One Piece has amassed a huge fanbase over the years, and part of why there are so many fans and why they are so passionate comes from the series' protagonist Monkey D. Luffy. So what would these same fans think of another pirate-themed manga called Sunset Rose, where the protagonist is essentially the reverse Luffy? Much like other successful shounen protagonists, Luffy is an overly enthusiastic, happy kid whose dream pushes him beyond numerous seemingly insurmountable limits, creating a drive that compels a host of other characters, much like the readers themselves, to rally behind him.
Luffy wants to be the greatest pirate in the world, like his childhood hero Red-Haired Shanks, and endeavors to find the highly coveted and ever-elusive One Piece treasure. Because his main goal is contingent on him becoming a pirate, everything Luffy does is in service of that. And the first step involves building a crew because all captains must have a crew. So that's what he does, assembling his very own Straw Hat crew. Probably the only aspect of Luffy that doesn't align perfectly with every well-known pirate trope is that he genuinely cares for his crew and endeavors to ensure their safety at all costs.
Sunset Rose's Cherry Blossom is essentially as carefree and endearing as Luffy, but that's where all similarities end. While Cherry eventually becomes a pirate, it is not a prerequisite for him. His main driver is, unlike Luffy, to fight the most powerful sea monster on the planet, embracing the pirate lifestyle due to a desire for danger rather than treasure. Unlike Luffy, Cherry didn't set out to assemble a stalwart crew, even if his number of supporters is already growing.
Unlike in One Piece, there are no Devil Fruits in Sunset Rose's world, so Cherry isn't a rubber man like Luffy. While most of Luffy's fighting prowess and impressive exploits stem from the Gomu Gomu no Mi he ate, Cherry is just naturally proficient in fighting, and is quite creative in his methods. Fighting a massive sea monster, Cherry shoots an arrow from atop the monster's head, connecting it to the ship. Cherry then uses the momentum of the ship to facilitate a killing blow - a vicious maneuver that allows a pirate with no clear advantage to win the day.
While the pirates Cherry Blossom and Monkey D. Luffy have very different methodologies and different obsessions, they both possess an intense dream, which each of them tirelessly pursues with alarming spirit and drive. Only the first fifteen chapters of Sunset Rose have been officially translated, but despite embodying the anti-Luffy as a more selfish, bloodthirsty protagonist, Cherry Blossom's journey still evokes the thrill and ambition of One Piece enough that any fan of the blockbuster pirate manga should give its lesser-known cousin a try.