A year ago I went into the theater expecting to be blown over. The tightest, most tense, dramatic, charming saga in the series had been made into a film. It was supposed to look amazing. It was supposed to show us exciting new takes on familiar ideas. It was a new experiment from the OP movie universe that was going to rock our nervous systems.

And it failed to do all of that.

Regardless, at the end of the film there was a brief and mysterious promo (showing the new crew member Franky!) which promised that the One Piece movie franchise would continue into 2008. Had I been told at the time that THIS was the movie we were supposed to have been delivered, I probably would have been too pessimistic to believe it. In fact, I think I was if you dig deep enough into the Movie 9 thread. But THIS is the movie we were expecting last year.


This is the definitive One Piece movie.

You'll laugh. You'll cry (oh GOD will you cry). You'll be on the edge of your seat. You'll be shocked and most of all, you'll have gotten your money's worth PLUS whatever you wasted on 8.


Whoever created the storyboards for the intro deserves a lollipop. We see a methodical scene of Chopper traipsing through a forest on Drum. The first thing that hit me was the sound. You know it's a big deal when I go on about sound because I could care less about 5.1 whatever. But I was sitting there listening when it dawned on me, "My God, they actually took the time to mix his trademark footstep (hoofsteps?) sound with crunching snow." I didn't allow this to impress me as much as it should have at the time since I was still sore from being burned by the incredible intro to 8 but it didn't stop, it just got better and better. As we see him looking out the screen goes black and one English word flashes on screen:

"If..."

Who thought of that? No really, hands up? How cool is that? Get it? It being a sidestory, the Chopper we just saw was probably canon Chopper wandering through the forest. They simply paused his moment in life and asked, "What if it happened this way?" Awesome.

The narrator then began to tell us about the world and how pirates were searching for the treasure of (wait for iiiiiiit) "Gor D. Roger". Woah... That was freaky hearing him called by his real name. we're treated to this familiar explanation while we see scenes of chaos from Drum as BB and crew ravage it. What was interesting is they actually showed our favorite philosophical sniper firing off some explosive rounds which made me giggle to myself.

Obviously someone on the team watches LOST because there's a Tivo moment of Tivo moments in One Piece. As the introduction to the world (which was much needed for casual viewers) wraps up, we see a stack of bounties with Wootan on top. It could have stopped there but it starts flipping through them at warp speed. The stack actually contains movie AND series villains with big red X's over what I believe were canon foes. The problem is, they flip by extremely fast and the names, while clearly visible, go by at a pretty impressive clip, Pandaman stood out pretty clearly though. So anyway, that was a fantastic way to start off the adventure. This is where Movie 8 failed. When I watch these films I try to watch them as both someone who's never read the series, while keeping the fanboy in me supressed. This is why anyone watching 8 must be driven insane by all the crap going on without an explanation. This introduction was not only fun, it also covered a lot of ground for new viewers.

Anyway, I don't intend to go through the film step-by-step, I think anyone can do that, I just wanted to comment on how this movie succeeds in the opening moments whereas 8 had already lost me. Now I'll cover the film in a wider perspective but go back to interesting points below. So if you just want to check out new and interesting stuff from the film, head down below, but here's the 'real' review so to speak.

First thing you'll notice is the animation. Movie 6 fans of the world rejoice.

It's back baby.

Yes, everyone looks a little funky and if you didn't like it before you're gonna throw a shit-fit but it's a little more under control than it was in 6. It's almost like they round up the gang and said, "Keep your awesome sense of simplicity versus function and weight but make them look a little more like this:" *holds up Toei promotional material*

There are some scenes where the characters are made up of only a few lines but there's a difference between lazy animation and functional animation. When you see Sanji in the cabin looking like someone used a Fill tool on a couple blobs it isn't destracting because of the way he moves and stylistically how he appears, it's refreshing to see this unique style of animation reeled in once again and even though it isn't quite the joyride it was in 6, it's still there and it looks FANTASTIC! There's a Japanese commercial running at the moment that sums it all up, "Simple is Best."

I'm merely thinking out loud here but, is this a Filipino team? Because I saw an awful lot of Southeast Asian names and NOT Koreans (amazing) so I was wondering if that's their work.

