[00:02] beautiful, has cute outfits, has black hair, which means I don't have to wear a wig. She's pretty much the exact character that I love cos playing. And Piece cosplay group at a convention. There was just one problem. I've never
[00:18] There was just one problem. I've never watched One Piece.
[00:30] channel and to another video. Now, before you get your pitchforks out, before you start typing those angry comments, I know Nico Robin. I know that she's one of the most beloved characters in not just One Piece, but in the anime
[00:45] world in general. I know she joins the Straw Hats, but beyond that, I know nothing. As someone who makes anime content, specifically Demon Slayer content, and cosplays a lot of characters, it did feel wrong for me to
[01:01] show up and cosplay this character and and not know who she is really, just have very basic knowledge on her and cosplay her because she's cute and and they want to do it." I have been a certified One Piece stubborn, I will not
[01:16] watch it for a long time because I am a Demon Slayer content creator. I get a lot of annoying One Piece fans in my comments telling me my show is mid, telling me that I'm stupid for not watching One Piece, telling me that I'm
[01:29] because of that, I have been very stubborn in the past. I have gone into arguments with certain friends about not watching One Piece because I said, "Nope, I am standing on my principle and I am not watching One Piece." But
[01:43] something this year shifted in me. I don't know if it was just an adjustment in perspective. I don't know if it was less people were being annoying in my comments. Maybe it was that I watched Naruto and I really enjoyed it. But, it
[01:59] felt almost wrong that I didn't have One Piece on my watch list. So, I decided to fix it. And I gave myself 1 month to get through the first 100 episodes of One
[02:11] Piece so that I could cosplay Nico Robin and at least have a little bit more knowledge about her. No skipping, no summaries, no Wikipedia deep dives, just me, a 1,200 episode anime, and a dream. Starting One Piece is honestly
[02:27] terrifying. Every One Piece fan says the exact same thing. It's only a thousand episodes. Or, the one I got a lot was, it's only one season. To put it into perspective for how long this show has been on the air, it
[02:41] started in 1999. I was not even 3 years old yet when this anime started. I am not a child still, I'm not a teenager. I turn 30 in a few
[02:53] months, and this show is still running. That's how long this show is. I hope that offers you a perspective of why it's so terrifying to start an anime like this. But, every time someone would comment and say, "You should watch One
[03:07] Piece." they would say something like it was just a casual weekend commitment. episodes this weekend. You'll get hooked." A couple hundred episodes? Every time someone recommends One Piece to me, it feels like a shift in
[03:21] literally change my lifestyle. They're not just recommending an anime, they're recommending a life change. But, despite all of that, I became determined. Not necessarily because of how many people were telling me to watch it, random
[03:36] comments of people saying that I wasn't a real anime fan until I watched it, but a real anime fan until I watched it, but truly because of two things. One, my watch it, and they wanted to talk to me about it. And two, because Robin is just
[03:51] such a cool character design. I knew I wanted to cosplay her. So, I started at episode 1 and I immediately learned two things. One, Luffy is as chaotic and crazy as everyone told me he would be.
[04:04] And two, One Piece was way better than I was expecting. Okay, okay, I know, I know, everyone is telling me it's amazing, it's amazing, but I also had a lot of people telling me that you just had to get through the first 300
[04:18] episodes before it gets good. 300 episodes. That, to me, tells me I'm not ever going to get through those first 300 episodes if it's not good until 300 episodes if it's not good until then. But, I was pleasantly surprised by
[04:32] the first 100 episodes. For years, One Piece had this image in my head of being this super long, drawn-out anime with really bad pacing, a lot of people that
[04:44] it's their entire personality, and a shonen that's just full of endless battles, and hopefully good character development since it's so long. But, instead what I got was a stretchy pirate who is fiercely loyal, a samurai with
[04:58] some baggage, and some of the most heartfelt scenes I have seen in an anime right off the bat. Only 100 episodes in, I feel like I am a part of a crew of
[05:11] friends who are just going on adventures and fighting evil guys wherever they go. But, for me, there was one specific moment where I realized One Piece was going to mess me up. And that was the Arlong Park arc. Going into watching the
[05:28] show, I knew Nami existed. I knew she was a great character, but I'm not going to lie, I felt like I just heard a lot more about Nico Robin. I heard a lot more about Nico Robin being so cool, so beautiful, so wonderful, and Nami was
[05:45] kind of flying under the radar for me. So, imagine my surprise when I get to the Arlong Park arc and I sob over her at least three times. I think I might have teared up a fourth. Her backstory,
[05:59] the trauma that she's been through, the way she asked Luffy for help after trying to put on a brave face for so long, I think I get it now. I think I understand. Nami didn't need 1,200 episodes to develop. She only needed
[06:13] about 50. And by the time the Arlong Park was over and she was a true member that way. I said, "I'm now a [music] part of the team, too." Well, I feel like I'm just getting started because I am. It is kind of crazy to think that I
[06:28] am 100 episodes into a show and we are just in the second arc. We're we're really still developing, I believe, the story and the characters and there's so much more to come. But, a lot happened in this first 100 episodes to get me
[06:41] very interested in the characters and the story. And honestly, Arlong Park really was the catalyst to get me going, "All right, [music] I think I understand." So, I got hooked. But, now I faced a new problem. Robin was nowhere
