Tag Archives: Nami

One Piece: Adventure of Nebulandia Review

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It’s time for another big adventure from the Strawhats. This one brings back the Foxy pirates who actually got reasonably popular after their original story arc. That said, it is one of the weaker films in the series mainly because of how low key it is. Everyone gets to appear and have some fun but there isn’t a ton of action in this one. It’s an adventure first and foremost so you will see the characters have to use their smarts to win this time. Pure strength won’t get the job done, not against the master strategist who appears!

The film starts off with the Strawhats having fun as normal and then they land on a fun island. Sanji in particular is super excited because there are a lot of girls there who were stranded and need a ride back. What he didn’t realize is that this was actually Foxy and his gang of henchmen. Some of them were girls but the rest just had good disguises on. They are here to challenge Luffy and friends to a Davyback fight where the loser must have someone join the winner’s crew. Obviously the stakes are way too high to even think of accepting this but Luffy and friends do anyway. After all the worst thing can’t happen as long as they win right? What they don’t realize is that one of Foxy’s new teammates, Komei, is actually a government agent who is here to shut the Strawhats down once and for all. Can they get away from this trap?

The movie’s whole dilemma only stands a chance because the sleepy mushrooms actually affect Luffy. I think it’s debatable on if they would do anything thanks to his immunity though. Sure this isn’t a lethal poison but the sleepiness is still an adverse effect which Luffy’s body should have knocked out. At least if you ask me that would have been the most likely scenario. Still, that’s how they manage to take out the most powerful members of the crew since otherwise Zoro would have ended this in an instant.

It’s pretty in character for Luffy and friends to eat the mushrooms so I don’t have any issues there. It’s just a shame that the rest of the team aren’t really great fighters. It’s why a lot of people say that the Strawhats need to get stronger because only a select few really carry the team at this point. They desperately need to shed that reputation and this film doesn’t help with that. The power levels will also make you sneeze in this film. Like at one point Luffy goes to attack Komei and the guy just slaps some oil onto the boat so Luffy slips.

The whole thing is mega embarrassing and it’s why some people have a hard time thinking of Luffy as a mega powerhouse. I wouldn’t take the scene too seriously but either way it does show that Luffy got absolutely crushed in this fight. Once we get to the serious battle it’s all over fairly quick. Komei is good at planning things out but he’s no big fighter. Once you get past his defenses then it’s really all over for the guy. He’s just not going to be coming back from that.

I did like Komei as the villain though. He gives off the right vibes for a strategic villain like this. Yeah it may be hard to take him seriously at times but he does say all of the right things. I just have the sneaking suspicion that I won’t remember the guy very well after a while so that’s why I can’t call him amazing or anything like that. He’s still better than Dojaku though who just feels like an absolute henchman the whole time. Not the kind of guy who could ever end up being the powerful leader type.

As for Foxy’s group, they were being manipulated the whole time so I wouldn’t say they look good or anything like that. You’d think they would have realized that the new members weren’t what they seemed to be. That may be a little easy to say in hindsight though. Foxy’s slow power is still super broken and overpowered so he could become a real threat if he was ever to return. The rest of his crew are super weak though so he has to carry the team on his own.

The animation in the film is good but again it isn’t trying to do anything fancy here. The animation is going through the motions but this definitely feels like an ordinary episode. he soundtrack doesn’t really have any standout themes either. So it’s all rather ordinary. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but just something to keep in mind. You will not be finding a cinematic experience here. Although for some it probably feels more comfortable that way so this one ends up being easy to plug in at any point.

Overall, It’s nice to see the Strawhats getting to just relax and have fun once in a while. Even with the government threat and all, I imagine it probably feels like a vacation next to the other big battles that they’ve been in. If you enjoy One Piece then you will like this adventure as well. There is nothing to dislike here after all. If they ever bring the Foxy pirates back again, I’d like to see them do a proper competition of sorts without it being interrupted immediately. Maybe do it without the stakes of losing a member so that way you don’t actually know which team would win. It’s a nice way to building tension since of course in a proper fight the Strawhats would obviously win. In a competition it is less certain. Also we really need Zoro to be a main character next time around instead of missing most of the adventure. I get that you don’t want it to be too easy for the heroes but sidelining him like that is definitely not the right answer.

Overall 7/10

One Piece: Episode of Sky Island Review

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It’s time for the next One Piece special on the docket. This one is about Skypiea but I guess they went for Sky Island to keep it a little more vague. Additionally Enel is now called Eneru….I prefer the old version but hey it’s a pretty minor thing. The special is good and does a decent job capturing the arc but it doesn’t work as well as the East Blue special because this one really goes out of its way to skip the fights. It doesn’t nail any of the really emotional moments as well as the show did and so what you get is an arc that is wayyyy watered down next to the show version. This is still nostalgic though.

The special starts with Luffy and gang heading to a small island where someone explains that there used to be a guy called Nolan the Liar. He would lie about everything including seeing an island floating in the sky but this guy is a direct descendent and believes that the stories are true. So now he continues to dive underwater in order to prove it, but this ain’t easy. Well Luffy and friends are going to pay a visit to the sky island but they find that it is being ruled by the god of lightning, Eneru. Can they defeat him and save the local islanders?

So there’s a lot to enjoy here since this is a big One Piece arc but at the same time it does lose a lot of the powerful moments and I will explain. For example, one of the biggest scenes in the show is when Enel made a huge lightning blast over one of the strawhats and it was one of the first times we saw him use such a big blast. The scene went in slow-mo and it was all very tense because we could see the damage it did. That scene straight up doesn’t happen here.

