投稿類別：英文寫作類

篇名： 我要成為「海賊王」 Popularity of : From a Teenager’s Perspective

邱嬿如。國立員林家商。外二甲班 黃于庭。國立員林家商。外二甲班 蕭秀蓉。國立員林家商。外二甲班

指導老師： 黃襦慧老師

Popularity of One Piece: From a Teenager’s Perspective

I. Introduction

According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, the meaning of cartoon is a short film made by photographing a series of drawings. Among cartoons, One Piece has become very popular for a long time. It is familiar to teenagers in Taiwan because of its animation and comic books. Even those who have not watched it have heard of it. Take 7-ELEVEn for example. They issue a kind of multifunctional card. It is not only a value stored card but also an Easycard as a bus pass. One Piece is their theme. Because it is a limited edition, they are sold out over at a speed of seckill. We can definitely know the charm of One Piece is far and wide, here and there. Although we can see many kinds of comics or animation-related products everywhere, many teenagers like One Piece very much. Because there are many people interested in One Piece, we would like to know what makes One Piece interesting. We want to work on this topic resulting from we are big fans of One Piece. We can do a paper happily on our favorite topic. Therefore, we first introduce One Piece in detail and next investigate why One Piece is appealing and its influence on teenagers.

II. Thesis

1. summary of One Piece

The story begins with a boy, Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy is saved by a pirate, Shanks, when Luffy is young. Since then, Luffy has adored Jack. He regards Jack as a hero. After Luffy grows up, he follows his childhood hero to become a pirate and goes on a journey to find the One Piece.

Along the way, he organizes a pirate group and leads this crew named Straw Hats. The group consists of a swordsman, Roronoa Zoro; the navigator, Nami is a thief; Sanji is a chef. They get together. On the one hand, they try to make their dreams come true and on the other hand, they help Luffy become the king of pirates. But the way to be the king of pirates is a long journey for Luffy. On the way to his dream, he meets a lot of people and has eight partners. Although Luffy and his partners have met a variety of dangerous and competitive battles, they improve their ability. Because of these battles, they also develop a strong bond of friendship.

2. the analysis of the main characters

2-1. Monkey D. Luffy

1 Popularity of One Piece: From a Teenager’s Perspective

He is the lead role in One Piece who wants to be a pirate when he is a child. He not only is brave but also has mysterious power. When he is seventeen, he leaves his hometown to be a pirate. He finds several partners and owns a pirate ship. Luffy always is optimistic and enthusiastic like a child. Meanwhile, he respects his partners and straw hats. Luffy can get along with people easily due to his friendliness and kind personality. If something happens to his partners and food, he be devoted to them. Luffy always says he wants to be the king of pirates.

2-2. Roronoa Zoro

He is Luffy’s first partner. Although he is very easy to lose his way, he always thinks those who lose their way are his partners. And he even loses his way though someone has pointed the direction for him. Zoro is good at fencing with three swords, because he has learned the skill since childhood. And the reason why Zoro wants to be the best swordsman is a girl who dies young and is also good at fencing. And she always defeats Zoro whenever they have contests. Therefore, Zoro regards her as his opponent.

2-3. Nami

Nami is Luffy’s first female member. She is good at drawing sea charts and likes to draw them very much. Her dream is to draw a sea chart of the world by herself. So she goes on Luffy’s ship to realize her dream. Nami is an outgoing, energetic, beautiful, and smart girl. But she has a miserable life before she meets Luffy. In order to save her hometown from a group of bad pirates, she tries hard to steal and earns ten billion. Luffy helps her to get out of such a miserable life. So, Nami agrees to be Luffy’s partner and serves a navigator. Now Nami has a bright and pleasant life every day. What matters for her is orange trees, money and her unique partners.

2-4. Sanji

Sanji is a cook who has a great art of cuisine. He is brought up by an ex-pirate who opens a restaurant on the sea. So, Sanji has helped in the restaurant and learned how to cook since he was a child. Sanji’s dream is to find the legendary ocean, called “All Blue,” in which people do not believe. Therefore, he accepts Luffy’s invitation to be a cook on Luffy’s ship.

