I've got quite the on and off love story with One Piece. Not in terms of the "love" part, but my flavor of neurospicyness makes it super hard for me to sit and watch stuff without doing something else (which I don't like to do on my first watch of a narrative work).
Mind you, I prefer reading, but at the time, finding scans was hard for me (reading on screens has only been possible for me since a bit before the pandemic).
First time I started was when I was 12. I was near the Caribbeans and had gotten into anime a few months prior. And come on, a fun shonen with pirates? What's better to watch on the side of the ocean?
I fell in love with the story.
When I got back home though, school started back up and I did not have the energy to concentrate on watching something anymore. I started trying to read the manga, but due top lack of money (my estranged grandma was whom I was staying with on the vacation, my nuclear family does not have a lot of money) I had to stop. At that point, I had watched/read up to the end of Arlong Park.
Earlier this year (2023), my partner insisted we try to watch it together, because they really thought I'd love it. It's easier for me to stay focused on series and such when I'm with someone, especially if cuddles are involved.
As I'd loved the beginning years ago, I agreed, and boy was that a great decision.
Right now (september) we've reached the Alabasta arc and i'm looking into finding the scans for the manga, and I'm even more in love with the story. I find it really well written, it's giving me all the feels, and it has the three greatest things: pirates, found family, and a healthy dose of fantasy.
But most of all, the more I advance in the story, the more I'm falling in love with the strawhats. As a group, but also as individuals. I know I haven't met all of them yet, but that's the feeling I'm getting, like with every episode I'm rooting for them more and more, and they're really starting to feel like old friends.
In short: I love One Piece.