We also miss out on Zoro’s entire fight against one of the angels which was unfortunate because that was a really fun battle. Even their big battle with Eneru was very short. I guess it wasn’t a super long fight in the main show either but this felt like a blink and you’ll miss it kind of moment which is definitely not what the original was like. Even the Luffy vs Enel fight doesn’t feel quite as long or grand as it should be. It does at least get way more screentime than anything else though so you couldn’t ask for much more there.

Chopper only gets a quick instance for his win as well which doesn’t show you much. There was a lot going on with the whole island survival game but the whole thing is basically shown in quick stills as everyone is wiped out. That’s what should have been expanded and I feel like the runtime should have just been extended a little. The special goes by quickly and considering that it’s a whole arc we’re dealing with, making it around 2 hours would have been really nice. Especially since this arc gets more important each time.

Now a common topic to think about is if Enel would still be a threat in future arcs. I’d say at best he gets up to the CP9 saga but that’s it because his speed wasn’t enough to dodge Luffy’s attacks while in Gear 1. So as good as you think his lightning may be, his speed isn’t at a level where he could seriously be a fierce opponent to most. I’m sure he will get buffed a lot if he ever does reappear in the manga but I do have my doubts on that. Of course it would be awesome but the series is slowly getting to the very end of its saga so in that case it’s probably over.

The special has a pretty emotional ending with Luffy and the gang proving that Nolan wasn’t a liar. I’m also glad that the people in Skypiea had realized this too because otherwise the whole flashback would have been pretty tragic. I mean it definitely was still tragic either way, One Piece doesn’t hold back on the feels. There was some hope though and it could have all been a lot darker. So like this I was pretty satisfied. I’m naturally a lot more interested in the present stuff though and the flashback gets a ton of screentime which is also part of why it doesn’t stand up to the East Blue saga where the vast majority was about the Strawhats.

In terms of animation the special looks good enough. I don’t think it looks nearly as good as the East Blue saga though and it’s clear this one wasn’t super high budget the way the other special felt like it was. The soundtrack brings in the classic One Piece tunes which is nice enough. One of these days the specials should bring a whole new soundtrack even if it takes away from the nostalgia feel a little. Just switch things up to really make everything pop out. It’s One Piece so to an extent it will always be very good no matter what happens but this would help to really take it to the next level.

Overall, This was a really fun adventure. It just feels like they left a whole lot of meat on the bone. While nothing will beat the original source material I’d say the idea behind these specials is to give you something more or less comparable so you can just enjoy that instead of redoing the whole saga again. That doesn’t work in this case because you’re just missing out on too much action. So now you have to watch the show again which unfortunately does destroy the point of this. It’s unfortunate but that’s just the way that it is. Still good though so I’d recommend checking it out if you’re an experienced One Piece fan but I’d probably deflect people unfamiliar with the series to the TV show instead.

Overall 7/10

One Piece: Episode of East Blue Review

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It’s time for one of those classic One Piece remake specials. This one has to cover a lot of ground since it’s going over the whole East Blue saga but it definitely pulls this off really well. In a way it’s like a template for the live action series. While the general audience would probably be a little confused if it had been adapted exactly like this, I feel like it worked really well. It’s a great special and really reminds you of the classic days of One Piece.

The special is divided up into 5 sections told through flashbacks from each crew member. The first one is naturally Luffy as we see his very first adventure. Of course this involves getting his devil fruit and Shanks saving him from a giant monster. It’s a pretty good origin that has stood the test of time. Yes you may still wonder why Shanks didn’t awaken his advanced haki in order to stop the monster and how he got speed blitzed by a random joe with the help of a smoke bomb. All very valid questions but it’s best to just acknowledge this as a quick fumble and keep it moving. At the end of the day that is all we can really do. It’s still a very tense opening.

You also see how Shanks and friends were true pirates. When the going got tough they did not spare any prisoners, they straight up murdered their opponents. It’s a brutal reminder that as nice as they are, they’re still pirates and aren’t about to serve as marines in arresting everybody. Seeing Luffy come into his own as a pirate makes for a solid conclusion and you’re reminded how far he has come. So all in all that works as a really good way to start this up

Then we get to Zoro’s segment. His origin is still extremely emotional the whole time and definitely one that you won’t soon forget. I do think he probably didn’t handle the situation very well in terms of allowing Axe Hand Morgan to capture him though. That’s just way too risky even when it is intentional. Once he joined Luffy then it was all uphill though. They also included his big battle with Mihawk which is still an excellent fight. They even extended the choreography and made this a true fight from start to finish. Of course he was overwhelmed but the production values were on point and I dare say that it is the best looking moment in the special.

After that we have the Usopp arc. He lied so many times that eventually nobody believed him which has to be a rough situation to be in. He definitely shouldn’t have lied so often though, this was the only way that it was going to go. Captain Kuro still makes for a very imposing villain along with his teammates. We get to see Luffy shine and of course Usopp does man up in the end. It’s easily the weakest of the 5 segments in the special but of course it’s still solid either way. Usopp just wasn’t ready out of the gate the way that the others were.

Then we have Sanji’s story which is a lot of fun as you would expect. I like how bold he was in attacking anyone who got in his way and this is back from when he was a lot more charming and wasn’t being overly flanderized with the flirting. So this version actually had a lot of dignity about him with a clear vision on finding the All Blue. His flashback is also another really sad one and of the main 5, probably the most brutal aside from Nami’s. They also really extended his fight with the minion that he fed.

The fact that the villain actually beat Sanji was something I really forgot unless the victor was changed here. Sanji was completely overwhelmed the whole time and didn’t stand a chance. It’s a reminder that while Sanji is very skilled, he wasn’t quite up to the level of Zoro here. Some really good determination moments for Luffy in this arc too though, when he punched through the spikes that was really intense! Moments like that are why he is the captain here.

