Romance Dawn

 image from: https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&ei=VcR9XM_xKonYjwT13K7ABw&q=romance+dawn+manga&oq=romance+dawn+manga&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0j0i22i30l9.2796896.2799198..2799413…0.0..0.145.1768.13j5……0….1..gws-wiz…….0i131j0i67j0i20i263.yOf-X6cA-UY

Long URL is long…  I do not own this one shot, nor have I read it before.  I’m going to try to read more new things, so I thought this would be a good start to that adventure!  I read this from a website, so this may or may not be a fan translation.

I am going to be doing shorthand as I read.  These descriptions are really more of a reminder to myself about what all I have been able to read so far.  Sorry if this bothers anyone!  I will do a full description on the final review page of each series I read.

Every post past this point will be a spoiler, so please read ahead with caution!

Review time!

Plot: 1/2 star. This manga does almost develop a plot. Luffy says he wants to become a peace main pirate, and the final page implies that he’s a ship captain who we can infer is a peace main pirate, but it is not expressly stated. I know that feels like a cop out, but this one shot feels like beginning of story (which it kinda’ is) instead of being the full story. It’s a teaser, and it’s one I like a lot, but that does not give it full marks. I stand by my half star.
However, there are sub-plots such as the village not wanting to give up their possessions and Shiruku wanting to fight. … Except she fought Luffy and not the pirates. And the village didn’t want to give up their possessions, but they still did. They also only fought Luffy, after saying that they weren’t going to fight. And the Crescent Moon Gyari wanted to raid the town and leave richer, and that certainly didn’t happen. So yeah, no; I’m sticking with 1/2 star plot. It had a lot of story, but that’s not the same as a full plot.

Art: 1 star. I think I may be a sucker for Oda’s art style. I know I should be impartial, but the style is so iconic and carries so many memories that I can’t not love it. To be fair though, the art is extremely expressive. The backgrounds are great. The use of shading and detail is wonderful, and I always know exactly what is going on. It’s a very unique style that carries its message well. I stand by my 1 star.

Story Progression: 1 star. Even though this is just one chapter, I am engaged the entire time. The story flows well even if it doesn’t complete the story’s plot. It has a lot of sub-plots that -though they aren’t accomplished- do manage to create an enjoyable story. I enjoyed every page.

Genre: 1/2 star. For some reason Google put the genres as “manga” and “adventure fiction”. Manga is not a genre; it’s a medium. Adventure fiction is dead-on, what with Luffy’s rubber powers, the Illusion Tree, and the terrifying sea monster. However, I think “comedy” needs to be added. There are a lot of comedic moments that may not be plot or story relevant, but they are big components to why I enjoyed reading this so much. Maybe Google just made a mistake, but with the mislabeling and the missing genre, I can only give half a star.

Enjoyment: 1 star. I greatly enjoyed this manga. It’s a short dose of (almost) One Piece. In fact, I think this would be a great introductory piece for someone who has never read One Piece. If you enjoy this, then you will probably enjoy that. As its own side story, I thought it was great. It has adventure and comedy in a well packaged short story. Not all one shots are this well put together.

I’m sorry I can’t give this a higher score, but I really did enjoy this manga! I can only unofficially recommend it. I will not be adding it to my “Recommended Manga!” page.

If you would like to read my full review, then please click here.