On one hand I quite liked the story. The Strawhats, as always, are out on an adventure. It is wacky, funny with some slapstick and the good old jokes.
On the other hand the story is different from the usual One Piece we know, this is both good and bad as the story becomes interesting, but I will try to write them in a list.
Good points:
- You do not know what exactly to expect to happen, so the plot twist is more satisfying
- The usual deal about a bad guy who needs to be beaten is not all this story is about
- The Straw Hats are seen in a desperate situation which test their relationship to one another
- the plot twist also makes the movie seem like another movie altogether. The tone, so to say, change drastically and magnificently.
Bad points:
- Plot holes. In the end this alternative story is indeed refreshing, but it does leave some things unexplained.
- After the first initial start of the movie I found the pace to be slow for a while. However I believe it is because of the mystery presented in the movie and the viewer is left question what direction the movie is going into
- The internal struggle which the Straw Hats goes through is not resolved. It simply disappears, which I find to be a huge letdown and it also reflect my Character score
The art is wholly different from the standard One Piece art, but this is not necessarily bad, I just find it to be bad in this case. Both the background and the characters, especially the expression on the crews faces is different.
Much of the story has buildings in its background, and those are amazing to look at. The things is though, that they are too different from the characters design, it just does not mix well together, at times it looks as if the characters has been plastered on.
The expressions and characters designs seen one the crew is refreshing. The expressions seem more cartoonish to me, a big plus.
The music used is a mix of the standard from the series and and some original mixed together, they mix okay together. The voice actors also do a pretty good job. In short I found the sound to be the most satisfying in the movie.
The characters could have shined in this movie, but ultimately failed to do so. The movie put the Straw Hats up against each other, but fail to do it trustworthily, as they act out of character and the conflict is never resolved, it simply disappears.
All in all this movie has it shortcomings, but it does not fully take my joy from watching this movie. It was pleasing to see a different story, even if it did not fully do its job.