Then we have Nami’s arc which of course ties into the famous Arlong Park saga. We get her origin story which was really intense and her Mom was a really fantastic character back then. She really never wavered and did her best to stick up for Nami and her sister. Then in the present of course we get the famous scene of Nami asking for help and Luffy really dishing out the pain to Arlong. That’s what you like to see from the climax and it’s still one of the most iconic moments of all of One Piece. It works really well having this as the last part of the special since it’s the biggest climax at least by that point in the series.

So there’s really nothing to dislike about this special. It’s filled with tons of top tier content throughout and constant action. The characters are all developed really well and the animation is really solid. The colors are striking and the choreography is on point. The soundtrack has aged really well and they brought back some of my favorite retro themes. The technical elements were on point here, now I just need them to do Episode of Marineford already. That one already looks awesome but I’m always down to revisit one of the best moments in the series.

Overall, Episode of East Blue is definitely a great special. It took a lot of really excellent moments from One Piece and brought them all together. The length is also pretty solid considering the amount of content here so it wasn’t super rushed. It is rushed of course to an extent because it would be mathematically impossible not to be but it all works out pretty well. I would say that a bunch of the fights do start to get skipped especially by the Arlong arc but Luffy’s fights all make it at least. I would like to have seen more fights because that’s my thing but I know others would prefer the story beats. All in all it’s a reasonable compromise/division of scenes between action and story. I would definitely recommend this to any One Piece fan, you’re bound to be in for a good time! Even to general anime fans you should be able to enjoy it.

Overall 8/10

One Piece Season 1 Review

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It’s time to finally talk about the live action One Piece series. One Piece, more commonly known as One Peak is considered to be one of the all time greatest manga/anime series. It just keeps on going and shows no signs of stopping. It was inevitable that a live action version would come out at some point and that moment is finally here. It’s definitely a great first season and I’d say that it lived up to the hype. Of course at the end of the day there did have to be some cuts in order to make it work but the whole thing came out well.

The story focuses around a kid named Monkey D. Luffy. He ate a devil fruit which turned him into a rubber man. He now seeks to become the King of the Pirates and find the legendary treasure known as the One Piece. To this end he will need to gather up a crew, around 10 people will do. Of course this won’t be easy as all those who stand in his way have the same goal and also have frightening powers of his own. Every great hero must start somewhere though and Luffy is now prepared to go for the goal and make his dream a reality. There are 8 episodes in this season and for the most part they adapt oneshot stories but there are multi parters here and of course the whole thing is narratively connected.

All right so lets quickly talk about how the actors fit the characters. Whenever you see characters in live action you either see them as cosplayers or really embodying the character. I would say that they really nailed Zoro, Buggy, and Usopp. I’m actually still the most mixed about Luffy because to me in a lot of ways he just still doesn’t look/feel like the Luffy from the show. Still a really fun character but I’m not seeing it yet. Sanji and Nami I’m more on the fence about but I think they work well enough. Not as much to say about the side characters, Shanks crew doesn’t look too impressive yet but Mihawk and Garp are excellent! Koby’s also fitting but since I don’t like the character much I wouldn’t have minded if he changed.

Now lets break down each of the episodes a bit. The first one is the intro episode so of course we get to meet Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and Koby who will end up being main characters for the whole adventure. Their paths all cross as they are trying for different goals. Nami is a burglar who steals from the navy, Zoro is a legendary pirate hunter and Luffy of course wants to be the pirate king. Koby wants to be a marine and change the world but he’s a little too nervous to pull that off. The episode does a good job of introducing every character, having them meet up, and then giving us a group fight. It’s a huge advantage of every episode being 40+ minutes like this because then you have enough time to pull this off.

The episode also sets the tone for the rest of the series with a lot of solid humor/banter along with the fights. Zoro steals the show right away with how cool he is. The guy is super skilled and yes at this point he would clearly beat Luffy in a fight. Not any shade against Luffy though, the rival is always supposed to start out stronger. The 3 characters already have a pretty good dynamic here as well even if it’s hard to call them a true team by this point. As in the anime I did think Zoro didn’t play this too smart by letting himself be captured though. It was obvious that these corrupt guys weren’t going to honor their word and let him know so it was a poor trap to get caught in.

The episode also starts the trend where just about every episode will have some kind of flashback/backstory for the character in the episode. Additionally there will always be a cutaway to Koby and the marines as the kid learns just how corrupt they can be. It works fairly well even if I would say this isn’t always necessary. Sometimes you’re engaged with the present scenes enough where you just don’t want to travel back in time. Fortunately the flashbacks tend to be interesting but I will admit they are always the weakest part of every episode and I’d be ready to jump back into the present.

The next episode brings in the debut of Buggy The Clown. The heroes are still trying their best to get along when this guy shows up and unveils his true powers. He can split his body into a bunch of pieces so it’s hard to actually hit him. It’s what makes him a very intense villain though and he is played very seriously here at first. Of course he’s got some One Piece humor in him but the guy is actively terrorizing a whole town which is still pretty dark. We see that the town was totally destroyed too so this series isn’t afraid to get serious when it needs to be.

The heroes still aren’t getting along super well at this point but they’re making improvements. By the end of this episode I’d say the team is fairly well united. One funny moment though was when Nami tried to run away but then stopped right as she exited the tent so they captured her again. I know she was shocked but still you can’t just stop right there, at least keep running until you can hide. Luffy also came really close to death in this episode but writing him out was a good way to let Zoro and Nami bond. The Strawhats are a close unit so it’s good to build up each character dynamic outside of Luffy as well.

Then we get to the first multi parter with Usopp jumping into action. He’s basically someone who lies a whole lot to impress Kaya, the girl that he likes. The problem is that at this point nobody believes a word that he says…and why would they right? The guy is constantly lying so I wouldn’t believe him either. He would tell the village that pirates are coming every year and now that they are actually here…it’s too late. Fortunately Luffy and friends show up in time to help.

