Roger's End of Year Wish List 2014

Hope your Christmas was more enjoyable than Zoro's

Happy New Year One Piece Fans. I'm Roger. We finally wrap up 2014 and put a nice bow on it, time to look back and see just how far we have come (or haven't come for that matter). We have a whole years worth of events to discuss, so let's get to it.

WARNING: This may contain spoilers for anime only One Piece fans.

The One Piece manga began this year knee deep in the Dressrosa Arc. The tournament for the Flame Flame Devil Fruit was heating up, a chunk of the Straw Hats were abducted by Big Mam, while another chunk was in pursuit of operation SOP. As we come to the end of this year, we find our heroes...now neck deep but nonetheless still in the Dressrosa Arc. That makes a whole year of having no clue what has happened to Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Brook or the Thousand Sunny. I'm sure fans of these specific characters must be frustrated beyond hope, wondering when if ever their time to return will come. I would rest assured, as the final battles between the Straw Hats and the Doflamingo family are finally reaching their endgame. Odds are by the end of 2015 (or even within the first quarter), we will find ourselves somewhere new, and finally see what has become of the Twirly Brow Pirates.

But in the meantime, I can say our time at Dressrosa this year has been quite eventful to say the least. Sabo's back in the fold, with an impressive new Prince Zuko-esque scar, as well as inheriting Ace's fire powers (so yeah, also like Prince Zuko). Usopp got to defeat a girl with quite possibly one of the most terrifying powers yet to be seen in the series by, get this, looking at her funny...twice. Oda has done the impossible of making us all feel genuinely sorry for Bellamy of all people. Sai of the Happo Navy has started to grow on me as one of my new favorite side characters. Though I guess the biggest upcoming star has to go to Bartolomeo. There is something instantly appealing about this doey-eyed Straw Hat Super-fan that so many of us have gravitated toward. In a way, he has become one of the most relatable characters in the series, and for that reason, has quickly rose in popularity himself, and is sitting tightly as one of the Top 10 in One Piece's most current popularity poll.

Speaking of Which:

Is that why you're upset, Zoro? Have you been dethroned from your 2nd Place Spot?

Despite the fact that Zoro has held the #2 slot (and Sanji the #3 slot) since the shows first popularity poll nearly 15 years ago, I can't say I am all too surprised to see Law has usurped them. Especially considering his backstory just concluded a few weeks ago, and everyone is still understandably taken aback by his relationship with Corazon (who appears #52 on the list). But even then, Dessrossa itself does feel like Law's own personal arc. In many ways, people could argue that he, not Luffy, has been the main character for the duration of this arc, and it may very well be him that deals the final blow to the big bad this time around. And you know what? I actually hope that does happen. Law has the biggest beef with Doflamingo, and yes in the past Luffy has taken on the burdens of his companions and fought the battles they couldn't, but it would be a nice change of pace to see someone refuse Luffy's offer and choose to finish their burden themselves.

Only time will tell what Oda has in store for Doflamingo's fate.

Outside the Manga department, Funimation has been keeping right at work, localizing more of the One Piece anime and distributing it across the states in reasonable time. We are currently half way through the Thriller Bark arc and it's just as fun as we all remembered it. Ian Sinclair is definitely growing on me as the voice of Brook, and of all the other characters, I have to say Alex Moore as the voice of Lola is probably my favorite of the Thriller Bark cast. She is hilarious.

In addition, I recall one of my wishes from last year was that One Piece Film Z could come to the US soon. However, I remembered how it took Strong World four whole years before it was translated, so I really only thought of it as wishful thinking. Well guess what?

Sometimes, dreams do come true.

In short, the movie was awesome. It's got some of the most beautiful and fluid animation the series has seen to date. The story itself is compelling too, with the Straw Hats caught in a do or die brawl against a rogue faction known as the Neo Marines for the fate of the entire New World. Zed is such a powerful and memorable adversary. (As such, he made it to #71 on the poll). For a deranged psychopath with no qualms about covering an entire ocean in lava, he is surprisingly sympathetic, thanks greatly to a perfectly paced telling of his tragic history narrated by Garp, which details not one but several traumatic incidents of his past that built on top of each other, one after another, until he eventually (and understandably) snapped. You can't help but appreciate how cunning and ruthless he was to exploit classified Marine intelligence that was trusted to him in good faith, then turning around to use it against them. Definitely worth checking out for any true blue One Piece fan.

In the video game department. One Piece has seen a few games get released in the states this year. One that I played was One Piece Unlimited World Red for the PS3. It's another open world action RPG that plays very similarly to Unlimited Adventure for the Wii. You have a small little hub town you can expand by collecting items to help the town build new shops so you can buy more items. All the different worlds outside the hub town are iconic locations from the show where you can play as any and all of the nine Straw Hats to blow through pirates, Marines, animals, and typically end the world with a final boss. The story is okay, with a serviceable villain in Red, whom I'll admit has a pretty cool Devil Fruit power. The combat, as far as an RPG is fine, though not quite as tight or intense as the combat in Toei's Pirate Warriors franchise. Too quickly do you learn the ins-and-outs of what all playable characters are capable of. You will spent A LOT of the game level grinding while you continuously back track to get that one specific item to build that one specific shop to buy that other item to improve your fishing rod to catch that one specific fish to make that other item, to improve your net to catch that one specific bug to make that one specific medicine to get that one specific upgrade too...well you get the point.

Or, if you want to skip all that RPG nonsense, this game has a Coliseum Mode where you can just beat up dudes and unlock other playable characters to beat up more dudes.

You can also kick Doflamingo's ass yourself instead of waiting for it to happen on the show.

So that's pretty much what One Piece has been up to in 2014. Now to wrap this year up with a quick list of a few things I wish to see in 2015:

• Unlimited World Red was okay, but I still feel these Unlimited games fall a bit short of capturing the vast epicness of the series. Maybe keep a good chunk of the gameplay mechanics and RPG elements, but how about a game where the hub takes place on the Thousand Sunny, and you can explore your ship and travel to different worlds from there.
• Funimation, you are coming close to the Sabaody Archipelago Arc, so you are going to have a ton of new characters to cast, including all the Supernovas. These are characters that, while not instantly important, will return and eventually have important parts to play down the line. I know you like to recycle actors from earlier arcs, but personally, I'd love to hear some fresh new voice talent to play these new characters. How about calling up some of the voice actors from Legend of Korra? All of them were really good, and their show's over, so they might need the work. (Just thinking about it, Dave Foustino could probably play Law really well. With P.J. Byrne as Bepo?)
• Oda, let Law defeat Doflamingo. I know Luffy is stubborn and will want to do it himself, but he gets to fight everyone. Let someone else do it for a change. Pretty please.

And with that, I adjourn for the year. Stay tuned for new segments of Roger's List next year. Also, I will be attending Emerald Con in late March and Sakura Con in early April. If any of you will be there, maybe I'll run into you.

Have a good one.

See? Even Naruto's son Bolt is a One Piece fan.