One Piece: Film Z

Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates are enjoying a little down time on their ship, the Sunny, when they encounter a formidable foe. The embittered Z, once the honoured Marine Admiral Zephyr, has decided to rid the world of pirates once and for all and – with his Neo Marines – has stolen the unbelievably explosive Dyna-Stones from his former Marine colleagues, aiming to blow asunder the End Points, three volcanic islands in the New World. Luffy and his friends resolve to stop him – but as Z wields a massive false arm made of Seastone (which considerably weakens the powers of Devil Fruit users) this puts them at a severe disadvantage. Add to that the fact that one of his aides, the beautiful Ain, uses a Devil Fruit ability that can make her opponent lose years in age, reducing Nami and Chopper to youngsters (although Robin doesn’t object to losing a decade or so and neither does Brook, because when you’re a skeleton, well, age doesn’t matter so much…) It looks as if all the cards are stacked in Z’s favour and that his evil plan will go ahead, extinguishing untold numbers of innocent lives alongside the hated pirates. Can the Straw Hats and the Marines stop Z before it’s too late?

One Piece: Film Z (2012) makes a decently watchable addition to the growing list of One Piece films (it’s the twelfth). Directed by Tatsuya Nagamine (Assistant Director on One Piece Movie 8) from a screenplay by Osamu Suzuki, it’s not nearly as original or visually imaginative as Mamoru Hosoda’s Baron Omatsuri  and the Secret Island (Movie 6). It’s also not a great place to start for anyone unfamiliar with the complex world of One Piece, especially as there are many little ‘in’-references that will only be meaningful to true aficionados. That said, it preserves all the features that make One Piece such a great piece of shounen story-telling: Luffy’s unquenchable optimism and sense of justice, his colourful crew, an unstoppable antagonist with a tragic and complex backstory; all enlivened by creator Eiichiro Oda’s crazily inventive creations and looking good in this Blu-ray version.

Relative newcomer Jeremy Schwartz (Oculus in Death Parade) makes a believable Z, a once-honourable man and much-respected Marine who has been embittered and warped by a tragic sequence of events. The role is taken by veteran Houchu Ohtsuka (Jiraiya in Naruto) in the original Japanese version. The regulars from the FUNimation dub team have settled into their roles after so many TV episodes, so the English version flows along splendidly, with Ian Sinclair especially noteworthy as musician/skeleton Brook.

A (disgruntled) word on the songs. The action starts with a slow pan across a while a man (Z?) with a deep, salty sailor’s voice sings a slow and regretful shanty/ballad unaccompanied. If you’re following the US dub, you’ll hear this in English – always a risky move and here, somewhat cringeworthy, as unaccented syllables end up on the main beats of the bar, making it sound like an uncle who’s had one too many at a family celebration and can’t quite get the words in the right places… Anyway, this song is obviously important. It’s going to recur at significant moments in the unfolding of the plot. But because the English version is so naff, you’ll want to be switching to the Japanese version which, frankly, isn’t much better in the vocal department. A poignant song, subtly used (and decently sung) can add so much – but, mishandled, as here, it can work against the drama, inciting giggles rather than bringing a tear to the eye.

And then there’s the Ending Themes: ‘How You Remind Me’ and ‘Bad Reputation’. If you’re an Avril Lavigne fan, you’ll probably be happy with these two songs. These seem to be cover versions of songs by Nickelback and Joan Jett. From my point of view they feel utterly out of place at the end of a One Piece film, but then, what do I know?

There are no extras on this Blu-ray edition.

In Summary

A worthy addition to the ever-growing One Piece mythos; One Piece: Film Z makes an entertaining watch for fans of the series, but will probably baffle newcomers. 

6 / 10

Sarah

Sarah's been writing about her love of manga and anime since Whenever - and first started watching via Le Club Dorothée in France...

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