The main villain here is Kuro and I was curious how they would handle his lightning fast speed. The show actually does handle it well as it vanishes from sight but unfortunately this does throw a lot of power level issues into the mix. He’s so fast that the heroes can’t possibly react to him and so he forgets his speed at convenient moments. I’m glad that the show kept his speed but they should have come up with a better way for the heroes to beat him. I’m not saying it would be easy but it should absolutely be possible. I was also glad that Zoro got to have a brief fight here but since he was injured the guy naturally couldn’t go all out as needed and then you had the knock out gas.

Usopp was actually handled more seriously than I’m used to seeing him. In the manga the guy’s always a total coward while that doesn’t really come into play here. The show seems to remember this later on so in the final episodes they dial that up. I’d like to see him stay relatively brave since it just makes him more of a quality character but it’s one of those things I suppose. He does decently well in the show even if the other members are more likable.

Then we enter the Baratie with the debut of Sanji. As one of the power hitters of the team it was nice to see him show up. The show does a great job of showing off his combat skills right off the gate and of course he can still cook a mean dish. He is definitely adapted really well and already we’ve got some banter between him and Zoro which is absolutely crucial. This arc is massively important in the show because it also ends up bringing in Mihawk. So Zoro does sort of steal Sanji’s arc a bit but it’s all worth it. I was worried Mihawk would be toned down a lot but he still managed to cut a whole ship in two with a casual slash which was really impressive. That’s absolutely what you want to see from a fighter like this.

Sanji fits right in with the crew and the origin story is still pretty intense here. We also get the beginnings of the Arlong arc so that was an intense way to begin building up to the climax. I definitely didn’t have any real issues with this arc. You do wonder how badly Zoro would have packed up Arlong and crew if he was at full strength though. His swords can pierce the fishmen so mix that in with his speed and technique and he’d be all set. He may not be ready for Mihawk yet but few are.

Then we get to the final episodes involving Arlong and his gang. Nami’s origin story is definitely still really intense here and we see Arlong bribing marines which is a good way to continue to show how corrupt they can be. The action here is intense and while we don’t get some of the really iconic moments from the show, we do get most of the important ones. I would say this is probably the only part where the show’s power levels got a little annoying though. Throughout the show Luffy has looked almost downright weak at times. He gets through his battles but only barely and just by throwing basic punches. This catches up to him when Arlong beats him up.

Here’s the problem, in the manga one of the whole points of the climax was Luffy not knowing what was going on but deciding to beat up Arlong anyway. He knew that was something he could do. In the show his line is almost the exact opposite about how he knows he can’t stop Arlong but he can stop his plans. So I feel like they read that scene backwards and a big part of how impressive this was is because Luffy was that dude. He could ultimately beat up anyone who got in his way in the East Blue. At least until we get to Crocodile, Luffy wasn’t going down.

In the show here Luffy is way more of an underdog which I feel is going to backfire a bit. Right now we’re supposed to feel confident in his abilities and I don’t. I don’t mind him losing to Garp later because of course he should. Garp’s out of his league but the same shouldn’t be true for Arlong. As a villain Arlong’s not bad. I don’t think the effects/design work as well as the other villains but he was tough and that’s what counts. He still manages to be a pretty solid villain all around.

Now the character I never really ended up getting behind was Koby. He gets a lot of shine in this series with a ton of extra screentime but in the end he’s still just so nervous and hesitant. Even when he finally “mans up” and has those big scenes, I couldn’t get by him. I’m hoping he’ll improve in the next season as there is a clear character arc here. I just need it to speed up. Likewise I can’t say I’m a big fan of Helmeppo right now. I prefer him to Koby but he’s still a little too petty. Garp is great though. He may be making poor decisions all around but I like his confidence and at least he has some kind of a honor code going for him.

If I had any issue with the live action series, one minor one can be the camera work. The series reallllllly loves its zoom ins so the camera is constantly in their faces. I sort of get what they’re trying to do in terms of dramatic effect but I think it’s all a bit overdone if you ask me. Those kinds of shots should really be used sparingly if yo want them to have impact. Otherwise the visuals are solid. They really did a good job with the powers and costumes so props to the show there.

The soundtrack is definitely limited but fortunately there was one track which really stood out and as a result ended up buffing the soundtrack as a whole. This was Buggy’s theme. It has some really hype opera type sounds whenever he appears and that was great. Always perfect for a cliffhanger and the show has quite a few really solid ones. The fights are a lot of fun. I would say ironically Luffy easily has the weakest fights mainly because they have no choreography next to Zoro and Sanji’s, but they’re still fun to watch. The best fights tend to be Zoro’s and you can tell a lot of thought was put into them. I dare say his best fight may have even been the very first one where he took down a member of the organization.

A fun part about the show diverging a bit is experiencing those cool what ifs. For example in this version Arlong and Luffy go at it in the Baratie which is considerably different from the manga. I was also glad that Luffy didn’t just roll over or get one shotted even if he was not doing great in the fight. Let them have a proper battle before the rematch since in theory Luffy has no power ups in between rounds so it should be close if we expect him to win later on. Mihawk’s expanded role was also done really excellently here. Also a nice touch was how they unveil every character’s bounties. That was really cool.

The pacing is good and I can definitely see the show doing each of the arcs justice. Naturally there are a lot of things, scenes, and characters who have to be trimmed to pull this off with any realistic hopes of success but I’ll take it. The positive of getting to see this in a more mainstream setting is always fun. After all I’ll have the anime for my straight adaption with all the superb animation. This is just a more surreal way to see how you can translate this and I still say this was a great job all around. I was very satisfied all the way through.

