And now for something completely different. 

I didn't think I'd be writing something like this for years to come, but here it is...Netflix currently has the best show on television right now. 

If you're still a Netflix subscriber, then you probably saw a show offered to you at one point called "One Piece." You likely saw it trending number one for a while but didn't bother to click on it. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't. Netflix doesn't exactly have a great track record of dishing out great original programming and even shows that were previously established beforehand that Netflix gets their hands on eventually go to crap. 

R.I.P. "Arrested Development." 

"One Piece" is one such show. Following Netflix's desire to make live-action adaptations out of successful Japanese animes, they snagged the rights to "One Piece" and got to work on making a Netflix original series based on what is one of the longest-running and most successful animes that ever existed. 

I had no desire to watch the show myself as Netflix had proved to me in the past that it has no desire to respect the source material and will introduce modernized Western concepts into what are incredible stories made in Japan because...well, the American entertainment industry can't help itself. Leftist garbage just seemed to be part and parcel of anything made in America. 

This especially went for Netflix, which took one of my personal favorite animes and turned it into a mockery that was canceled just three weeks into its existence on the streaming network...and good riddance. 

(READ: We Need to Talk About the Live-Action 'Cowboy Bebop' Remake)

But it would appear that the Japanese learned a lesson about the Americanization of their work, or at the very least, "One Piece" creator Eiichiro Oda did. 

As Bounding Into Comics reported, Oda acted as a "guard dog" to ensure the adaptation was correct and proper in every way. The Netflix showrunner who was adapting the show seemed very enthusiastic about this, saying it would have been "insanity" not to include Oda in the decision-making. There was going to be respect for the source material, which is what fans wanted all along. 

I can't speak to the source material as I've never watched the "One Piece" anime, but if the anime is as good as the show, then I'll be starting that up soon. 

The show revolves around Monkey D. Luffy, a boy with big dreams of becoming king of the pirates in an ocean-based world where pirates are at the top of the food chain. Despite pirates having a bad reputation for being murderers and thieves, Luffy is of the opinion that not all pirates are bad and proves it with a gung-ho, friendly attitude and a penchant for doing the right thing. 

Along the way, he attracts the friendship and eventual loyalty of four people who become his crew. Roronoa Zoro is a man looking to become the best swordsman in the world. There's the female member of the group, Nami, a navigator with a mysterious and painful past. There's Usopp, a good-natured braggart and serial liar, and finally, Sanji, a master cook with an incredible talent for martial arts. 

When the show begins, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. It's a strange place where long-distance communication is done through football-sized snails. The post is delivered through albatross that wear postman hats and carry satchels across their chests. Humans share this world with fish-men and a variety of other animal-human hybrids. Technology is all over the place, as there seems to be an odd mix of modern and pirate-age tech.

It's a really strange world, but you quickly find that the world's strangeness makes up a great deal of its charm, and it gives a great backdrop to the story.

Nearly everyone is after a legendary treasure called the "One Piece," left behind by the previous Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, who set the events of the story in motion by telling the world about his treasure just before his execution at the hands of the Marines, this world's policing faction. Luffy's main drive is to find the One Piece and thus be crowned the new King of the Pirates. 

While Luffy's quest serves as his motivation, it hardly takes precedence over the story, which focuses more on the coming together of him and his crew and learning about the often tragic pasts that made them who they are. The discoveries of who these people are and the methods through which they bonded into a crew are as heartwarming as they are fun to watch.  

I mentioned earlier that this show doesn't have a forced injection of modernity, and this is part of what truly makes the show great. You're watching a hero's journey of not one but six people, and a few of these have (brace yourself) superb male role models. 

Men are not sneered at in this show. None of them are de-powered to make the female characters look better. No man is evil for the sake of being evil or sexist for the sake of being sexist. In fact, the show feels like the modern social justice infection into the entertainment industry was never around to begin with. Women are shown to be more than capable villains. In fact, the first villain you meet is a woman who could come straight out of the school of "Lizzo."

The male characters are treated with respect, and the older male characters are even venerated.

Without getting too deep into spoiler territory, Luffy is shown to have been mentored by a pirate named Shanks, who taught him how to be a good and selfless man. Sanji owes his life and talent to a pirate captain who made great sacrifices to keep him alive when all seemed hopeless. The character Koby, a meek boy with a brave heart, spends the show being mentored by the hard-as-nails but wise Marine Vice-admiral Garp. These male role models serve as the emotional backdrop for some of the main characters.

It's something that admittedly took me off guard, given today's environment, but seeing positive male role models on screen was incredibly refreshing. 

This doesn't mean the females in the series are back to being damsels in distress. Nami is a dynamic character with the most heartwrenching backstory of them all, and despite her tough exterior, she proves to have the biggest heart of the crew. Her story serves as the center point of the entire first season, and while she's a powerful character in her own right, the show never makes her more than she is in order to artificially inflate her importance. 

Bottom line? The show is very well done. So well done that it's accumulated over 46 million hours of stream time since its release and has already been green-lit for a second season. You'll fall in love with nearly every character, the world is addictively weird, the story is well-written and well-paced, and most of all, you're going to have fun watching it. 

It really is the escapism we've been wanting all along. 

If you're still subscribed to Netflix, watch this show. I can't recommend it enough.