I'm Luffy! The Man Who Will Become Pirate King!

From Animepedia

The first episode of One Piece made its debut on October 20, 1999, on the Japanese television station Fuji TV, with the title, I'm Luffy! The Man Who Will Become Pirate King!

It opens with a brief introduction as all following One Piece episodes do, with the voice of the narrator repeating the following:

“Wealth, fame, power. The man who had obtained everything in this world, the Pirate King, Gold Roger. His final words that he said at his execution sent people to the seas. ‘My wealth and treasure? If you want it, I’ll let you have it. Look for it! I left in all in that place!’

Now men, chasing their dreams, sailed toward the Grand Line. The world now enters the Great Age of Pirates!”

The first series opening theme, “We Are” by Hiroshi Kitadani, then begins.

Contents 1 Summary 1.1 Part A 1.2 Part B 1.3 Closing 2 Character Introductions 3 Links

Summary

Part A

The episode opens with several sailors on a Marine ship watching a whirl-pool off the port side of the ship. After hearing a knocking sound, they look down and see a wooden barrel floating next to the ship.

The focus then shifts for a moment to a ballroom with music playing, and a young orange-haired woman being offered to dance.

Focus moves back to the sailors bringing the wooden barrel aboard the ship, as a watchman in the crow’s nest spots a large pink ship moving into sight from a small island. The flag is black with a side-view of a skull and a heart in the center, a modification of a Jolly Roger. The pirate ship then fires upon the Marine ship, sending the passengers and crew into chaos. The orange haired girl is then shown without worry, and a smirk on her face, standing against a wall as the passengers run by her.

Aboard the pirate ship, the captain, Alvida is shown pestering a small pink-haired boy by the name of Coby. The pirate ship then fires once again, destroying the mast of the Marine ship.

The barrel from the beginning of the episode is seen rolling done a flight of stairs, and the orange-haired girl is seen sneaking around the ship. At this time, the pirates, swords in hand, begin to board the Marine vessel, with Alvida and Coby following behind.

As the pirates gain hostages, the orange-haired girl removes her dress to reveal pirates clothing, and she board the pirate ship from the Marine ship. A crew member still remaining on the ship does not recognize, and is then subdued by her via a kick in the groin.

Coby is then shown moving the wooden barrel on the Marine ship, believing it to be a barrel of wine. A group of the pirates then walks in, and decides to drink the wine. As a large pirate is preparing to open it with a punch, a small boy in a red shirt, a straw hat, with a scar under his eye bursts out, knocking the large pirate out, shouting “What a great nap!”. The straw hat boy, oblivious to the situation, ignores the threats of the pirates and begins looking for food. The pirates swing their cutlasses at him, but the blades a broken in a flash. The pirates cower in fear as the boy announces himself as Monkey D. Luffy. The pirates then flee in fear.

From Luffy’s testimony it appears his ship was sucked up by the whirl-pool. Coby tells of how he wound up on Alvida’s pirate ship two years prior, believing it to be a fishing boat.

The pirates are then show plundering the Marine vessel for treasure, as the orange-haired girl takes the treasure from the pirate ship.

Part B

The scene cuts back to Luffy and Coby talking below deck, and Coby inquires as to what Luffy was doing in the barrel. In a non sequitor, Luffy announces that he is going to be Pirate King, leaving Coby stunned. Coby calls the dream impossible, but Luffy says that if he wants to do it, he will. Coby then states that he would like to become a marine, and catch pirates like Alvida. At that moment, Alvida comes crashing through the deck with a large, spiked club. She looks at Luffy and says that he is not the “pirate hunter, Zoro”. Luffy insults her weight, prompting her to attack with her club, but Luffy dodges, grabs Coby, and jumps to the deck. There, Luffy confronts Alvida’s crew, who begins chasing him around the ship. As they chase him, Luffy grabs the base of the mast, and his arm stretches out, leaving Alvida’s crew awestruck. Luffy then stops running and sling shots himself back at the pirates, knocking them all to the ground with tremendous force. Coby is confused as to what had just occurred, and Luffy announces that he is a rubber man. Alvida stands behind Coby, and states that Luffy has eaten the “Devil’s Fruit”, particularly the Gum Gum fruit, “Gum Gum” being short for the Japanese word “Gomu”, meaning rubber. Coby then insults Alvida, taking a lesson from Luffy, for which Alvida swings her massive club at him. Luffy then gets in the way, taking the blow with his head. Luffy smiles, throws his fist backwards such that it extends several hundred feet, and snaps it forward, delivering a punch to Alvida’s stomach, sending her flying off the ship. At that moment, several Marine warships fire upon the pirates.

Luffy and Coby jump into a boat, and plummet toward the see below. Next to them is the orange-haired girl with the pirates’ treasure. She and Luffy make eye contact, and the scene ends.

Luffy and Coby are next seen sailing in the small boat on open sea. Luffy asks Coby who the forementioned “pirate hunter Zoro” is, and Coby responds that he is a terrifying beast, but was caught by the Marines. Luffy then says he will make Zoro a part of a crew, if he is a good person.

Closing

The focus then snaps to a man wearing a green bandana who has been tied to a cross and left in a court yard for a long period of time. He looks up with a maddening look in his eyes.

The first ending theme, “Memories” by Maki Otsuki, then plays and the episode ends.

Character Introductions

• Alvida
• Coby
• Monkey D. Luffy

Links