There's something strange though and I think you'll notice it as well, the animation ever so slowly seems to change from time to time. It's not random and jarring, but once in a while you'll think, to yourself, "Hey, what happened to those bitchin' designs?" Did they use a number of sources for the project? Sometimes the 'normal' animation doesn't look so hot. There's only blemish on the entire film that looks like plain shit which is when Kureha is chasing Chopper away with knives. It looks terrible. But each and every scene that utilizes the 6 style is nothing short of jaw-dropping while all the others are beautiful. Certainly acceptable movie quality and heads and shoulders above that horse-shit from 8.

The one thing I think some fans of OP that lean towards the, "ACTION! ACTION! ACTION!", side of the story, MAY be a little let down. We knew going into the film that it was going to deal with one of the most dramatic stories in the series and if was going to give it the respect it deserved, it would have to let some of the fisticuffs sit in the corner this time. Well the good news is, they DID give the story the respect it deserves which means there are not a lot of action scenes.

However, quality over quantity is the name of the game here and what the film offers, for the most part, it does EXTREMELY well and I don't think anyone will have much to complain about. If this film is ever shown in theaters in the US, there are moments where even when you know what's going to happen, you will be on the edge of your seat. The Lapahn and log ride scene comes to mind. First of all these Lapahns are vicious mother-fuckers. They're not necessarily more violent, but they're strong as shit and scary as hell. They chase Luffy and Sanji through a forest (LITERALLY) and as grounded tree trunks are being split like freaking balsa wood they exude a much more ferocious and primal presence than they had before. I mean, they're freaking Lapahn, they're not a HUGE story point, but to see that detail added to them was great.

The other scene where I was in awe during was the log ride during the avalanche which is out of this world. It's some VERY SUBTLE CG mixed with VERY SUBTLE animation and the combination is something I've never seen before. You'll know what I mean when you see it but there's a point where the viewpoint swivels to the back of the log and while you know it's CG, and you KNOW Sanji and Luffy are being animated, it looks seamless. Bravo.

All characters have some little moment to shine, some more than others. Might as well get this out there. Robin = Vivi. She does everything Vivi does (but not vice versa) and even takes a number of her lines straight from Vivi's dialogue. Sometimes it appears a little bit lazy but they changed enough to make it more her style. Actually there's one extremely surprising change but I'll talk about that below. Back to handling characters, while everyone does 'something' there are only a few characters which do something really spectacular. A perfect OP film would have every character doing something awesome that would be handled well and be important to the overall story, this is not a perfect OP movie, but in sacrificing the idea that everyone must do some earth-shattering move, they strengthen the story that much more.

There are two trademark "fucking annoying little kids". They only pop up twice and leave quickly. Blessings on your deity of choice.

Music ranges from shit to 'fitting'. Nothing stands out as epic or memorable. The theme song is awful which is a shame. I like some of DCT's work, not this one. To each her/his own. There's a choral piece which, is as I already said, 'fitting'. It fits the scene and it serves its purpose, certainly choked me up, but I can't even remember the tune now. Some of the music sounds like stock audio from Looney Tunes. Again, you'll know when you hear it. It does ruin some of the mood, but its use is sparse and certainly won't detract from the overall enjoyment of the film.

The story is unbelievable. You already knew this of course. With respect to the overall plot and progress it's as if someone took the director from 8, murdered their immediate and extended family out to second cousins, then posted their heads on the desk of the producer and said, "Get someone who can tell their ass from their elbow or you're next." The pacing is GOLDEN. There are NO moments that drag. Sure, after watching it 5 times this or that scene might get boring, but on my first run through, there wasn't a dull moment, as few loose threads as possible (Lapahns aren't revisited after Luffy rescues the big guy from the avalanche) and in most cases where things didn't fit into time constraints, they were ignored completely instead of being done half-assed. If you're the world's biggest fan of Chess and Marimo you may disagree with me but personally I thought how they were handled was HILARIOUS and a joke on how boring (or at least under-developed) they were in the original.

