Movies
One Piece: Chopper's Kingdom in the Strange Animal Island
Film 3 in the One Piece franchise. Three films in, it's pretty clear what to expect from them. They are basically just expanded episodes, with Luffy and his friends taking on a slightly bigger mission. I'm not complaining mind, 60 minutes is more than enough for this type of material, stretching it to 90 would probably just make it more grating. Luffy and his pals arrive at a new island. His friend Chopper gets separated from the rest of the bunch and is found by a small animal population, who immediately bombard him as their new king. While Chopper enjoys the attention, he's also tasked with protecting the animals from a gang of malicious hunters. Luckily, Chopper has Luffy to help him out. One Piece is pretty loud, which is both a blessing and a curse. It makes things a bit more dynamic and helps to set it apart from other franchises, but it can also be a little annoying. But once you're familiar with this series, you know what to expect from it, which is pretty decent entertainment. It's hardly my favorite anime franchise out there, but I don't mind giving these films a whirl. Read all
One Piece: Clockwork Island Adventure
The second One Piece film is a slight step up from the first one. Not that a whole lot has changed, it's just that the adventure and the setting are slightly more out there. Not having seen the TV series makes it a little harder to keep track of the characters, but other than that these standalone films should be easy enough to follow for everyone. When taking a breather on an idyllic island, Luffy's ship is stolen right from under his nose. Tracking down the location of the ship, they arrive on Clockwork Island, which is held captive by the Bear King. He is building himself a tremendous weapon and wants to marry Luffy's girlfriend. Getting to him won't be easy though, as his palace is littered with traps. The animation and art style are pretty basic. Instead, One Piece tries to score points with its energy levels. And it does a pretty decent job at that. It's hardly the greatest anime franchise ever, but the series has a Lupin-like charm to it. Not too surprising since we're dealing with a pirate thief who goes on wacky adventures. Fun.Read all
One Piece is one of the biggest and most recognizable anime franchises of the past two decades, and yet, I never watched a single episode or film. Somehow this made-for-TV pirate adventure never really appealed to me, but seeing how the first film was only less than an hour long I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. It was slightly better than expected, but only by a small margin. Luffy is a pirate who wants to sail the seas and discover hidden and/or forgotten treasures. He is after the treasure of the infamous Gold Pirate, but so are quite a few other pirate clans. Luffy gets lucky when he runs into an old acquaintance of the Gold Pirate, who directs Luffy to the island where the treasure is buried. Finding his precise hideout won't be easy though. The art style is rather bland and the animation is quite primitive, it's clear this is a derivative of a TV show. The story isn't all that interesting either, but there's a level of exaggeration that is quite funny and kept me interested throughout. Clearly not a franchise that made it big because of its extraordinary quality, but it works as passable entertainment.Read all