Progress Review: One By One

I won't make a comment about One Piece here. As for Steven Universe, I do like it and enjoy it. Still pretty flawed writing and animation-wise. I don't mind the subversions and LGBT material, given how much the latter is necessary. The writing was not great, just good. Like I wouldn't put in the level of okay or mediocre. I would never put in the level of GF or OTGW. Yeah, those two series spoiled me about the writing level in western animation side of things. While lots of stuff fighting about in anime and manga, western animation sticks out like a sore thumb when it comes to writing.

One by One: The Strawhats' journey reimagined as Gems with all the known problems of Homeworld and lots of worldbuilding.

wearethepirategems

Note that it's the journey the Strawhats are taking reimagined. For example, in canon, Sanji was in the Arlong arc. However, he's not present in this fic's reimagining of the Arlong arc. Instead, Nami actively participated in the battle.

Now the Strawhats are Gems now. Some of them were appropriate (Luffy - Diamond, Nami - Goldstone), even characters who had yet to make a full appearance and contact with the Strawhats (Smoker - Smoky Quartz). Now, do you remember how literally every Strawhat has a personal death? Not here. Technically, this version of Luffy lost GARP instead. I mean Homeworld is already shattering lower gems without a thought.

For the record, the worldbuilding here is fantastic. To be honest, I want to know more about Gems than the alternate Earth we got. Sometimes the slice of life factor got boring to me. A good slice of life like Barakamon is good about making it look like reality while keeping it fictional. Like daily life tended to be boring as hell.

Kuina was reimagined as a legend inspiring Zoro. That was an awesome retelling!

The fic also made Rose Quartz the equivalent of Gol D. Roger, therefore, Steven was Ace!

Just be thankful that Steven won't die on this one. Because Luffy never met Steven.

I think this fic bestowed to the theory Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond to some degree. Like she's not Pink Diamond, just Pink Diamond the Lesser. Luffy is White Diamond the Lesser. Rose Quartz's skillset stuck out to me a lot because I seriously don't think she's a Quartz in any way. I thought she was a Diamond...just not Pink Diamond actually.

Homeworld acts as the World Government. Seriously, all of the Strawhats hate the Homeworld here, especially Nami. They are slowing but surely moving away from the stereotypes they were designed to do.

I wonder how the Crystal Gems and those on Earth reflect on these space pirates.

All of these guys have dreams that do not fit their gem. Sanji, a jet (a spy type), was a cook first and foremost. Luffy's dream was to be free and have no desire to rule over anyone, being the laissez-faire captain he always was.

If anything else, these guys would shake the Homeworld's strict caste system to its core.

Zoro was a Bloodstone, a typical cheap soldier. This guy aimed to be the universe' greatest swordsman. His infamy will grow and you know it (Zoro was one of the Worst Generation/11 Supernovas after all). Zoro's infamy as a swordsman and his desire to be the universe's strongest will undermine Homeworld's carefully crafted caste, about how the lesser caste being disposable and interchangeable. Zoro, a fucking cheap soldier, is regarded infamously as a deadly swordsman who is slowly but surely standing toe to toe with the swordsmen of the universe.

Luffy may be a Diamond but he never actually ordered anyone around unless it's necessary. Think Zoro pointing out he cannot be too benevolent to Usopp's return to the crew; he must put his foot down until Usopp apologized instead of groveling. His fellow Strawhats followed him, not because he's a Diamond, because it's their choice. He may insist they join them yet he will only select them. They are pretty self-sufficient and did not need him to run things. All Luffy wanted, just like Rose Diamond, is to be free. This was Luffy's primary motivation to become Pirate King.

The Funimation dub better reached Punk Hazard or the first half of Dressrosa at this rate. The small voyages did little to help because it doesn't satisfy people much. Release Collections than Voyages, please. You'll catch up to the anime which is WCI right now, the climatic wedding. The manga is at the start of the Reverie arc right now. The episodes are at your disposal. Just dub them, please. Matthew Mercer, you are going to be there a lot more due to Law's presence for three arcs in the New World era so far.

Listen, I get the criticism against the animation in the New World era. Anime or at least the television ones were cheaply produced. Look no further than Pokeani itself or even Digimon. Like I get adaptation issues but I think animation is the least of the problems. It's not like a One Piece movie where it has access to loads of money. Just look at how fluid the fights were in the movie in comparison to recent anime episodes.