One relationship that's a stroke of GENIUS which could have been expanded upon to great effect fizzled out and that was Chopper & the new villain. So I don't think his name has been confirmed in English but at first it seemed obvious it was a slight variation on the Japanese for 'monsieur'. This seemed to make sense given his pompous attire and shitty hairstyle. But I'm gonna go ahead and say I think a good localization would be Mushieur. Why? Oda's genius in design strikes again folks.

That's right folks. And his name is also derived from the English pronounciation of 'Mushroom'. And guess what his fruit is? Noko Noko no Mi, 'kinoko' is 'mushroom'. He's a mushroom man. The symbolism runs thick my friends. Arguably Chopper's beef should have been with Wapol but it would have been great to see Chopper battling the very embodiment of what he poisoned his best and only friend (at the time) with.

Nothing feels rushed, nothing feels too slow, there is some new, and a LOT of old, but its all done incredibly well and none of it is boring. It may not be canon, but THIS is the version of Chopper's tale that you'll want to watch again and again.

Absolutely NO fanservice WHATSOEVER. Cheer or commisserate as you wish.

I like how this story boldly dealt with harsh themes even though they knew there would be kids in the audience. Again, like the animation, it's not QUITE the level of 6 where you're like, "Uhhhhh, what was I watching again?", but they don't hold any punches (literally). For one, Chopper beats the FUCK out of Hiruruk when they first meet. We're talking, sits on top of him and pounds on his face with both fists letting out the anger and fear built up inside him. Then later Kureha beats the living hell out of Chopper. Actually holds him down and punches the hell out of him. How very karma. Oh, speaking of Chopper first meeting Hiruruk, I was wondering how they would handle a certain scene and it's done both respectfully for the audience AND the original work. I was very impressed with their choice.

As for original material, you'll totally dig it. Don't wanna give a lot of the fun surprises away but they do some creative ideas and use characters that weren't in the arc in EXTREMELY good ways that are so 'in character' you'll wish it was canon.

Again, the only points I can really see anyone putting the film down for are some of the fights which although VERY cool are not very long and sadly, anticlimatic, especially the final blow of the film which I expected to be EPIC but instead just looked like a rehash of a scene from the animation which is a SIN compared to how well some other attacks were handled, Armee de la'air Gomu Shoot for example looks like it has enough centrifugal force to make the planet begin revolving around Luffy.

This is the definitive One Piece film. This is the kind of material we need more of, not just in Japanese animation, but in the entertainment industry in general. Granted this is not Totoro or Princess Mononoke or The Incredibles. It's still pretty silly to a someone that doesn't know the series, BUT it's heads and shoulders above the rest. If you only have 2 hours to spark someone's interest in the series, THIS is what you show them. It has silly, serious, sad and awesome all mixed into one. This is a superior OP film and a pretty damn good animated film.





So comments and points of interest.

Robin calls Nami, "Nami-chan." I did a double-take with my eardrums but it's true. I wondered if they just lifted Vivi's dialogue but no, she calls her 'san'. Wow....

They do a pretty damn sweet intro to the characters. They all have a moment to shine doing what they do best and then their name is written in English on the screen. This was absent from 8 and was soooooooooo much needed. These things also tends to get boring because they just lift a scene from the animation and somehow make it less interesting but they did a damn fine job. Kudos to show Zoro working out in the new weight room. After all the time I spent studying Sunny it was great to see it!

They use Coup de Burst to get away from the twister. Awesome use of new technology in an old scenario.

Chopper witnesses their arrival from a hidden spot. Very fun to imagine whether or not this really took place or not.

When the townspeople fire on the ship they don't hit anyone. Technically you'd expect them to hit Robin since Robin = Vivi for much of the film but that wouldn't serve any purposesince that scene was important for Vivi in character as related to her sense of urgency to get home, but her loyalty to Nami. Good choice. Interestingly enough they make a hole in the ship which...I dunno...is that possible with a normal rifle? Either way it pisses Franky off which is awesome for his character.

They see Chopper watching them from the forest. I was waiting for it and he actually said it.

Luffy: Oh! A tanuki!

Franky stays with Zoro to fix the ship. Makes perfect sense.

