Review of One Piece Season 2

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

I feel like a lot of my blog introductions, especially when it comes to movies, have been lamenting on the fact I don’t have a ton of time lately. I used to work as a film critic (which, in fact, was so incredibly underpaid that I now make more off of this blog’s display ads than I ever did publishing anywhere else), and then when I was in graduate school I was writing a lot about film, so I used to watch so many movies.

But now I work an 8-5, come home, and then doom scroll my evenings away instead of watching the movies I used to love so dearly. And recently I realized I want to stop doing that, so I’ve set limits on my phone and am fully prepared to sit back and watch movies and shows again.

I didn’t used to watch a ton of television, then I worked as a critic. I’d formally studied television as a part of my undergraduate education and had watched it on the side, but I never saw it as my focus. Then I slowly started watching more and more—now I say I’m more of a television-focused individual.

I also never watched One Piece as a kid, but when Netflix launched the live action version of the show I ended up watching season one because I liked Mackenyu. Then, turns out I actually liked season one, so I patiently waited for season two. When that came out I watched all of it in one go over the course of a weekend.

Let’s get into the review! I don’t want the introduction to be too long.

Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates seek out adventure on the other side of the Grand Line, but the Baroque Works are hot on their heels.

Season two takes place where season one leaves off. The Straw Hat Pirates arrive in Loguetown to try and get some food and supplies before hitting the ocean again, leading to some shenanigans in town. Not only do they run into some old friends (aka: enemies who are now pissed off at Luffy and crew), but Zoro also makes some sweet deals.

We’re also introduced to Miss All Sunday, Mr. 5, and Miss Valentine. They kill off the marines in a town to try and find out where Zoro is, as they’re a little more than mad that Mr. 7 was killed. The Baroque Works tracking down Luffy and crew is going to be a consistent theme throughout this season, as they’re the main antagonists.

The vast majority of the season takes place on the other side of the Grand Line. There’s a bit of an adventure getting to the other side of the line, which involves going up a mountain and then befriending a massive whale that feels abandoned by its crew (who promised to come back fifty years ago).

Whale aside though, that’s when we start running into the Baroque Works once again. We’re also going to learn that not everything, and everyone, are what they seem throughout the course of the season, giving new motivation to the crew. We also see the typical power dynamics flipping.

For example, some characters who we really don’t see as the major fighters are given the moment to shine when the others are incapacitated. As someone who was unfamiliar with One Piece beyond some really basic info before this, I was pleasantly surprised by this aspect of the plot throughout this season.

The pacing is also fantastic throughout each episode. They really flew by and felt fun, a little bit campy, and I was legitimately disappointed to get to the end of season two. I hope we don’t have to wait too many years before the next season…

Overall Thoughts

This review has been positive overall throughout, and that’s because I have genuinely enjoyed this show so far. Not every show I watch and review is something I can say I had a blast watching, but these actors, the dialogue, and the story just knock it out of the park.

I think slowly but surely this is convincing me to watch the original anime, but I don’t think I have the time to do that right now in my life. Maybe when I’m a bit older and not running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

All this is to say that I think this was a really solid season, even if you’re not familiar with the original anime or manga. I can’t attest to how true it is to the original text, but regardless it’s worth a watch if you’re interest.

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