Wow… the first episode of Shonen Jump’s ONE PIECE is a lot of good, sun-shiney fun. I suppose I could go on about how the Picaresque plot was so appealing and how tickled I was by the body language of the character animation ( Monkey really isn’t the ONLY rubbery character), but I’m going to sail on a different wind in the “What The F@#$ Did I Just Watch?!” ocean. Instead, I’m going to reach into my closet and pull out my “comparative literature” hat, because I couldn’t shake the pleasing similarities to J.M. Barrie’s classic PETER PAN here.
Both have got pirates in a fantasy landscape. That’s a given. But what really got my mind thinking about this was the pink-haired kid (whose name escapes me, right now). Even before I started making connections, I was thinking, “As sheepish toadies go, this guy makes Smee look like a dominant Type-A personality.” The guy takes a bold step across the line in the sand by the episodes end and defies his mistress, but until then… SHEESH.
If he’s Smee and the ugly pirate lady is Cap’n Hook, then Monkey is most definitely Pan with his blithe mix of a naïve dream (to become king of the pirates) and a cavalier, rubber limbs-snapping destructiveness. Seriously, Peter Pan’s first line in the original novel was spoken to Wendy and it went something along the lines of “There’s an Indian sleeping against a tree in the woods. You want to come with me and slit his throat?” Here, we have Monkey’s compulsion to hurt kid pink hair explained so carelessly and honestly - - “I just want to.”
Alright, comparative literature hat off, pop culture hat on. I watched a dubbed version of this episode and the theme song made an impression on me! Man… I haven’t heard a singer just FEELING a cartoon theme song since those Disney shows from the 80s. DUCKTALES, GUMMI BEARS… those were themes songs with such over-production, schmaltzy lyrics and vocal range, it was as if Michael McDonald himself were behind the mic.
Anyway, if this review comes off as bit stream-of-consciousness, it’s because Monkey’s reckless spirit has put me in touch with my own inner child. I can already feel my limbs turning rubbery and there’s no magic fruit. Actually… no! I wrote it this way because I “just want to.” NYAH!
-- Tom Pinchuk is the writer of UNIMAGINABLE for Arcana Comics and HYBRID BASTARDS! for Archaia Comics. Watch out for the HYBRID BASTARDS! hardcover collection this March - - available for pre-order now on Amazon.com.
