters (in battle) but both promise to return later on. So I guessed that if Oda had used this as his final product that we would see a lot more of Gary coming back with plans to defeat or kill Luffy.
In the end we have Luffy being Luffy. He gets upset about his hat being stepped on and then vows to take down Gary. Not just for stepping on his hat but also for attacking innocent people. Luffy does his awesome and bring down the ship with his might foot. Not as impressive as Gum Gum Bazooka but both do the same job.
Then we get the ending. Something that I just am speechless on. Here we get more of some of the foundations of what would later be important things in the main One Piece world like Luffy's flag. Amazing at how close it is with the straw hat and smile. I am talking about he image of an older Luffy. We have two crew members standing over a sleeping older Luffy. He kind of looks like Shanks except that the hair is black and Luffy has a good amount of fuzz on his chin.
Still this gets me thinking about Luffy and how One Piece is going to end. Nobody wants to think about the possibility of One Piece ending but it has to happen eventually right? I thought about how it will end a few time and most of the things that is happening to Luffy right now are point to the ending that I think it will have. Still nothing can be certain right now. Though what if the ending that we saw in Romance Dawn is going to be the ending that One Piece is going to have. Lets say that eventually Luffy becomes King of the Pirates and he has all the freedom he wants as something big and huge happens that makes you question what is going to happen to Luffy and crew. Then the screen goes black and the next thing you see is somebody that looks like an older Luffy with the rest of the crew smiling into the sunset as they set forth for another adventure.
It could happen right? Rumors have it that Oda knows how the series will end. So maybe this ending of his first draft is a hint on how it will end once the smoke clears.
The name Straw Hat Luffy will become famous in these oceans...some day soon.And how very true this statement becomes. Oda must have been doing some crazy predictions when he made this because now One Piece is one of the most popular animes in Japan and the world.
Incase you haven't notice, this blog has gone though some changes during the last two weeks. First off I changed the template of the blog so it looks a bit more nicer? I think it is nicer. I have such a good image on the top. People been saying it is good and I am glad that you guys like it. Maybe one day I will learn how to make Bloggers templates too. It would be cool to have an image of the Going Merry and Thousand Sunny side by side but this is good.
Though one thing that I been wondering is if this site is still phone friendly. The old template was very simple and the only images on it was the ones from the anime posts. So I am not sure how this banner will transfer over to a phone. If anybody could be kind to test this out for me then go for it. Then you can tell me via Twitter or in the comments.
Other things I would like to point out is you can now become a follower! Not just on Twitter but on the blog! If you have a Google account then go to the side and look under followers! Click on the thing there and you can follow this blog too! I have no idea what benefits you will get for being a follow but you have your little Google avatar thing there on the site.
So become one today! That way my good buddy Doctor from the SSAA Podcast won't be so lonely anymore!
Also if you are not following me on Twitter then go for it! I have like 67 followers as of right now. Not sure how many of them are bots but still cool! For the good week or so I been hovering around that number as bots are being killed on Twitter. Be nice to finally go over 70 followers! So go for it!
Just want to say that we have a new addition to the Blog Rollin family. Joining our group some of blogs and cool sites will be the SSAA Podcast! I been talking to the main host of SSAA and guest to the Unofficial One Piece Podcast, Doctor, for a good while now via Skype. Very cool guy. He been following my blog and reading my post. So that is ONE person I know who is reading my words. Welll I know it is three but at least I know for certain there is one. Still those other guys are cool. Also Doctor is cool because a blog Follower and added One Piece at a Time (this blog incase you don't know) to his blog roll.
So give these guys a listen. They know a lot about animes and each episode of their is another thing about anime. I would suggest that you listen to Episode 22 and maybe wait for episode 40. Their latest episode is good but had to be heavy edited to keep most of the content in. Also Doctor so didn't ask me to say that when I go mentioning his podcast in my next post. haha
So give SSAA Podcast a listen.
Also yes, Shugo Chara! gets the honor of being the first non-One Piece anime to get an image in my blog (and Naruto doesn't count).
So till then!
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