Director: Konosuke Uda
Starring: Mayumi Tanaka, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Kazuya Nakai, Christopher R. Sabat, Akemi Okamura, Luci Christian, Kappei Yamaguchi, Sonny Strait, Hiroaki Hirata, Eric Vale, Ikue Ohtani, Brina Palencia, Yuriko Yamaguchi, Stephanie Young
Running Time: 575 minutes
Certificate: 12
It’s taken over 200 episodes but the Straw Hat Pirates have finally made it. Not to their destination of course, but in to the fantastic world of widescreen. The first episode of the latest set is the conclusion to the Navarone arc, but after that the colours are brighter and the image stretchier, just like Luffy himself. This allows for more of the brilliant artwork to be seen, and also lets the action sequences take place on a wider canvas. We’ve all come to take widescreen for granted, so this transition is a stark reminder of just how much more we are treated to.
Unfortunately the latest arc isn’t exactly the best one to revel in the joys of better quality animation. Instead we are treated to an irritating series of sketches in which the Straw Hat Pirates must take part in competitions after making a bet with the incredibly annoying Captain Foxy of the Foxy Pirates. The bet means that for every task lost, the winning crew get to pick a member from the losers. The games range from races, to a ballgame, and of course an epic fight. These are fun individual distractions, but never go anywhere too interesting. You could probably lost the entire arc without damaging the plot at all.
Foxy is more of an annoyance than a threat, and in both original language and dub he is almost too much to take. This does mean that when he loses we get extra satisfaction, but just when we think we’ve gotten rid of him, he returns for a few more episodes. It reeks of filler and Luffy is also depicted as extra naive and downright stupid in these episodes for the sake of comedy.
Thankfully we get a few other arcs in this collection too. One involves nearly the entire crew losing their memory, which serves well to show us how far the characters have come. There’s more mystery and intrigue to these episodes, and the same can be said for a sneaky peek at new antagonist, Admiral Aokiji. Both of these storylines bring Nico Robin to the front, which is also a good thing considering she is the most interesting character.
This is a set of fun episodes more so than an overall experience. It’s a good set to dive in and out of, but other than the episodes involving Aokiji, it could almost be ignored. By no means essential, it is still impressive it took this long for One Piece to falter slightly. No matter though, as what it promises in the future is certainly something to be excited about.
[usr=3] One Piece Collection 9 is released on DVD on 13th April.
