Ranked #2033

One Piece: Chinjuujima no Chopper Oukoku

One Piece: Chopper Kingdom of Strange Animal Island is like watching an extended episode of the One Piece and that's why it's a worth the watch. In truth fans of One Piece will get a bigger kick out of watching this then people who aren't familiar with the anime, it's more or less made for them. The story in the film is typical One Piece affair with one thing unexpected happening, resulting in the crew trying to resolve the situation while something else happens that will interlock with the main plot and then the situation is sorted through the power of courage and friendship.

Watching this was just like watching the series except with a higher degree of animation and it is the quality of animation that makes the film shine. One Piece episodes around the time of 2002 looked okay but the movie quality allows for some really smooth character animation and richer colours for backgrounds which really adds to the overall experience. The characters in the film are just as good as they are in the series and in terms of sound and music they happen to be in good supply too. Overall I really liked the film just because it was One Piece in a higher quality animation; it's definitely worth the watch if you can't get enough of the One Piece adventures. read more

This is the third One Piece movie, theoretically taking place after Chopper joins the crew and before they go to Arabasta. They messed up the crew roster though; there should be Vivi in there too but they chose not to add her. Probably because she was so useless, lol. Just like all movies, it is a filler mission with a good budget and a simplistic plot. The story is just about the Strawhat Pirates getting to an island full of weird animals, were poachers are looking for some magical horns that will make them powerful and a token kid asks them to help out.

This is by far the most unimpressive premise of all the movies since there is absolutely nothing grand scaled going on here. Ok, supposed the bad guy is going to be super powerful if he finds the horns but even after he succeeds he is nothing before Luffy’s plot armour. Just imagine that although Oda takes ideas from these movies into the canon story later on, there was anything worth to tribute here, since everything is so damn simple in terms of themes. There are many islands with jungles and weird monsters in canon anyway.

In reality the whole movie is dedicated to the latest addition to the crew, Chopper (and his voice actress). It even tries to build a sort of drama around his personality where he finds a place to call home. There are many animals like himself there and he had the chance to leave the crew and stay there for a happy life. Ok, it is clear that he won’t in the end but supposed the drama is there to make us feel sad or something.

As unimpressive as the premise may be, the artwork makes up for it somehow by being extremely detailed and weird. I mean, damn, there are so many colours and weird animals in here to give you a seizure. The screen is constantly filled with a hundred things to look at and there is even a weird orchestra of villains that mesmerize you with their song. It all feels very quirky for a shounen adventure and I guess that is what makes this movie eye-catchy but otherwise boring for most of the target audience. The action is after all closer to crazy than cool and personally I didn’t like them at all. And the monsters felt like ugly aliens so I almost ended up hated them. So in all, it is not just another passable movie but also something you will most likely dislike in overall.

Oh and don’t miss the special short that comes with the movie. “Soccer King of Dreams” may only be 5 minutes long but has some really good jokes in it.

And now for some excused scorings.
ART SECTION: 9/10
Analysis: General Artwork 2/2, Character Figures 2/2, Backgrounds 2/2, Animation 2/2, Visual Effects 1/2

SOUND SECTION: 6/10
Analysis: Voice Acting 2/3, Music Themes 2/4, Sound Effects 2/3

STORY SECTION: 4/10
Analysis: Premise 1/2, Pacing 1/2, Complexity 1/2, Plausibility 0/2, Conclusion 1/2

CHARACTER SECTION: 4/10
Analysis: Presence 2/2, Personality 0/2, Backdrop 1/2, Development 0/2, Catharsis 1/2

VALUE SECTION: 1/10
Analysis: Historical Value 0/3, Rewatchability 0/3, Memorability 1/4

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 1/10
Analysis: Art 1/1, Sound 0/2, Story 0/3, Characters 0/4

VERDICT: 4/10 read more