43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Represents the real One Piece as much as my shoe represents Chobits, April 26 2006
By championferret - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: One Piece, Vol. 1: Tears (DVD)
This is just plain terrible, and is not the real One Piece at all.
To anyone thinking 'some things were changed, but it cant be all bad', that is simply not the case, this is by far the worst thing 4kids has pulled yet, and probably the most edited of all their licenses.
Frankly, it's insulting. The original One Piece was actually a masterpiece of wit and storytelling, there was suspense and drama, it was great.
This version lacks all of that because it has been dumbed down for very young children, all the weapons have been ridiculously edited and the dialogue super-lame-afied. There is no suspense-How can there be when people are threatening others with super soakers, toy/cork guns, plungers and they're FINGERS, for crying out loud?
I'll say it again, it's an insult to everyone who has grown to love the original One Piece. Not only was all the violence cut, but also anything 4kids saw as 'not crucial to the main plot'. The main plot being to them, going to suchandsuch an island and defeating suchandsuch an enemy. Any of the 'cute' scenes showing the character interaction, their development and personal quirks, one of the things that made this series so charming in the first place, has been snipped, thus turning the show into a boring, repetitive droning of 'defeat him. Now him. Now him. Then him.'
Of course there are going to be people who say, "One Piece was intended for children in Japan, so what is wrong with intending it for children in the US?' The answer is simple. The charm of One Piece was that although it could be easily enjoyed by children in japan, it's appeal lies on so many levels it can also be enjoyed by anyone else, regardless of age; it has an ageless charm to it.
This version, however has been made so that only 10 year olds and under can 'enjoy' it, with none of the appeal for older viewers. I say 'enjoy' in inverted comas because frankly it suprises me that even the under 10s could find it interesting anymore.
43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
This is not One Piece, plain and simple., April 18 2006
By Anonymous "Anonymous" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: One Piece, Vol. 1: Tears (DVD)
This item gets a -5000 out of 5. I am not exaggerating.
4kids Entertainment is universally known throughout anime fandom for butchering all anime that they license.
To the 3 people who reviewed these DVDs, disregard what you have seen, because it is not the real thing. If you know anyone who is into the original One Piece, do not hesitate to watch the original. You will grow to hate the dub as soon as you see the original. I promise that.
You are watching a highly censored version of anime that originally had blood, violence, and guns (not super-soakers) in it. However, that is all absent on this DVD (and will be absent on all future edited 4kids DVDs of One Piece). For example, in the original anime, Helmeppo put a gun to Coby's head, not that stupid hammer gun that Cartoon Network and 4kids showed. Also, Captain Morgan shot luffy with real bullets in the original, but this was also cut out of the 4kids version. In all of Zoro's fights, he bleeds a lot. That is also cut out of the original. If you buy future episodes of One Piece from 4kids Entertainment, you can expect the same mindless edits and cuts to happen.
(By the way, Lolonoa Zolo's name is Roronoa Zoro, with an r. Please do not call him Zolo, because this is incorrect. Everyone in the original version of One Piece calls him Zoro.)
Do not buy 4kids DVDs to finance more artistic murder of anime! They licensed an anime that is not for children, but is in fact geared toward teenagers.
Please do not misunderstand me. I love One Piece, but the material on this DVD is NOT One Piece. This is an affront and and an insult to Oda Eiichiro, the creator of One Piece, and Toei Animation, the people who spent many hours animating the original masterpiece, that is One Piece.
If you intend to buy this or any other edited DVDs of One Piece from 4kids Entertainment, you are going to get ripped off. You are not seeing the real story.
In short, do not buy this dvd!
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
4kids screws up again...., July 20 2006
By Masked Drifter - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: One Piece, Vol. 1: Tears (DVD)
Ok people, I'm just going to get the point and get through this quickly. This English edited version of One Piece, SUCKS. I'll just go down a list of how:
1. most good action has been cut out.
2. many of the scenes considered unnecessary (whic is actually good for plot and chgaracter development as well as comedy) have been cut out.
3. the dialogue has been edited so it sounds stupid.
4. it just looks wrong. (how are you going to threaten a guy with your finger instead of a gun?)
My advice? Do not get this dvd. If you want to watch the good One Piece, watch the japanese version.