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=09= = ONE PIECE  = = =

= = = = = = =Hello, everyone.= = = =My cool Japan is ONE PIECE. Look at the picture below. He is Monkey D. Luffy, the main character. He and many people in the world dream becoming the king of the pirates. On his way, eight joined him. All of them have various personalities, for example, there are a reindeer or a skeleton human. Luffy also surprises people around him because his body is made of rubber by having eaten the fruit of devils in a sea. After a while, he begins to be called, “Straw Hat Luffy.”= = = =The story which they make has entertained people all over the world. ONE PIECE is the most popular Japanese comic, but it is not as popular as NARUTO or BLEACH in other countries because they take in other Japanese cultures, ninja and so on. Certainly, they are very popular not only in other countries but also in Japan, but I think ONE PIECE is as good as they because the story is full of scenes made by various people there and they strongly impress us. I was impressed with the scene of separation with the ship which Luffy and his friends own, Going Merry most of them. Going Merry is the first ship which he rode with his friends and had overcome stormy seas or enemy attacks with them for a long time, but it has weakened little by little. At last, it became a ship which couldn’t go to the sea and they committed it to the waves. That happened then. Merry clearly said, “Thank you.” Most of them cried, the others behaved firm, and they also said to Merry, “Thank you.” That scene left my heart a mixed feeling which I had rarely felt.= = = =Americans and Europeans have prejudices which ONE PIECE is a routine comic because it’s one of comics about pirates. They are interested in not western cultures but oriental cultures. I’d like them to find the story very interesting and share the impression with us!= = = = =