[06:56] to be seen. I actually started this challenge mainly so that I could cosplay Robin. And yet, I was spending dozens upon dozens of episodes and not seeing her at all. I was meeting characters after character after character and I
[07:13] began asking myself and my friends the question, "Where is Robin? Is she here yet?" And the answer was, "Nope, you got to wait a little bit longer." At one point, I was genuinely starting to feel like Robin was a myth that was a fool
[07:27] just gaslighting the entire world into thinking that Robin was a character in One Piece and she actually wasn't. And then, I hit the arc I am still in, then, I hit the arc I am still in, Alabasta. This arc is huge. This arc is
[07:40] 85 episodes and I am only halfway through. We're already in the Grand Line. We've already established that the things that happened in the Grand Line are kind of crazy. We have a bounty on Luffy's head. We have the Navy after
[07:53] him. We have multiple islands that think he's the savior that saved them. But, we still don't have Nico Robin. And by this point, I have finished enough episodes to cover the entirety of Demon Slayer. But, I didn't want to cosplay her
[08:08] without ever seeing her in the anime. But then, it happened. Robin appeared, and [music] it was completely different than I expected. Robin has a presence that's different [music] from everyone else in the Straw Hats. And as of right
[08:23] else in the Straw Hats. And as of right now, she is absolutely not a Straw Hat. She seems to be one of the biggest villains of the show so far, which gets me excited knowing that she is going to become a part of the crew, but not
[08:36] presence was immediately calm, and intelligent, and somewhat terrifying because you can't figure out if she is actually wanting to let them go or has some ulterior motive and is planning
[08:50] something big. And the funniest part is, after [music] over 60 episodes to get there, I found myself just wanting to know more. And I kept watching, and I kept watching, and I kept watching, and I didn't get to see her a lot, but I got
[09:06] I didn't get to see her a lot, but I got to see enough to finally get the cosplay. And the journey to getting the cosplay was tough because it got here >> [laughter] >> Luckily, I was able to return it and
[09:18] exchange [music] it for a larger one, and the day finally came. I got to and the day finally came. I got to episode 100 the night before it was time Robin. After 100 episodes, after dedicating all of my free time, after an
[09:32] unhealthy amount of pirate-related content, here she is. [music] I finally cosplayed Nico Robin. And you know what? I have immediately fallen in love and
[09:44] I'm cosplaying her at Anime Expo. One of my most favorite [music] experiences at this convention was actually meeting some really cool One Piece fans. Over the past 6 years, I've had this perception of One Piece fans.
[09:59] >> They are overly obsessed to the point of anytime someone posts about any other show than anime, they have to comment and say One Piece is better. And deep down, I knew that not every One Piece fan was like that. [music] In fact, it
[10:13] was more likely that was the loud minority. But because of my minimal experience with the show, I didn't have anything else to go off of. All I knew were the ones who were incredibly rude to me. But I decided to take a chance. I
[10:27] decided to go for it. It still is very daunting. I've made barely a dent even though I've dedicated so much time to it already this month. And I learned that the other side is full of people who love the journey and are really kind and
[10:43] good people [music] and just love the show that they love. Now, I'm happy to report that I'm going to keep going. I don't think I ever felt like I wasn't going to. Yes, I had this immediate goal of hitting 100 episodes
[10:57] in the first month of watching so that I felt like I wasn't an impostor while cosplaying her, but I didn't honestly fully know exactly what I was going to do after. What if I didn't like it? What if it just wasn't good enough for me?
[11:09] What if I was barely wanting to watch it and it felt like a chore? And I'll be honest, there were a couple times where it did. There were a couple days where I didn't really want to turn it on because I was in a particularly long stretch of
[11:22] interesting pacing. But I stuck with it and I feel like it's only going to get better from here. So, was watching 100 episodes of One Piece in 1 month worth it? Absolutely. Did I become a One Piece fan? Yes, because now I do understand
[11:37] to watch the show in the first place. [music] The characters are fiercely are being developed [music] together. They're growing together and they're adventuring together. They're quite literally a band of misfits, but I
[11:53] already love them dearly. So, if you're a One Piece fan, congratulations. You've won. I get it now. Demon Slayer is still my favorite anime, but I well-loved. And if you're someone who's been putting it off because it's so
[12:07] long, I'm going to honestly say something. I think you should go for it, for everyone and I think that's important to note is that not every anime is for everyone, but I do think that after spending a month with the
[12:20] series, I have a new perspective and you should watch it. And now for my next challenge, which One Piece character will I cosplay next? Take your guesses in the comments below. They'll probably be making an appearance later this year.
[12:33] today's video. If you liked it, don't forget to like this video, subscribe to thoughts. Are you excited to learn more about my One Piece journey? If you are wanting to get more updates on my One Piece journey, let me know in the
[12:46] comments how you'd like me to do it. I could do a check-in every 100 episodes or something like that. I'm not going to do reactions. I'm already 100 episodes in. It's not going to happen. But if you are interested in more weekly updates
[12:59] make sure you follow my Instagram. I'm going to be posting more One Piece cosplay photos there and a lot more updates on my journey. So, again, thank I hope you all enjoyed and I will see you all next time. Mata ne.