In Love With "Koisuru One Piece"

 

I love One Piece, and I have even since the 4Kids era, because then at least we got to see it in English, crappy and childish and doctored as it was.  (Would it surprise any of you to know that I also enjoy all-you-can-eat buffets?)  The characters, the world-building, the battles…

 

And, apparently, I’m not alone.

 

(I mean, I know I’m not; it’s a multi-million dollar international smash, but I needed a good segue.)

 

You see, one Daiki Ihara has been putting out a certain gag manga for years now, based on One Piece, and that’s what I’m going to talk about today.

 

Ordinary Japanese high schooler Nami Koyama silently pines away for her childhood friend Luffy Yamamoto.  (Are you sensing the theme yet?)  Due to their shared love of One Piece, Nami and Luffy decide to establish a Pirate Club for fans of the series.  This would all be going well if not for the eccentric Usopp Nakatsugawa.

 

This one man turns out to be the cause of most of the problems throughout this series, and I have to say that I don’t like him very much.  He seems to be completely insane, believing  himself to be the actual Usopp, Luffy Yamamoto to be the actual Luffy, and so forth.  Every interaction with him is him either forcing the rules of the One Piece world onto their own real world, or else pulling out some insane new technology in order to make their real world more like that of One Piece.

 

I hate chuunibyo, let me just say that right now.  There are rules and societal norms to this world we live in, and, if you don’t follow them, you can easily risk being locked up or ostracized as a weirdo.  If a normal man were to randomly break into a musical number in the middle of downtown or jump into the zoo enclosure to try to ride the rhino because he thinks it’s a dragon, he would instantly be rounded up by the police and hauled off to a padded cell somewhere.  This world of ours is what it is, and, while it does need changing, one can do that without disturbing the peace or trying to force your own bizarre worldview/delusions upon others.

 

And I know that’s what makes shows like Bob’s Burgers funny, but no one would actually put up with people that backwards and silly in real life.

 

More Japanese-style humor abounds in Koisuru One Piece (or "One Piece in Love"), as more and more characters appear and get involved in the Pirate Club’s shenanigans, including at least two rivals for the affections of “Captain” Luffy.

 

This series is available through the Shonen Jump+ app, and only in the original Japanese.  I myself found a reputable site that sells Japanese books direct from Japan within the last few years, and so I purchased the first four volumes through them.  (Thank goodness I can actually read the language.)

 

I did once find the first volume fan-translated in English somewhere online, but I never actually looked at the name of the site or the URL, so it has escaped me.

 

If you can find this series anywhere (and are able to read it), I would highly recommend picking it up.  There’s something for everyone (aside from fanservice), whether you be a fan of One Piece or just a fan of romantic comedy gag manga.