2 Popularity of One Piece: From a Teenager’s Perspective

Sanji not only can cook a variety of delicious foods but also has a great attack skill. He can use his legs to attack opponents. Whenever he attacks, he always says a lot of names of different meats. Besides, Sanji has a deadly shortcoming. That is he never would attack the female, even if the army are fatal women.

3. a survey on teenagers’ opinions on One Piece

One Piece has caused a great fervor and now it is continuously popular with teenagers. The whole world gradually springs up a tide of One Piece. There are a lot of comics books, movies and goods related to One Piece. As long as those products hit the market, a purchasing boom is bound to happen. Because One Piece is so popular, we want to understand what teenagers think of One Piece by delivering a questionnaire to the sophomores of Applied Foreign Language Department at National Yuan-lin Vocational High School of Home Economics and Business. In the following charts, the numbers stand for different responses. 1 = This statement is never or almost never true of me; I don’t think so at all. 2 = This statement is usually not true of me; I don’t think so. 3 = This statement is somewhat true of me; I cannot tell for sure. 4 = This statement is usually true of me; I think so. 5 = This statement is completely or almost completely true of me; I strongly think so.

Table 1. if teenagers are interested in the characters of One Piece

4 8

1 31 9 2 3 4 5

25

Most of teenagers like to watch One Piece, so One Piece is one of the most popular animations in Taiwan now. The characters of One Piece always catch teenagers’ eyes because each character has their special feature and their funny, cool thoughts and act.

Table 2. if the rich and interesting plot of One Piece appeals to teenagers

3 Popularity of One Piece: From a Teenager’s Perspective

7 9 1 29 2 3 11 4 5 21

According to the two figures above, the characters and plot also appeal to teenagers. The plot always lets teenagers feel excited and makes teenagers roar with laughter and can not guess what happens in the next moment. Besides, the sorrowful plots touch teenagers’ heart. Because of a variety of plots in One Piece, teenagers can not take their eyes off it.

Table 3. if the author of One Piece leads teenagers to watch

3 4 4 1 2 16 3 4 50 5

According to the chart above, most of the teenagers are familiar with One Piece and they have no idea of the author. Compared with the “characters” and the “rich and interesting plot” questions, the “author” question is never the very factor that attracts teenagers to watch One Piece. Most teenagers just care about what they are interested in or what catch their eyes. They pay the slightest attention to such a detail as who is the author

Table 4. if teenagers watch One Piece because their friends recommend

4 Popularity of One Piece: From a Teenager’s Perspective

7

10 26 1 2 3 4 14 5

20

The chart above shows that to some teenagers, One Piece is a great animation and they unreluctantly recommend it to their friends. The more people recommend, the more people know it. In brief, what makes teenagers watch One Piece is the characters and the “author” is the least reason.

Table 5. if teenagers can learn how to be a friend from Luffy and his partners

27 44 1 13 2 3 4 5 33 37

Some people might think that it is a waste of time to watch animations and that we can learn nothing from them. But most teenagers think One Piece can point out the importance of friendship from Luffy and his partners. Their friendship is strong and the most importance thing is they trust each other. Nowadays, people should learn a lesson that to believe is very important.

III. Conclusion

One Piece is an animation about an adventurous experience of a group of pirates and their strong friendship. Many people watch One Piece because of its cool characters. Its funny plot makes teenagers either cry sadly or laugh loudly. One Piece also points out the importance of friendship and teenagers might cherish more their current friendship. Surprisingly, One Piece inspires different kinds of people to exercise a variety of possibilities. For example, cosplayers dress themselves up as Luffy or Nami, businessmen promote related figurines and the circle of academia

5 Popularity of One Piece: From a Teenager’s Perspective explores the depth of its popularity. Therefore, we can realize that how popular and ageless One Piece is!

In short, it is amazing for One Piece brightens up our mood either we are upset or we are happy. A successful animation should lead the audience to experience ups and downs of their emotions, and One Piece lives up to this standard. That explains why One Piece is well recognized and why it can live so long and has so many fans!

IV. Reference

1. 台視《航海王》官方網站。(2010.11.26)， http://www.ttv.com.tw/drama/2005/cartoon/onepeace/05-photo.htm 2. 維基百科。(2010.12.22)，http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Piece 3. 朗文編輯部 (2009)。朗文當代高級辭典。台灣：朗文。

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