We get a much needed scene of Kureha watching events below unfold with a scope. Very cool.

When Wapol arrives (they never meet at sea btw) he arrives with a huge fleet. Franky goes absolutely apeshit over The Bliking and wants to check it out via The Shark Submerge. How awesome is that!? Is that not awesome? Can't you totally see that happening?

Franky does something amazing with Strong Right. You'll flip.

Franky finds some ice-crawler snowmobile vehicles that are capable of climbing Drum's mountains which accounts for their arrival at the top later.

Nice touch to Mushieur's speech. As Wapol called everyone 'Kabame' he calls everyone 'Kabayarou'. Cute touch.

Wapol is responsible for the avalanche. He causes it by launching some massive cannonballs into the mountainside. It's here he first mentions their 'major' weapon but they don't wanna use it because it can only be fired once for reasons revealed later.

Dalton fans I'm sorry. No big Wapol VS Dalton.

The ISSHI 20 defect early on. There's a scene where they discuss being prepared to leave him which was really neat. I dunno if I actually prefer it to the manga since it was fun thinking they were soulless cronies though. They also hand off a special antidote that they worked very hard on to Robin and Usopp for a certain poison.

We find that the reason Wapol wants to go to the castle is to use the Royal Drum Crown 7-Shot Bliking Canon for that 'special' shot to gain complete control over his people through fear and sickness, which is why he went to get his brother to aid him.

Chopper touching a 'real live pirate' is epic.

The scene of Chopper being shot at and chased away is brutal.

Hiruruk's laugh is MUCH better than he performed it in the series. It sounds GREAT!

They show scenes of Chopper being unable to walk straight, it's adorable.

Hiruruk dies in mid-sentence. It was very shocking.

"Chopper I know you're gonna be a great doc-" *BOOM*

Doesn't show and badass transformation for Chopper. Sorry guys.

So about Mushieur's backstory (yes there is one) I won't lie or make up shit, I didn't understand all of it. Between writing notes, trying to understand and enjoy the movie, I missed out on MAJOR details. Sorry, I'm not a perfect translator. Take this with a grain of salt, I'm sure someone will have a much better accurate description up soon. As I understand some 30 years ago he pulled some major shit by killing everyone somewhere with a certain shot he can create that he can only create every so many years. Please don't ask the details because I simply don't know. If there's a Japanese description somewhere I'd gladly read it and translate it. Anyway, I don't wanna get anyone's hopes but I think I heard mention of a new island that seems ripe for canon material. His weakness as I understood is fire (burns up spores and shit) and I THINK he was being held at 'Hi no Kuni' or Country of Fire. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT QUOTE ME ON THAT! I could have easily misheard it but I'm just throwing it out there.

Baku Baku House looks awesome.

Mushieur has 3-4 named moves, only one I could make out was sting drill where he makes a poison drill with his arm.

He captures Luffy in a pillar of poisonous mold. Very similar to that funky pillar of wierd shit from Mov 6. It looks fucked up.

He creates a bunch of spores and freaking kills (or at least KO's) Chess and Marimo via collateral damage in one freaking shot it was great. They don't combine by the way.

No thin Wapol.

Usopp uses his normal slingshot. Dunno why but whatever.

Gear 2nd will blow you away. Looks much closer to Oda's drawing from Vol 40.

When Franky arrives at the castle and sees a hole blown in the top of the castle he cries, "Look at that gaping hole in the wall! ...I JUST GOTTA FIX IT!!!" That's 4 for 4 my friends.

Wapol eats Mushieur and the cannon to fire the special bomb spreading poisonous spores across the country.

Gear 3rd...but not as cool as it could/should have been. Sad panda.

The Movie 10 teaser. It's THE shit. I dunno if it's PURE teaser or actual footage but those suits they're described wearing, they're the ones from the 10th Anniversary color spread, this explains why Brook isn't wearing one.

No mistaking in Marines HQ my friends. Crazy shit. Craaaaazy shit.

Aaaaand done.

OH! Almost forgot! The movie ends with a black screen and Mayumi Tanaka's favorite line:

"Get outta here, my idiot son."
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