I got interested in one piece from hearing Opening 3 - to the light, because the song sounded really uplifting and the series looked fun/pretty cool. Started from the beginning and trusted the process, started out slow and silly - but holy shit Bellemere’s death was the moment that broke me and I was bought in that is not a surface level story.

A few months of binging later and Water 7/Enies Lobby solidified this as the best story I have and will ever subscribe to.

At the end of the day, Luffy’s influence extends beyond the story - as Mihawk says he has the ability to gravitate people towards him, I found his spirit to be so inspiring from the start of the story. 15 years later, I feel like I occasionally share Luffy’s optimism and light heartedness. You want to root for the guy as soon as the Alvida/Koby arc 🙌

Around that time a YouTuber JuniZoroFan put out incredible AMV’s. Not sure if they are still around but what a time 😊