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It's said to be the greatest manga, all the elements you love in a series is all in the greatest treasure in the world, One Piece, left by a legendary pirate mangaka named Eiichiro Oda. Ever since 1997, the new era of manga began, competing to take the number one spot of Shonen Jump, so far, none has yet to step a foot in it's path.

Once I did, I asked myself why didn't I pick the series up earlier. I truly feel that this is the best Shonen series ever made if we were to review it objectively.

Anyway, to the actual review:

One Piece initially feels very constantly slow-medium paced which feels just right because it's mostly an adventure manga, you NEED that many chapters to finish a story and write a main character's journey. Also, Oda does an awesome job of offering the massive world which a lot of series doesnt have that feel. The external environment has more development than character wise which also makes OP so much different from other shonens out there. One huge advantage One Piece has over every mangas out there is that the crew simply expands and expands as they travel to new unexplored lands and beyond the endless expanding universe. It really has an element of adventure, excitement and romance(to adventure) to it. It is very straightforward to see where arcs begin and end, because they go from island to island, yet it's completely unexpected. Wheras in something like Naruto, you don't get the sense of that also, also the main character(Luffy) wants to explore the WHOLE WORLD, not just a city or a town and it is needed because adventure is the biggest theme. One Piece is an adventure manga, that being said, something simple as exploring new place after places but they reach a segment and events change, flipped around and find something completely unexpected. Oda does a great job of keeping the audience interested. As we all know that the Strawhats will visit next island, like someone living their everyday life, adding age one after another. That is the basic gist that we will only know. It's completely unpredictable. Obviously you know what you want to do with your life and such but you wouldn't know every events leading up to that. It's simply a broad general idea of it.

Story-wise, it's always filled with surprises. You can never predict what Oda has in store for you. This author/artist/pirate/god himself manages to incorporates various themes into some of the places in One Piece with preferences we are familiar with. For example, one of the city reminds you of Venice, Italy. Another reminds you of an Ancient civilization such as Mayans and Aztecs. There are some very powerful moments in One Piece that WILL break your heart. Even the humor is great, better than some of the American Cartoons itself which emphasizes on comedy. So far, One Piece has never disappointed me. I'm glad I gave this series a chance.

Characters are top-notch. No characters have been side-lined and left in the grave to rot like many other typical Shonen series does. There are too many lovable characters to talk about here but in every series, the main character is the most important so here we go!
Monkey D. Luffy, a young man destined for great things. He never asked to not have a mother, he never asked to be born into a world which forces him to protect others from evil and corruption, and he never asked for any of his loved ones to be hurt. Luffy is humorous, innocent, strong-willed, brave, and most of all, life-loving. His persona rubs off on others, his ability to create joy and peace is astounding. His character's even developed so far as to make his readers weep alongside when he's emotionally broken. They are confused, rendered helpless when he feels helpless. When Kuma separated Luffy's crew, no reactions would be exaggerated. Luffy lost everything he loved, and it happened right in front of him. Luffy is a character that does not treats his nakamas as if they are utterly pathetic and helpless by saying he will protect them, no he is not... He is a man that leads by actions. This is the man that encourages his friends to get stronger for themselves and to protect their captain. Not just friends inspires, he inspires enemies to get stronger as well... That is because Luffy cannot go on a boring adventure become the Pirate King.

The art isn't really something to bash about. It's very unique compared to most generic well-drawn anime that is can be topped by even better detailed art. The art is simply perfect for a series like One Piece, I wouldn't have it drawn any other way. One Piece lacks bi-shonen characters and rather opts for the wild and crazy character designs, the uniqueness and originality is top notch. Me personally, the wackier the better and having every characters look like they hopped out of Final Fantasy. The background very important in any manga and people usually overlooks this, they would rather read a series that is plagued with white backgrounds in panels over generically drawn characters. Oda's world is massive, colorful and very imaginative. Sometimes I think he goes way over-the-top but it really suits the nature of the series.

Being a medieval-style lover, I started looking for a manga with this type of setting ever since I was introduced to manga and anime. Many people suggested Berserk and praised it as a masterpiece. It wasn't long before I saw why.

First of all, it's one of the few manga, if not the only one, where the secondary characters' past, relationships and stories are introduced to you in a way that the plot won't get sidetracked and the focus of the story will still be on the main characters. This adds to the drama and makes the cast more interesting and realistic. And we are talking about a ton of information, but it won't tire you one bit. To be honest, I have never before seen an anime or manga achieving such detail with so little effort and protects the readers from boredom.

The main characters are Guts and Griffith. One is the direct opposite of the other, both in philosophy and style. They start of as good friends that trust each other and develop a strong bond. But in the end, one will betray and another will be betrayed. Besides the "good guys", the villains are not your typical run-of-the-mill bad guy that wants to destroy the world etc etc. Each and any one of them has his own motive and his own story to tell. They are something more than just figures that serve to stop the protagonists' way and eventually, get destroyed by them.

The story walks the border between complicated but easy to understand and chaotic. However, it never slips to either side. The characters might sidetrack from their original goal a couple of times in every arc, but you will never forget what they wanted to do. Berserk's magic will definitely capture you, as you will find yourself enraged and angry in several parts of the story. Also, you will have the impression that Guts and Griffith are locked in a struggle between morality, following your dreams and duty many times as the story progresses.

When it comes to the art, one word would not be enough to describe it. The battle scenes are fluent, realistic, full of energy and it's easy to understand what is happening during a duel. Castle sieges, battlefields they are all depicted with hundreds of soldiers in few frames, but they never become too chaotic for you to understand. A notable element is the expressions in the characters' faces. You will always know a character's emotions by looking at him and even if you have doubts about someone's motives, a look on his face will confirm or not your suspicions.

Keep in mind though, that Berserk is not your average warrior-style manga. Gore is in very high levels while violence is something common. Add sex, rape, and nudity and you got a mature manga. However, isn't that how medieval times where in the first place? There's no need to glorify these things, but there's also no need to create illusions that knights in shining armor were kind, good and rescued damsels in distress out of duty. And Berserk definitely achieves that.

To date, Berserk remains my favorite medieval manga. And I am certain that no other manga any time soon will manage to surpass it. I strongly reccomend it and be certain that you will enjoy it thoroughly.