Overall, One Piece is a show that absolutely surpassed my expectations. It’s not just a good adaption but a great show on its own. It’s very interesting to watch and you will be having a good time all the way through. It never drags on and this is really the sign of a quality title. If you are someone who has never seen One Piece before then you will definitely be able to still enjoy the show a lot and that’s the sign of a really solid title. Just watch it the same way you would watch something like Breaking Bad or Seinfeld as a brand new title and there’s something for those new audiences as well as fans. I look forward to seeing how season 2 shakes out since it will naturally be more difficult as we get to the more powerful villains and expanded cast. I’m confident they can pull it off though. With how great the effects look here with the colors taken right out of the manga, seeing the other characters is gonna be great!

Overall 8/10

One Piece: Odyssey Review

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It’s time to talk about Strawhat Luffy and the gang in their latest adventure. I remember thinking that Odyssey sounded like a lot of fun with how you would get to relive the old adventures in a new way. It was also bringing in the turn based combat system which is fairly rare for One Piece games as they usually go with a 3D action/beat em up style. It definitely does work well for this title even if I have some issues. Ultimately this is a great game but they really dropped the ball on the story itself which is unfortunate.

The game starts off with Luffy and the gang having a good time at sea as always until a storm knocks them off their course and they land on an island. A girl named Lim shows up and steals their powers with her cube abilities. In order to get their powers back they will have to defeat 4 legendary colossuses on the island and additionally they must relive some of their most dangerous adventures. Lim will help them do this by unlocking the memory world and her friend Adio is also glad to help in any way that he can. The whole thing feels a little suspect but the heroes figure they can get stronger and have some fun so it’s a win/win. Are they embarking on their final adventure?

The story’s a bit forced there but hey it’ll be fun to see Luffy and friends utterly demolish all of their old opponents like Lucci and Crocodile now that they are so powerful…right? Well to get around that the film says that the villains have all gotten way more powerful in their memories and of course the heroes have lost all of their new abilities thanks to the cube. So what that means is…every arc basically plays out in the same way. It felt like the laziest way possible for the writers to not have to think of any new scenarios which was unfortunate. What’s even the point of not just making this a direct adaption then. It just felt like the biggest cop out imaginable. The only arc with any real differences is the final one in Dressrosa and even then it was just a small change by adding 2 characters in there.

So the game really didn’t deliver on its premise at all. In a lot of ways it’s sort of like the bait and switch that Sonic Forces did back in the day. The present storyline with the Colossuses and the mysterious Adio was good at least. That’s the part where you can at least get invested in. If the gameplay weren’t so good I would definitely get a bit more annoyed at that though. Odyssey tried to fumble the bag there a bit that’s for sure. We did get a full cinematic fight near the end which was cool though. For a minute there I thought we were going to get another phase to the final boss fight but when it was all a cutscene I thought that was cool. It’s not every day that you get to just watch a pure fight like that after all.

The game is fairly long too and took me over 25 hours. There are 9 chapters here but they each have a lot of battles. Each battle can take a while since you can’t skip cinematics and all special attacks have a full cutscene animation to them. It can make the fights a little longer than they need to be but I’m guessing the devs wanted to show off what a good job they did. I totally get it even if I always love how the Asdivine series lets you turn off attack animations for that exact reason. One mechanic I liked a lot here is that using normal attacks fills your special attack meter. It’s something I don’t recall any other RPG doing so that was cool. It’s better than having to use ethers every turn.

The game also has a customization aspect to it as you can power up your attacks and skills using your level up points. You can also reset the points at any time if you want to distribute them in another way. Additionally you can equip items to improve your stats and make foods/smoke bombs to get stronger or make your opponent weaker. There’s a good amount of options within the game and so you’ll find that unlike most titles it starts out rather difficult and gets easier as you go. This is because you unlock more and more items to use as you go through the game and they easily outpace the enemies you’re dealing with. For example a level up may improve your stats by 30 but then you can by an amulet that increases your attack power by 1400. It’s like you suddenly jumped up tons of levels. Whenever I would see an item like that I had to grab it.

Then later on you gain the ability to merge two equipments together to keep both of their effects in one shot. That made things even better. So there are lots of ways to power yourself up. Finally there is the old fashioned way of leveling up by fighting enemies. The final area has minions that each give you close to 200,000 exp points which is enough to level up twice in every battle. It was crazy how the exp skyrocketed since that’s more than just about every boss fight in the game. You could say the game wasn’t very well balanced by the end.

That leads to one of my issues with the game which is that there actually seem to be “dead spots” where you are trapped in a place with no enemies to fight and no way to escape. So in theory if I couldn’t find a way to beat the boss then I would be permanently stuck. Any good game always needs to leave you a way out so you can go and train so that was surprising here. I could see that being a real big issue if I played on hard mode or something. It’s something any RPG needs to really be careful of because that would just be incredibly disheartening. I’d probably have to put my controller down right then and there.

Meanwhile the graphics are very solid here. The character models can be a bit stiff but we do get fight scenes with them so the game does know how to use this pretty well. Then you also have the soundtrack which is rather limited but still good. What this all tells me is that the game’s budget wasn’t super high or anything like that but they still did a good job in making the game fun so I have to give them credit there. That isn’t always easy. With an even greater budget I’m sure there is a lot more they could have done here.

As it is there is still a good amount of replay value here. There are plenty of bounties to be completed and collectibles to grab. At the end of your journey you can even grab the Platinum trophy which would certainly be fun to have. I’m not sure just how difficult this one would be to grab but if it’s not too high then I may go for it. I have already gotten the platinum for a few One Piece games in the past after all. Either way you can see how the game gives you a whole lot of content for your purchase so you can definitely buy the game at full price and feel good about it.

