Thursday, April 1, 2010

ONE PIECE!



I LOVE SHONEN JUMP!

There.

I said it.

I didn't want to...

But you made me.

What's that? Some of you aren't familiar with Shonen Jump?
Then it's a good thing I'm here to tell you about it.


Shonen Jump is Japanese, long-running, big, thick WEEKLY, black and white magazine that's chock full of the hottest manga series. There are lots like it, but Shonen Jump is really THE creme de la awesome. I first picked up a copy in Japan years and years ago but my Japanese wasn't quite rockin' enough to read it properly. But then a bunch of years back they started releasing it here in the States in a monthly format so I grabbed it!


I first loved it for NARUTO... because, c'mon-- Ninjas RULE.
In fact, I spent a loooooong time pestering the folks at Cartoon Network to put Naruto on the channel. A LONG time. Then, of course, when they DID get it they said-- "Hey Mr. Warburton-- have you ever heard of this new anime series we got called Naruto? You might like it."

Ugh...

Anyway... Naruto was definitely my favorite for a long time. Shaman King was another sooper giant favorite and I was kinda bummed when they stopped running it (please disregard the American version of cartoon-- they totally changed it from what the manga is!). Sand Land, by the creator of Dragonball Z, which also ran, was cool. The Yu-Gi-Oh stuff was kinda silly... and I'll never get why anyone likes Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. I tried. I really did. They jumped right into the middle of Bleach, so it took a little while to understand what was going on-- but now I really like it.



But my ultra sooper favorite grew to be ONE PIECE by Eiichiro Oda. It's about a kid named Monkey D. Luffy who wants to be King of the Pirates. That's simplifying it a bit, but it's really an amazing series with fantastically original art (the posing! the angles! the world!), sooper creative characters (a swordsman who fights with a sword in each hand and one in his mouth, a clown pirate who can dismember himself, giant banana gators) a weird sense of humor (Luffy and some of his crew tend to be brilliantly stupid), and a ton of real heart (a couple stories have brought a tear to my eye).


Now the only real drag about Shonen Jump is that since it only comes out monthly and some of the series have been running for eleventy thousand years in Japan, they're waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind the Japanese issues. By, literally, HUNDREDS of stories. And that's why I never watch the anime of Naruto or One Piece... I don't want to ruin the manga (which are often very different from each other).

BUT THEY'VE BEEN FIXING THAT!

First, they stopped running Naruto for a bunch of months and helped us catch up to the Japaense series by releasing more volumes of the compiled manga! Normally, one issue of Naruto has 3 or 4 twenty page chapters in an issue. But one of these babies has over 200 pages... and they gave us THREE A MONTH.

Can life get any better?

YES, IT CAN!

They've been doing the same thing with One Piece recently so for the last couple months they've been releasing FIVE (5) ... OMG... FIVE beautiful beautiful volumes EVERY MONTH.


I've never wanted it to be the beginning of a new month more.

One of the things I really love that Mr. Oda does better than anyone is group shots.
He takes the characters and puts them into these great situations that tell a fun story without words being neccessary. If you get a chance, find his Color Walk books.


A lot of his group shots are in there and I constantly refer to them for inspiration.






Now if I could just meet Mr. Oda and have him draw me a sketch I could die happier than I already am.

20 comments:

robstar1fan said...

My best friend loves the show 'NAURTO' on Disney XD, and she has been telling me about this other show, BLEACH, like you said. Have you ever Seen Sonic X? It's a japanese/English show about Sonic the hedgehog. Though, the Japnese versions have bad words in them......

Anonymous said...

Very interesting. I've never read Shonen Jump before but it's always seemed like something I would like. The drawing is phenomenal.

Anonymous said...

AWESOME~!! I LOVE NARUTO AND ONCE PIECE! THEY ROCK!

Unknown said...

I liked "Bobobo" simply because it was just so out there. It was just pure insanity that every minute you're thinking: how did this get published by major company? Of course, I believe it had a bigger American following than a Japanese one.

On that note, someone needs to translate a little manga I like to call "Franken Fran."

Brubaker said...

I spent most of my childhood in Japan and remember Shonen Jump dearly.

I remember watching the anime series when I was living in Japan, too. It still airs on Sunday nights right after "Miss Sazae", which has the honor of being the longest running animated TV series ever (started in 1969 and 40 years later it's still on TV).

Anonymous said...

Ive always loved manga, but some of mine are quite different from yours. The first time I started on Japanese (crap spelling!)was when I was like 7 and I turned on Sonic X. I didnt know ANYTHING about anime or manga, I just watched the show cause I like Sonic the Hedgehog, even though the show takes place on Earth instead of Mobius, so the comics and video games are, like, a million times better. From then on, I liked other manga, usually based on video games like Megaman. As I grew older, I got interested in other manga, although more obscure. Some of my favorites are Dragon Eye, The Dreaming (I still get nightmares but its WORTH IT!),Kingdom Hearts, Hollow Fields, and Naruto. I havent read much Shonen Jump, because my parents are kinda freaked out by Japanese stuff, but sometimes I check it out from the library. (I know, it sucks) Also, Ive wondered why they put so many bad words in Japanesse games and stuff. Even in Disney games, theres bad words. Maybe they arent such a big deal in Japan.

