Even with no knowledge of the original anime or manga, even going in pre-primed to cynically dump on it, this won me over within minutes.
Why? Because everyone involved, the writers, directors, set dressers, costumers, choreographers, and the title stars to the briefest of guest spot actors, are absolutely committed to it. None of it makes any sense, the milieu is bonkers, the close-in face-focused cinematography is deranged, but none of that matters because this show is just so much fun. Big, bold, unalloyed, unapologetic, basic, old fashioned fun.
Everything that I thought would irk me about it, like the nonsensical premise, the manic lead, the cocky independent grrlboss Nami, the pantomime villains, all of it works out, by careful design.
I tried, I really tried, to not enjoy it, but it just powered through and delivered scenes and a story and characters that are so fundamentally satisfying that I went from tolerance, to enjoyment to a fan within the first two densely packed episodes. And it only got better from there, with backstory and development and an absolutely astonishing character payoff in episode 7 that left me in tears at the pitch perfect writing and performances.
The nature of Monkey D. Luffy is... irrepressible.
Why? Because everyone involved, the writers, directors, set dressers, costumers, choreographers, and the title stars to the briefest of guest spot actors, are absolutely committed to it. None of it makes any sense, the milieu is bonkers, the close-in face-focused cinematography is deranged, but none of that matters because this show is just so much fun. Big, bold, unalloyed, unapologetic, basic, old fashioned fun.
Everything that I thought would irk me about it, like the nonsensical premise, the manic lead, the cocky independent grrlboss Nami, the pantomime villains, all of it works out, by careful design.
I tried, I really tried, to not enjoy it, but it just powered through and delivered scenes and a story and characters that are so fundamentally satisfying that I went from tolerance, to enjoyment to a fan within the first two densely packed episodes. And it only got better from there, with backstory and development and an absolutely astonishing character payoff in episode 7 that left me in tears at the pitch perfect writing and performances.
The nature of Monkey D. Luffy is... irrepressible.