The game’s original characters in Lim and Adio do a good job of being very memorable. Lim may not be much of a fighter or anything like that but she has a classic character arc of slowly learning to enjoy the journey with Luffy and friends more instead of always being so analytical. Adio’s mystery gradually unfolds as you play through the game but ultimately he’s not really someone I liked all that much. Maybe in part it’s because the game was too obvious with where his story was going to go but whenever the guy was on screen you knew that nothing good was going to happen for him at least.

Overall, One Piece: Odyssey is a great game. At times the lack of budget starts to seep through but ultimately it’s a good chance to hang out with Luffy and the gang again. I think it did have some ambitious mechanics within it like every character having their own special ability. The game just could have done a little more with it. Mainly I’d just like them to follow their own premise a bit better and not just sabotage it right away. It’s just a very strange move narratively. Still, if you like One Piece or want to play a fun RPG, this one should be right up your alley.

Overall 8/10

One Piece – Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack Review

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It’s time to jump far into the past with this one for a retro One Piece adventure. It’s a full original story with just the first 3 Strawhats so that’s pretty fun. The team has grown a lot over the years but there’s still something special about seeing the first crewmates team up to take a villain down. The special goes by very quickly but makes the most of its roughly 30 minutes. We get some good action here and Luffy gets one step closer to being the King of the Pirates!

The story starts with Luffy and the crew chilling on a boat when they are attacked by a giant monster. Unfortunately they are at sea so Luffy isn’t able to fight once he hits the water and this prevents Zoro from claiming the easy victory because he has to save Luffy. So Nami is kidnapped and eventually Luffy finds himself on a mysterious island. He saves a girl named Medaka from two pirates and finds out from her that the pirate known as Ganzack has taken down the whole village. They no longer have enough food to survive and need someone to save them. Luffy may not be a traditional hero but he likes his food so he is ready to help.

Ganzack actually does rather well as the villain here. For starters he actually takes down Luffy twice which is likely way more than anyone was expecting here. He just takes him down like it’s nothing and you may expect that once, but twice? Granted Luffy was much weaker back then but it’s still fairly unheard of to be taken out like that. Ganzack also talks about being the King of the Pirates several times which helps to really establish him as a big threat. He’s not someone who’s just playing around here but trying to accomplish his dreams.

There isn’t much more to his character beyond this but it’s enough to still make him a solid villain. I liked his fighting style with the little crab arms. It wasn’t something that you’d quickly forget. I dare say Zoro would have had a tougher time beating him though. This was early enough in the series where you could make the case that Zoro was stronger than Luffy. Some would say Luffy didn’t truly pass Zoro until he obtained Gear 2 but it would be a fun debate either way.

Regardless Zoro definitely looks great here though. He commands a lot of attention as the pirate hunter and pretty much takes down the whole army on his own. He didn’t need any help and he didn’t take any Ls. He was just around dominating the whole time with his 3 sword style. Meanwhile Nami is surviving as bet she can with a little trickery and it makes sense as a strategy. When you can fool the villain really easy then you may as well do that right? Luffy and Zoro should still have enough confidence in her not to think that she has actually turned evil or anything like that. I’m cool with the plan because it didn’t seem super risky and it’s not like she had to do anything villainous in order to gain Ganzack’s trust. So it worked out pretty well.

Meanwhile this is probably not Luffy’s best appearance since he was getting wrecked so often but I guess we can chalk it up to him being overconfident. By the end he was ready to make his comeback and start winning. It just took him some time to really get settled. Luffy gets credit for not backing down from a fight although that’s the bare minimum for any good lead.

It’s definitely interesting seeing One Piece with such a different animation style. It feels extra retro and not having the same sound effects when Luffy does his attacks will take a little getting used to. Still, I think this group could have done a fine job with the series. I liked the speed showings they gave to the characters and the action scenes are on point. I wouldn’t call this high budget but it has aged well enough so it works on that level. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side for the most part. There are a few scenes where it feels like the music is about to pick up but then the scene ends real quick before that can happen.

The special is really short as I mentioned but it does work well. You’ll be engaged from start to finish and it’s really just a chance to see the characters get to fight some villains. It would have been nice if Ganzack had a right hand man or something so Zoro could fight him instead of the normal minions though. That would have helped make the film even cooler but this way at least they had Zoro taking on the whole army.

The original character here was also not bad. Medaka may just be a kid who wants to help her town but she doesn’t get in the way and actually saves Luffy twice. Once directly and the other indirectly by triggering his rage mode. So she really did a good job here and was likable which isn’t always easy for the heroes made up for the movies and specials. In general the writing here was on point which really goes a long way to making this a solid special.

Overall, If you’re looking for more One Piece content then this is a special you will want to check out. Ganzack makes for a memorable villain and there is a lot of action here so that’s all you really need. There is never a dull moment here and everyone gets something to do. It’s too bad they don’t make short specials like this quite as much nowadays. Personally with how One Piece sells I’d be trying to generate one of these every year. I’m sure the profits would be enough to cover the expenses each time. Maybe have a dedicated company that would handle these so it doesn’t impact the show.

Overall 7/10

One Piece Film: Z Review

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It’s time to look at the most well known DBZ One Piece film out there. Film Z always got a ton of hype due to the fact that it had the DBZ type battles. I was certainly eager to check this one out and it turned out to be a lot of fun as expected. I would even give it the slight edge over Stampede. Mainly my only issue with that one was since it was all of the hype characters fighting each other almost none of the battles even had an ending. Here there is a winner or loser in each match which I think was important. It’s always good to finish things and the battles are a blast. More on that in a minute but this is definitely a film you should check out.

