Based in an age where pirates dominate the world, the story centres on Monkey D. Luffy, a kid who dreams of becoming "The Pirate King". To achieve this, he hopes to find the eponymous mythical treasure that is the One Piece. Said to be the most valuable in the world, it is rumoured that the previous Pirate King hide it at the end of "The Grand Line", the most dangerous ocean in the world!
Their travels across the Grand Line gives rise to many crazy adventures for Luffy and his crew. As you may expect, there is conflict almost every step of the way. However, what makes the fighting interesting is the existence of "Devil Fruit", which bestow magical powers upon those who eat them! For example, Luffy ate one and become a "Rubber Man", in the same sense as Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four.
Beyond this, the other characters have special traits and abilities as well, which helps to keep things interesting. Rather refreshingly, not everyone is magically overpowered and not every fight is drawn out for the sake of it. Very frequently the strong will simply destroy the weak is one go, which helps to keep things in perspective and keep the action going.
Combat aside, the character development is solid and story is fairly well told. I appreciate that if I was reading the story as it came out every week I'd probably get bored at points, but reading it together I feel the pacing is just right!
I've yet to start watching the anime but it is definitely on my to-do list! In the meantime, if you enjoy Bleach and would like to read some thing lighter and more fantasy based, I'd highly recommend One Piece!
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