It was in 2004, after finishing the performance of 《Magic Flute》with Taipei Philharmonic Chorus, my father took my elder brother and me to a small bistro next to Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall.
The animation broadcasting on the TV was a reindeer crying his eyes out under the sakura trees in the snowy winter,
-That was my first time watching 《One Piece》.
At that time, I didn’t know that this reindeer, who always hid in the wrong direction was called “Chopper”.
However, after I fell into the evil trap of the world of manga and animation, my brother and I would turn on the TV at 18:30 on Sunday every week. We would stop doing anything just to wait for that famous line of Gol D. Roger:
“My treasure is yours for the taking. But you’ll have to find it first. I left everything I own… In One Piece!”
Counting the days years after years, this animation also comes to its 20th anniversary.
Planning and communicating with Toei Animation throughout a year, this exhibition brought us back to the very beginning of which Shanks gave his straw hat to Luffy.
Watching the flashbacks of the, we could hear, watch and experience the moment when Luffy met his partners of Straw Hat Pirates.
We are the Taiwanese who enjoy taking photos everywhere and every time. There was an exclusive app to download, allowed us to participate in the turning point of every member in the group with an AR camera effect.
I also enjoy watching the manuscripts of the designing progress from the production team.
Maybe it’s because I love to illustrate during my leisure time.
I’m always amazed by how detailed and the amount of the manuscripts for each chapter. It was especially interesting to learn that the animators needed to create 2 different manuscripts to present how Luffy carries a bag of meat and add a lion-man on his back.
Continue to the second part of the exhibition, the exhibits carried on to the latest storyline: Zou and Whole Cake Island Arc. When I saw the family members of Sanji and Luffy fighting with Big Mom, it suddenly reminded me… Time flies, I haven’t borrow One Piece comics to watch for a Long time since I went to London to study.
（Creative food photo from：Official photo of the exhibition）
I believe that for most of the people who watch and read One Piece, one of their biggest imaginations is to eat those colourful Devil Fruits.
Next to the exit of the exhibition, besides the photo booths, there was also a busy food stand. They had the creative chefs to recreate those unrealistic cuisines from the comic!
To people like me, who have been watching One Piece for a long time, it’s not just a series of manga anymore; instead, it’s our childhood.
The journey of the Straw Hat Pirates is yet from finished, and my summer vacation has just begun!