The movie starts by introducing us to Z. He is attacking a large island and Kiazaru shows up to try and stop him. It’s a pretty good fight but Z manages to blow up the island anyway. We then fast forward to where Luffy and friends are sailing as normal. They help Z out of the water and nurse him back to health but since they are pirates and his mission is to destroy them all, he ends up attacking and easily defeats the Strawhats. The team will now have to try and mount a comeback tour. Can Luffy really defeat this immensely powerful Z character?

Right away the first scene of the film started things off on a high note. The battle with Z vs the Marines are definitely solid. Kizaru has always been pretty much untouchable in the One Piece series so it was nice to see someone make him sweat a bit. That said, Kizaru was definitely going to win that round if it had kept going. As strong as Z is, he’s just not ready to take down Kizaru. Part of the issue here is that Kizaru’s ability to turn into light itself makes him extremely fast and also extremely hard to injure. How can you stop a guy who can just zip away at light speed? Z’s sea prism arm helps to negate that but at the same time he isn’t fast enough to actually grab Kizaru so at most it just helps him bypass the light and actually deal some damage at ties. Every step counts though so I suppose we take those.

There are a lot of action scenes throughout and they’re all quite solid. One of the best fights is definitely the opening skirmish with Z. It’s always fun to see the Strawhats actually team up against an opponent. It feels like they haven’t actually done that since Aokiji so it was nice to see here. I like to think that the big 3 should have done a little better against Z but as they said later on, their guards were down at the time. The film also uses a lot of 3D views during the fight which is nice. They tend to work pretty well for stylizing the fights. RWBY’s been adding some more of that in lately as well. It helps you really see the full attacks which works out quite nicely. The battles here definitely aren’t playing around and the animation is great as you would expect.

Then we’ve got the soundtrack which is solid although I don’t care for the pirate’s song. It plays near the beginning and near the end of the film but both times I didn’t really feel like it meshed all that well with what was going on. I dunno, it just had no real energy or life to it. You can do soft songs that are still pretty epic but this was not one of them. Beyond that, the rest of the songs were pretty solid though which is good. One Piece is all about being high energy so we wouldn’t want to lose that.

Film: Z goes by very quickly so the pacing is solid. There are a lot of action scenes but there’s also a lot of downtime so fortunately those scenes work out well enough. The writing is on point and this feels like a classic One Piece adventure. My only real fault with the film is that it can definitely be a bit obnoxious with the fanservice for Nami and Robin. Fortunately Nami gets taken out of the picture for a while since she gets turned into a kid but before that the film really seems to make fanservice her main role. It’s nothing crazy compared to other films and shows, but it’s definitely there and quite direct about it.

As for the new characters, there were really 3 main ones. The first is Z and he makes for a solid villain. He’s had enough of pirates messing up the world so why not just end everything right? If he destroys the new World then that’s it. I do question how he believes this would destroy all pirates though. The only way is if the entire planet does literally blow up which seems like a possibility I guess but at the same time they seem to act like it’ll destroy a lot of people but not everyone. No matter how you slice it, the pirates would be the last survivors if anyone was to live so the humans would need to watch out. Some Devil Fruit Users can fly as well so a flood wouldn’t be the end. It would be time to fly up to Skypiea.

Z’s motive here is really about revenge so it’s a compelling mission. He’s certainly made a lot of sacrifices to get to this point. He’s also quite determined in his goal to take out the pirates and doesn’t waver. From all of the big film antagonists he would have to be the best one so far. Then you have his right hand lady Ain. Her ability to de age a person by 10 years every time she makes contact with them is quite impressive. It’s definitely a very useful ability that won’t steer you wrong. How do you hope to fight an ability like that right? Her battles with Zoro were quite impressive and her ability has to be one of the most dangerous ones in the series. Especially if she hides the true effect until it’s too late.

Then you have Binz who is just as loyal as Ain but doesn’t stand out as much. His ability is that he can dance to summon up plants. It’s a pretty useful ability for sure, but not nearly as flashy. I would also make the case that he should have lost a lot sooner but at least his speed does help to compensate for his ability not being very offensive in nature. His battle with Sanji is also pretty solid. As for the main cast, they’re all pretty true to form. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji are still the heavy hitters here dealing with the enemies. Usopp and Brook can never focus long enough to actually be of help and just limit the crew for the most part. Nami and Robin get the job done when they appear even though they aren’t core fighters. The group is pretty big at this point so it’s always hard to find a villain group big enough to deal with all of them.

One last thing I have to mention though is that the government’s plan was pretty terrible here. So, from their point of view if Z destroys all 4 end points then the world might end. After he destroys two of them they have a big meeting about protecting the last 2 points with every available marine. So they should be around for the final 2 islands right? Wrong! On the final islands they’re basically just messing around the whole time and show up too late. They have some flunkies protecting the points but that’s it. Shouldn’t they have had the Admirals there or something? If Luffy hadn’t shown up then all 4 islands would have been destroyed for sure and the Marines wouldn’t have done a single thing. So no matter how you slice it, they failed here and owe their lives to a pirate. I don’t know what they were thinking.

Overall, One Piece Film: Z is a pretty fun ride. There was a good amount of detail put into the villains here so you should remember them. The story is strong and it’s always nice to see someone giving Luffy a good fight. It may be a little unsatisfying to some that Luffy doesn’t put up a bit of a better fight here but Z’s not someone you can really mess with. Zoro and Sanji put their opponents down pretty quick though so at least they brought their A game. If you like action films or just want a good adventure then this is definitely a solid film to check out. The One Piece films always do a good job of making sure you can understand what is going on whether you’ve already seen the series or not. Of course, you’ll understand the cameos and easter eggs more if you’re a fan of the series.

