One Piece Film: Z

The Straw Hat Pirates enter the rough seas of the New World in search of the hidden treasures of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger－One Piece. On their voyage, the pirates come across a terrifying, powerful man, former Marine Admiral Z.

Z is accused of having stolen the "Dyna Stones", weapons believed to have the power to shake up the New World. The Marine Headquarters believes Z is about to use it to end the pirate era, and with it, the lives of many innocent people. In fear of such a phenomenal event, marines start to take action against the former admiral.

Even if it means stumbling upon marines and the navy, the Straw Hat Pirates decided to chase after Z and stop him from causing havoc. As they continue to embark on their ventures, the pirates bump into new and familiar acquaintances.

Monkey D., Luffy Main

Tanaka, Mayumi Japanese

Roronoa, Zoro Main

Nakai, Kazuya Japanese

Sanji Main

Hirata, Hiroaki Japanese

Nico, Robin Main

Yamaguchi, Yuriko Japanese

Tony Tony, Chopper Main

Ootani, Ikue Japanese

Nami Main

Okamura, Akemi Japanese

Usopp Main

Yamaguchi, Kappei Japanese

Brook Main

Cho Japanese

Franky Main

Yao, Kazuki Japanese

Zephyr Main

Suzuki, Masami Japanese

Oda, Eiichiro Producer, Original Creator

Cook, Justin Producer

Sakagami, Marin Assistant Producer

Nagamine, Tatsuya Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jan 10, 2013

violroll

Recommended

Goda strikes again. I can't express in words of how amazing this movie is. All I have to say is go watch it for yourself.

For this review it will be broken down into four parts: Music, Animation, Characters and Story.

Music:
If you watched the trailers, you know that two tracks of Avril Lavigne would be played in the movie but you won't hear that until the credit rolls. First half was "How You Remind Me" and then "Bad Reputation" played after that. The original soundtrack was brilliant. It was different while at the same time maintaining that One Piece feel we all love; high tension ... to melancholy themes that played throughout different scenes.

Animation:
There was a lot of CGI just like Strong World. The action scenes were animated far better than anything I've ever seen in previous One Piece movies or the anime. The angles and camera movements following every scene was done fluidly.

Characters:
The title of the movie is quite self-explanatory. The movie focused on Z, at times even more than the Straw Hat gang. Character Z, also known as Zephyr had such deep story to him and if you love backstories of various characters in One Piece, you'll definitely love Z's. As for our lovable characters, the Straw Hats each got their turns to shine in this movie, however the stronger and prominent fighters such as the Monster Trio(Luffy, Zoro and Sanji) had their own individual opponent to fight. Franky was the next in line after the Monster Trio. Usopp also had good action scenes, but not quite on the same level. Nami and Robin at times were used for fan-service until the climactic battle at the end. Chopper was funnier than ever before, but not entirely important to the story. Brook didn't do a lot in terms of getting into battles, but he had his comedic moments just like Chopper.

Story:
This movie as an entirety was built around the Marine lore and back story. This will have it's drawbacks for some though. The story had lots of explanation regarding the principle themes of the Marines and some characters were basically used strictly just for the sole purpose of providing exposition. To fit the plot in a movie length time span, it was surprisingly well done. This was one huge gripes that I had with Oda's previous project, Strong World was a bit of a let down. With Film Z, I feel that he understood what it took to make a movie that retains the breathtaking aura of One Piece series, and he delivered it.

I would love to talk about just about every scenes in the movie but I want to keep it spoiler-free. If this movie doesn't win major awards in Japan, I will be very surprised. It surely deserves to be nominated in Japanese Academy Awards and win Best Animated Japanese Film Awards or even Best Picture of the Year Awards.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Apr 21, 2022

lethargilistic

Mixed Feelings

Admirable message that fits well into the New World, post-timeskip "One Piece" narrative, when the series has firmly become a four-dimensional chess game with a million characters. Had myself a good giggle when the cover of "Remind me of who I really am" by Nickleback was followed by just straight-up "I don't give a damn about my reputation" by Avril Lavigne. So poignant.

The action was good for the most part. There were points when it was trying too hard and the 3D effects made it look ugly, see Zoro's final fight with the woman. But I still liked it.

The gimmick of this movie, aside from ... having an episode or two of the anime lead into it (haven't seen, may one day), is that Nami, Robin, Chopper, and Brook get de-aged. I... They could have just skipped the joke about Sanji wanting to watch Nami grow up because it would be hot. I'm sure there's wholesome joke material in that premise. Maybe Sanji is just a completely stoic of young girls on principle. Maybe he's fair more taken with Robin as an 18-year-old. I dunno. Pedophilia was not it.

Speaking of which, I feel like this is perennial with all the One Piece characters after Alabasta, but they just do not utilize Robin, Frankie, or Brook enough at all. They each get like one laugh line and onr fight scene moment each. I'm less interested in Frankie and Brook, tbh, even though I would appreciate the improved storytelling if their involvement increased. But it's really a crime that Robin rarely has anything to do in these.

Like, they de-aged Robin so they could have her do "sexy" dancing, but she still contributes less than Nami as a child. And can we talk about how obnoxiously horny "One Piece" got after the timeskip? The switch to the busty character designs was one thing—people come in all shapes and sizes. But the boob jiggle and close-up shots of Nami's and Robin's BODIES ballooning up into adulthood. Literal fetish stuff and completely objectifying them, as we don't see their faces.

But I liked Z. I liked how his story incorporated the marines into the plot without falling back on them being a nebulous enemy. All of the marine characters know Z and have an emotional investment in him, and that comes across.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 25, 2023

Steamwood

Not Recommended

Funny

They gave a 60 year old man magenta hair, a terrible Southern accent, and Doflamingo's glasses and expect me to take him seriously?

I checked this out after hearing that it was one of the best One Piece movies, and I am leaving completely unimpressed. The plot is "bad guy wants to destroy everyone" in service of the same boring backstory you use when you have no ideas for why someone can justify their extreme means. The animation is good for about 3 minutes total. It's uncomfortable in the fanservice department given the messed up ages of the female crew. Barely any of the crew ... get to do anything fun except at the very end!

I wanted to check this out in the hopes that I'd been unfairly avoiding the anime and movies. Having seen what constitutes good for the adaptations of the series, I will continue to avoid them and stick to the manga!

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: One Piece Film Z Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Bigbuffoon - Apr 10, 2013	183 replies	by ExoTrillionic »» Oct 11, 8:53 PM
	Is it just me, or is the ending a bit unbelievable? removed-user - Aug 2	5 replies	by removed-user »» Aug 2, 11:46 PM
	Films kinda underwhelming someguy - Jan 14	11 replies	by RyoushiMorino »» Jan 17, 7:49 PM
	This film is a complete fail. lupadim - Aug 1, 2013	18 replies	by YoshiYogurt »» Jan 9, 2024 11:18 PM
	order DerpySven - Dec 3, 2023	5 replies	by neowise27 »» Dec 3, 2023 6:24 PM

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