In this action-adventure manga, follow a band of misfit pirates as they start their adventure looking for the ONE PIECE treasure.

Quick Information:

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Price: $9.99
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569319014
• ISBN-13: 978-1569319017

Plot Summary:

The plot line of this first volume shows Monkey D. Luffy as a young child in his home village where he becomes inspired by Red-Haired Shanks a famous pirate, to become a pirate. He also accidently eats a devil fruit named the Gum-Gum Fruit which makes his body rubber, though he will never be able to swim again. The rest of the story is the beginning of Luffy’s adventure as a bonafide pirate. He starts by meeting Coby a friend that will actually end up joining the marines who are the sworn enemies of pirates. Luffy also meets Nami a female thief who steals from pirates. She will end up joining Luffy as his navigator. Luffy also frees a famed pirate hunter named Zoro. He is a master swordsman who uses a special three blade technique. He is also a very heavy drinker who ends up joining Luffy’s crew after being helped by him. This volume is the beginning of an epic adventure by Luffy that is still ongoing to this day!

Reading/Interest Level:

The marketed age group for this book is for 6th thru 12th grade and the interest level runs along that large range as well as it is a book that can be enjoyed for various reasons by teens in that range.

Evaluation:

This Manga is very effectively written in both style, drawing, movement of the plot, and the message behind the story.The art and the pacing of the story also make it an easy and appealing read. The book has great value purely in an entertainment sense but also in the core messages that it is trying to spread to its readers. Eiichiro Oda puts a masterclass in storytelling in this adventure by creating fun yet very relatable characters. They all have faults but at the end of the day the camaraderie and their growing kinship get them out of the many tight spots they get stuck in. (Having a really strong devil fruit power is always helpful as well!) There are many life lessons that are taught in the One Piece series ranging from friendship, issues of humanity, to growing up.

Bibliotherapeutic Value:

The bibliotherapeutic value in this manga volume comes from the many life lessons that is taught throughout the manga. In the first couple pages of the manga show multiple life lessons by Red-Haired Shanks to Luffy who is still a young child. He shows the value of a life, the importance of not fighting if it is not necessary, and that loyalty to a friend means everything. These values are core to Luffy’s character throughout the rest of the series and part of the reason why he is so likeable by both characters in the series and readers alike!

Issues Present:

The issues present in this series are numerous. First off there is a lot of sexualization of women within the manga. There is a lot of violence shown as they are pirates. There is also a lot of drinking involved in the series as again they are pirates. Finally there is accusations of satanic worship as the pirates get there special powers from devil fruits which removes their ability to swim. Later on in the series they meet multiple versions of god in a heaven like location but that is not in the first volume.

Defending the Book:

How to defend this book from these controversies that may be brought up? As a librarian you need to explain the bibliotherapeutic value this book provides to the teens. Yes there is violence and drinking but nothing is graphically shown and in all honesty it is expected as the whole world is filled with pirates. As for the sexualization of women, they are always covered and there is no sex or sexual acts shown in the manga. As for the satanic worship the only reference to religion within the books are the devil fruits though obviously that may still upset certain people of the christian faith there is very little in religious messages in the story.

Book Talk Ideas?

The book talk idea that I would use in the first Volume of One Piece would be to highlight all of the times that Red-Haired Shanks values from the early pages show up throughout the rest of the book. Luffy really follows his personal code very closely no matter the danger and it would be a wonderful discussion to see when and where these issues occur.

Genre/Subject Matter:

The genre of this book is Fiction: Manga, teen fiction, action-adventure.

Similar Reads:

Author’s Website:

N/A

Awards Won:

None
Professional Reviews:

https://www.japanpowered.com/anime-articles/one-piece-a-critique

https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-56931-901-7

Why did I choose to read this book?

Manga is a very important part of any successful Teen Library in my opinion. At my own library where I am in charge of the Manga collection it is one of the highest circulating areas in the library. The demand is very high but with that high demand there will naturally be more critiques of the titles. This title is written by one of the greatest Manga writers of all time in Oda and it is a cornerstone series that is genre defining. It has a great story and life lessons within the manga. Plus it is a whole series and book on pirates which is as cool as it gets!