This week, we’ll take a look at how one of the longest running series handles openings. Grab your letter of marque and set sail for One Piece!

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One Piece is a fantastic series. Some people will disagree, but I’m a big fan of it. One of the more interesting parts about One Piece is how 4Kids destroyed it. I’m always amazed at how bad this rap is compared to the music that was there before. What amazes me even more is that there’s a beta version of We Are that 4Kids had at one point that they could have used. The original first Japanese opening is all about friendship and camaraderie, and then they give us a generic rap.

Most of the One Piece openings I see now that I’m farther in have quite a bit of spoilers in them, like what crew members have joined before you get to that episode. The 4Kids rap is no exception, showing off people like Sanji and Chopper. The big difference between 4Kids and the original is 4Kids uses recycled animation from the series episodes instead of just using the footage from the original source material. It is One Piece, so it’s good, but it feels tainted somehow.

Now for the big thing people gripe about, myself included. What the heck is with this rap? I can only imagine that somewhere in a board meeting, someone said, “Y’know what kids like today? Kids like rap. Let’s throw away the song about friendship and use a rap instead.” One of the things I find funniest is that when they added new crew members, the just lazily added a line about them into the song. This version here is the latest one, so it includes Usopp, Sanji and Chopper. They don’t really bother to give them more than even a word or two. It’s just bad, and 4Kids should feel bad for doing it.

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QUESTION TIME! I could rant about 4Kids One Piece all day long, but what’s your biggest issue with it, if any?

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4Kids One Piece is all gone, but you can check out a ton of One Piece that’s actually good right here!