Anonymous said...

I love, love, loooove One Piece. I started watching it in Japanese, and then after the first fifty episodes I started reading. Now I'm watching the rest with my boyfriend with subtitles.

Anyway, I really love Oda's characters, his group shots, stories, and I just love how cartoony his style is. I especially love all the whacky expressions and all the different angles he uses. My only problem is that I think he could put some more variety in the appearances of his female characters. ( They all have the same, crazy looking body shape. 'Cept for whats-her-face before she became pretty. )

But anyway, I share your love for One Piece. When ever I go to the book store I like to look and see if his color walks are there.

Also, replying to people's comments - Yeah, curses aren't that big of a deal in Japan. But also it's just translation, they may not truly be saying anything bad, but it'll be translated as that if they use a certain form of speech that is very, very informal.

robstar1fan said...

@Sparkyou
True that! Only... I still watch Sonic X XD!

Anonymous said...

Thats funny! Im the hugest dork ever about the comics, so when I watch the show Im always pointing out mistakes and stuff, even though, the first episode takes place on Mobius before Chaos teleported select few members to Earth. I would watch it, except its only on on Saturdays and I have a lot to do on Saturdays.

Numbuh 0.704 said...

To tell you the truth, Mr. W., I thought this was an April Fool's joke at first, and only because of the date xD

Anyway, thought this might make you happy:

Cartoon Network had a "comment-poll" with the question "WHAT'S THE FUNNIEST CARTOON NETWORK SHOW EVER?"

Here are some responses:

--------------

Groovy Shirley Zigzag: K.N.D. is one of the best shows ever

Creative Luis Android: your right its very very funny K.N.D rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frosty Lindsay Diamond: okay everyone listen up cuz i am right.... KND

Friendly Jasmine Jingles: Omg i just LOVE Kid's Next Door but it's too bad that they stopped making new shows........

Immortal Zeke Forklift: KND IS THE BEST SHOW

Yelping Zach Vector: the kid next door is kind of funny.

Fabulous Amber Aurora: PEOPLE, WE ALL KNOW THAT THE KIDS NEXT DOOR IS THE BEST SHOW OUT THERE, WHY CANT YOU JUST ACCEPT THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

--------------

How's that for some positive comments?

Fair Winds, mate!

robstar1fan said...

@sparkyou
Same here! Anyways, I'm a total Sonamy shipper, even sega said so them selves that Sonic is 'Just to shy to admit his true feelings towards Amy'. Reminds me a lot of Kuki and Wally though.... (:

Bex said...

Lol, I used to love reading Naruto. I don't like where the story's going now. I liked D.Gray-Man for a while, too. But now I just like Shoujo stuff. :D

However, I still have a weakness for the fourth Hokage from Naruto. Agh, me.

I was tempted to ask if this was an April Fool's joke. lol.

ImASpongeyPerson said...

Hey there Mr Warburton!

I am a fan of KND and i made a video (its just a preview for now, im still editing), here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNIc178sb7g

And (i dont want to become a bother to you) i was wondering if i could ask you a few questions if thats ok.


1) Are going to continue KND comics? (i read a comic on the internet once, i didnt know you were doing comics)

2) Did study animation/drawing in university or college?

thanks alot for your time, KND Rulez!

ImASpongeyPerson

Christine Y. Chong said...

OMG I love One piece, it's one of the best manga EVER. EVER. EVER. lol
I am glad you like it too.

HotTang said...

its good to know your interested in very good stories.
i always want to read one peice, but i cant read japanese like the rest of my family, and buying an english copy is almost like i dont want to learn it.
meh.
ill get my hands on an english copy someday. and when i do. im going to read the crud out of it.

Thuaners said...

i agree! One Piece is the best! i love that manga/anime! eiichiro oda is a legend! :)

Anonymous said...

I agree so much. I love bobobo though! For the same reasons I love some other things, including KND! Mainly because it's so hilariously out-there and surreal that it's awesome!

Anonymous said...

I love one piece it is my favorite manga inthe world. I was just browsing one piece on google and I seen your website.

Smashmatt202 said...

HOLY CRAP, you like One Piece! That is so awesome, I'M a HUGE fan of One Piece, myself!

You were mentioned on this podcast:

http://onepiecepodcast.com/blog/2011/08/14/episode-180-the-legend-of-zolo-alexis-kirsch/

Let's talk One Piece more often!

xoCIGARS.com said...

Nice post regarding Shonen Jump Magazine. I am huge fan of this Japanese manga anthology magazine. I am really happy to see its review here. I just collect this amazing magazine at PIJ. Now I am really happy.
http://bit.ly/shonen-jump