One Piece: Episode of Merry - Mou Hitori no Nakama no Monogatari

The Straw-Hat Pirates' beloved ship “Going Merry” is given a recreated animation, condensing the story arc from the anime into an hour and 45 minutes. I was unsure how they would go about doing this, because how can one tell the story of Merry's life without just rerunning the entire show? Merry was first introduced in episode 17, and remained a constant companion and friend to the Straw Hats until episode 312. Rather than rehash everything in the show, Episode of Merry does a brief run-through of their time with Merry through the first several seasons, and this part only takes up the very beginning ... of the movie; then, the remainder of the film is focused on the Enies Lobby arc, where we will eventually say goodbye to Merry.

The Enies Lobby arc is focused on Robin for the main part, with Merry also playing a key role.
For those who have watched the show, you know that Merry had been falling apart for quite a while, and this causes an unfortunate dispute between the members of the crew when they are trying to figure out what the next plan of action is. All of this was wonderful and tugged at my heartstrings, reminding me of how emotional it had been to watch the first time.
However, at a point in the movie, I had completely forgotten that Merry was supposed to be the focus of the movie because all I was watching was the Straw Hats fighting to save Robin from the CP9. They skip over all of the CP9 fights except for Luffy's, but even his fight with Blueno was shortened considerably.
Then, we have the final epic battle between Luffy and Lucci, and following this sequence we swing the story back toward Merry, and this then takes up the rest of the movie.

Before all of the One Piece fans hate me for giving it a lower score, please read what I have to say and just know that I absolutely love One Piece.

Story: 6 (Fair)
The Enies Lobby arc was one of my all time favourites to watch in One Piece. I loved the premise, the conflicts, and the emotions that came along with it. The show had a nice balance of loss and gain; what with the crew's minor falling-out, the loss of a dear friend, but also the gain of an old and new friend. It was all very memorable.
My issue with this movie's story is that it's too fast. Just as a reminder, the Enies Lobby arc (plus the Water 7 arc when the CP9 first arrived) was over 80 episodes long, and probably totaled to at /least/ 30 hours of material. Even when skipping over several details, that is a lot of information to cover, and cannot possibly be done in an hour and 45 minutes. So, what the writers (or, re-writers) of this movie did was cut out what they felt was unnecessary, and kept the most enjoyable or memorable parts. The problem is, some of the most memorable parts are /not/ related to Merry. Sure, Luffy kicking Blueno's ass was great, and was mostly known for being the start of Luffy's attack “Gear Second,” but the only reason they included Blueno's fight was because of the Gear Second (which would then be used later) and because people love that fight. Was it pertinent to Merry's story? Not directly. And therefore could have been taken out.
There are parts in this arc that would have been more relevant to Merry, but were left out entirely for reasons I don't know, and instead were focused on Robin. I know that Robin's part in the movie could not be avoided, but there would have been better ways to go about it. Realistically, they should have called this “One Piece – Episode of Robin and Merry.”

Art: 8 (Very Good)
One of the big attractions of these One Piece films that remake old arcs is the art. With new, upgraded resources the artists can remake the story with much higher quality, and more use of shades and highlights. Does it look cool? Absolutely. When watching the original and comparing it to the movie, most of the fights take place during the day, however the show has much more vibrant colours. There is nothing wrong with that of course, it is just how it is. The movie on the other hand gives it a slightly more muted colour. Part of me definitely likes seeing the darker shades, it's just a colouring style I enjoy.
The colours I'm fine with, what I was /not/ fine with was the way certain scenes were re-drawn. One Piece is known for being very expressive, and anyone who watches the show can attest to that statement; eyes and mouths can expand or shape in any way possible (or impossible), and this is used especially frequently during emotional or intense scenes. The re-drawings in the movie felt like a toned down version of what was expressed in the show.
One of the positives of the art is the movement. It is obvious that a lot of effort was put into making certain scenes look amazing, with smooth animation that was very fun to watch.

Sound: 8 (Very Good)
It's the same voice actors and the same lines in many parts. Some scenes were (vocally) delivered differently than the original, and it's not that it was bad, but I am more used to hearing the original so it felt slightly odd to hear. I won't count that against the sound score much, because that is mainly a personal preference of mine, and not something that can be avoided when re-recording the lines.
I'm not sure if this bothered anybody else, but sometimes the music didn't feel right. Songs were played at times when they shouldn't have been played or didn't play when they should. For example, in the show, Robin announces to Luffy that he should go and leave her to die; following this scene, the rest of the crew approaches and a song beings to play, it's a fairly up-beat and triumphant tune that works with the scene perfectly. In the movie, Robin is giving the same speech, and /while/ she is talking, this triumphant music is playing instead of waiting for the approach of the crew. It doesn't seem right to play the music that practically embodies confidence and hope while a person is announcing they wish they were never born.
Despite my complaints, the sound, for the majority, was good. All of the voice actors are talented and amazing.

Character: 5 (Mediocre)
Because certain scenes were cut, there were so many characters that were given no time to develop at all. In fact, I cannot even begin to list the number of characters that didn't get to deliver one single line but were placed in the scene for the sake of keeping it the same as the original. Had I not watched the show, there are times while watching this movie that I would have been completely lost. Characters just show up without introduction and suddenly vanish without an explanation. Who are these people? Why are they doing this? Well, those of us that watch the show (or read the manga) will know the answer to these questions, but nobody else would. Just because the fans know the story well enough doesn't give the movie's creators a free pass. From an outsider's standpoint, the characterization is just sloppy and disorganized, because, like I said, they attempted to cram too many episodes into one movie.

Enjoyment: 6 (Fair)
The pacing was off, going fast in some parts and slower in others, and that was something I was noticing frequently. The show often tends to drag on longer than necessary, but I much prefer that over rushing through scenes like it's a race.
Being the shonen-anime fan that I am, the fights were appealing to watch for the most part. Luffy vs Lucci will always be one of the greatest fights for me, but even those scenes had flaws which brought the enjoyment bar down for me.
I did enjoy seeing a movie that was (partially) dedicated to Merry and her importance to the crew. Merry has been and will always be an important chapter in the Straw Hats' lives.

Overall: 6 (Fair)
If the movie had actually focused entirely on Merry, I am almost certain I would have enjoyed it more, because in my opinion, Merry's story and Robin's story are separate things that intertwined perfectly in the show, but ended up feeling like two separate movies all together in this. If you cut out all of the scenes that meshed the two stories together, then there is no bridge between plot A and plot B. Because of that, I was not able to enjoy the movie as much as I hoped I would. There is simply too much condensed into too small of a time frame.