Overall 8/10

One Piece Strong World Review

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This has definitely been a movie that’s been on the backburner for quite a while. Strong World is known as one of the better One Piece films or at least when it came out it was known as such. After that we got some heavy hitters like Z and Gold which have also forged a name for themselves. Strong World is definitely a fun film but definitely a step under Gold and I get the feeling that Z will win. It’s a good all around adventure, but does have some issues.

The film starts off with the Strawhats scattered once again amidst a bunch of flying islands. We then see that Nami has been captured by the pirate known as Shiki, the strongest man in the world. Luffy and friends will have to hurry if they want to save her and after this we also learn how she was captured in the first place. Shiki has amassed a large pirate army and many other crews have also gathered to help him wipe out the East Blue. The stakes are high and continue to escalate as the terror approaches the home of the Strawhats.

Shiki is definitely established as a powerful villain here since he is untouchable for most of the heroes and even Luffy has to play defense for most of their encounters. The film makes it very clear that Shiki is stronger than Luffy. In a straight fight the hero just has no shot to win here. While not unheard of, it is still rare to see Luffy losing like this. He takes quite a lot of hits throughout the film. Shiki’s ability is to manipulate gravity and that helps him enhance his speed and power as well. Shiki is definitely a powerful enemy, but I can’t say that I cared for him.

He’s super quirky to the point where it is hard to keep thinking of him as a threat. He panics with his subordinates quite a bit after all and has a very short memory span. Nami manages to escape from him several times as well so you do have to doubt his security measures. Being good in a fight is not enough to make you a great enemy. His two lieutenants also aren’t all that good. One is basically King Kong and the other one is decent with a sword, but too busy trying to keep up charades to actually remain as a threat.

As expected the animation is quite good. Surprisingly the film doesn’t lead off with the big high budget scene. Typically the films love to show the environment and the animation in the first shots like in all of the Pokemon films. For the One Piece film it starts off with a Shiki scene first and then cuts away to Luffy which is where the animation goes way up. The visuals for the jungles are definitely quite solid and the whole thing is very smooth. This is one area where it can definitely hold its own against the newer titles.

I also really liked the soundtrack. The tunes are a lot more fun than what is in the actual show. It’s going for a very “nature-esque” array of themes which makes sense since Luffy is in the jungle the whole time. It’s all very fast paced and high energy. The film definitely went all in on a technical level.

So where does the film falter? Well, it does have a fanservice issue. To an extent we can always expect that with One Piece with Nami around, but Gold for example did a good job of restraining itself. Maybe a tiny moment here and there, but Strong World just keeps it coming for quite a bit. It’s enough where it is noticeable. As mentioned, the villains are also a little on the weak side. The ones in Gold had a lot more character. Brook also still exists and so naturally most of his dialogue is terrible.

It is also a bit iffy to see Luffy and the others get wrecked so badly, but that I can roll with since you can’t ask for the strongest villain to fight and then be upset when he clobbers the heroes. At least Luffy and the others put up a fight although Luffy should have gone into Gear 2 as soon as Shiki went after Nami. There’s no real reason to hold back when lives are at stake right? Zoro and Sanji are definitely shown to be out of their league this time, but they do get to contribute a little at least. The scene of the whole team trying to fight Shiki was cool because they almost never get to fight an enemy like that. The only time I can think of off the top of my head is when they all fought Aokji. I love group fights like that and for One Piece I feel like that may never happen again, but the series has a ways to go so hopefully they do get to do that. In the meanwhile the movies help with this since it’s a lot easier to have the whole group assemble here.

A standout character was actually a thunder bird named Billy. At first you expect he’ll just be a fun animal mascot to aid Nami, but the guy can fight. He takes out a ton of giant monsters and without him Luffy wouldn’t have stood a chance against Shiki. Billy’s the kind of movie character you want to have. He doesn’t steal moments from the main cast, but does assist a lot so he doesn’t feel like a filler character either. The guy just wants to help his friends out and you can’t go wrong there.

One key part that the film does right is keeping the adventure very fast paced like all good fantasy films should. There’s rarely a time where the film really slows down so there is a lot of replay value. I may not call this film great, but I did have a fun time and there’s a lot to like here. It’s just a good popcorn fun adventure where you get to see all of the characters unleash their signature abilities and take down some villains. It’s a little contrived that both Sanji and Zoro’s opponents escaped only to have to fight them again though. I’m thinking they wanted to include their second intros, but you do have to wonder how the villains would have escaped in the first place.

Overall, Strong World is definitely a fun film that I’d recommend. Whether you’re a fan of the series or not you’ll definitely enjoy it. There are enough recap nods and such to ensure that even people unfamiliar with the series can get into it. I thought the opening showing off all the members of the crew was handled really well. They all get the name bumpers and a quick scene so you can see what they can do. Nami is the last to be shown, but I think you’ll still be able to tell that Luffy is the main character since his segment is the longest and he just feels like your classic Shonen lead. I’ve always loved character intros like this so One Piece really nailed it here. I look forward to seeing what the next film is like.

Overall 7/10

Condiment King vs Nami

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Suggested by Adrogoz The Condiment King may be treated as a bit of a joke in most of the comics that he is in, but this guy doesn’t play around. He has some powerful nerve gas at his disposal and ketchup for days. It won’t be enough to overcome Nami’s lightning blasts though. Her staff can produce many different weather abilities and they are all trouble for this King. Nami wins.

Dario Brando vs Nami

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Suggested by Adrogoz Dario Brando is a new fighter who is ready for some action, but I’m afraid that there aren’t many fighters that he can beat. The guy is effectively just an old man who might have a gun at best. Nami could easily beat him in close quarters combat or she can just zap him with a lightning bolt. As Dario isn’t exactly a quality character I don’t expect that he will go very far in his future fights either. Meanwhile Nami continues her winning streak. Nami wins.