“I’ve set myself to become the King of the Pirates and if I die trying… then at least I tried!” –Monkey D. Luffy
In 1997, Oda Eiichiro began writing and illustrating One Piece, the best-selling manga series in
history with over 380 million volumes in circulation worldwide as 2015.
The success goes beyond the manga.
Its anime version has more than 680 episodes, plus many animated feature films,
and television specials among other things.
The huge success of One Piece is due to its resounding theme.
It's all about following your dreams. And sometimes, we like to be reminded.
It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a young man who explores the ocean with his crew,
The Straw Hat Pirates.
He's searching for the world's ultimate treasure known as "One Piece",
in order to become the next Pirate King.
Follow your dream.
A great message for sure but there is so much more.
Roronoa Zoro teaches us that you should never give up, no matter what. You must overcome
pain, so you can become stronger. However crazy your dream is to others, don't quit.
You want to be a pirate, so be it. Having a dream is simple, but courage is needed to follow through with it.
And sometimes that takes finding a crew.
Tony Tony Chopper teaches us to be careful not to judge people
because you never know what form your crew can take.
Whatever your crew looks like or does or says, if they help you become a
better pirate, so be it.
As we learn from the show: everything has its time and soul.
You can't bring back what you've lost but you can treasure what you have so there’s no point in wasting time
thinking about the past. Jimbei says it clearly: what's gone is gone! But ask yourself this,
what remains?
Look always to the future and let your dreams drive you forward. Fire Fist Ace, the adopted
older brother of Luffy, reminds us that we should live our lives without any regrets
because as it's shown in the series, a life with no regrets is indeed a wonderful life.
Dream big.
And like Coby: we shouldn't worry about being able to achieve our dreams, as long as we
have the desire to do it!
You are never too old to follow you dreams, whatever they may be.
Never stop dreaming because Blackbeard sums it up:
A man's dream will never die.