Ranked #1528

One Piece: Episode of Alabaster - Sabaku no Ojou to Kaizoku Tachi

...Probably the worst One Piece movie that's been made.

Story:
It's just a recap of the Arabasta Arc, which had an a great storyline, that would alone get definitely at least a 9, but the movie left out some great parts like Ace's appearance and Mizu Mizu Luffy. Several things were changed around and shortened (especially the crew's battles) that took away some of its excellence. It is a movie though, so I was expecting a bit to be deleted and left out, but that's why it wasn't too great of an idea to make the 8th movie a recap of an arc, especially a fairly long arc that had a lot in it.

Art:
Some people like One Piece's art, thinking it's unique and different. Some people hate it, thinking it's ugly and horribly drawn. I like it, so I give it an 8 out of personal opinion. The movie did include some nice visual effects as well that added to the animation.

Sound:
Meh, nothing special, but by no means bad. Just...not anything special.

Character:
Character would get a ten, appearances weren't left out. Like Ace's, those pirates who travel with their boat on sand, and those turtle looking guys. However, it did of course include the main characters and all, which are all fabulous.

Enjoyment:
I did enjoy it, and I think most One Piece fans would, just because the last time I watched the Arabasta Arc was a long time ago, and so this kind of refreshed my memory of it. However, like I've said, it left out several great parts, and I think I would've rather had a totally different movie as the 8th movie. A movie that doesn't follow the storyline, just like all the other movies preceding this one. read more

It's very hard to rate this movie, because the work that it's based off of is of course magnificent, however the movie itself honestly doesn't serve much of a purpose.

The fact that this movie is lackluster stems from the inherent problem that it tries to condense a roughly one hundred chapter arc into about two hours. Of course this leads to a LOT of editing, so if you've never seen/read the Alabasta arc you will be confused for most of this movie. This would suggest that the movie's intended audience would be those who already have an idea of what's going on, however so much has been changed or removed that you'll frequently find yourself saying "That's not how it happened" or "They skipped over that!" or "Where is Mr. Prince!?" if you're anything like me.

That isn't to say you should skip this movie entirely, it does have some merit. It's One Piece, so of course the heart of it is spectacular, and if you're a die hard One Piece fan you will definitely enjoy it for the same reasons you enjoyed Alabasta in the actual series, even if it feels rushed. However I would say if you don't know much about One Piece and are looking to get your feet wet, this is probably not the best choice for you.

I would highly recommend this movie to people with an extreme One Piece obsession, who want to consume every piece of media that has anything to do with it. Anyone else may be disappointed. read more