One Piece Film Z is the 12th overall anime movie based on Eiichiro Oda's popular manga of the same name. Just like the 10th One Piece movie entitled, "One Piece Strong World", Eiichiro Oda also supervised the creation of this movie. The movie is about a former Marine Admiral named Z and his plan to destroy all pirates.
Former Marine Admiral Zephyr, now going by the name Z steals the Marines' greatest weapon, the Dyna Stones to execute his plan to destroy the End Points, which will eventually lead to the destruction of all the pirates travelling in the New World. So how did the Straw Hat Pirates ended up getting involved in this one? They saved Z's life once, and after Z learned that they are pirates, he decides to eliminate them. With the Straw Hat Pirates wanting revenge for what Z did to their ship and its crew, can Luffy and his crew stop this madman in his plan to destroy the New World?
For starters, I am not the biggest One Piece fan around. The last One Piece story arc that I watched was the Amazon Lily Arc when it was airing here in the Philippines... till Bleach replaced One Piece in the timeslot. Dang it. Anyway, this movie is set during the show's New World Saga, which takes place a few years after Luffy and his crew began their adventure towards the Grand Line. Since this is just a spin-off of the TV series, it is expected that casual movie goers might get lost from time to time, but don't worry about it, the plot of the movie is self-contained and you can just easily figure out who is X and who is Y.
Now for some technical stuff about the movie. If there is one thing I learned from watching anime movies produced by Toei Animation Studios is that they always put their A game when it comes to their movies, and One Piece Film Z doesn't disappoint when it comes to animation. Granted, there are some bad quality frames from time to time, but overall, the studio did a great job when it comes to the movie's animation. Speaking of which, I can't help but notice that the pervy fan service scenes in this film are well animated. As for the non-pervy fan service scenes, it is more on the Marine characters that didn't made their New World arc appearance in the anime during the time this movie was released last year.
Continuing on the technical stuff, the music is great but there is nothing worth talking about it. As for the two Avril Lavigne songs used in the movie, I just love that they used Avril's acoustic take on "This is How You Remind Me" in the credits when our heroes returned to Dock Island to return the stuff they borrowed. The scene is kinda sentimental and it has this feeling that Luffy is passing on his legacy to the kid he met in that island. Lastly, the use of "Bad Reputation" for the second credits scene while childhood pictures of some of the One Piece characters is being flashed on screen is quite an interesting choice for a picture montage.
Final part about the movie's technical stuff, where does this movie take place in the One Piece timeline considering that Eiichiro Oda is involved with the movie's production? According to the man himself, the movie is non-canon. But since One Piece is a series that takes place in the best setting of all, the ocean, I guess I can just consider this as one of those adventures that the crew had along the way to the Grand Line. This is what I like about One Piece, the show's setting and its creative world are perfect opportunities to write filler arcs that doesn't feel like filler arcs.
Now that I am done with the technical stuff, it is time to talk about the movie. Like I said, the movie is self-contained. You don't need any background about One Piece for you to enjoy the movie. Though basic knowledge about the series might be helpful from time to time, but overall, it is not necessary for someone to be a One Piece geek just to for you to enjoy the movie. As for the story, it is really great. Most of the meat of the story is related to Z's motivations on why he wanted to activate the three End Points of the New World.
Z's motivations can be traced back during the time he is in the Marines and how he ended up becoming the monster we saw in this movie. His fall from the boy who dreamed becoming a hero, into a monster created by tragedy and harsh reality is really well done. The way they presented the flashback showed us where he focused his emotions on. You can see his high faith with the Marine system till the part he slowly realized how corrupt the system can be, thus deciding to create his own Marine Corp, the Neo Marines.
At one point in the movie, the Straw Hat Pirates are wearing Armani. Weird.
So what about the Straw Hats in this movie? Luffy continues to be the one who drives his crew in this kind of situation. In this case, Luffy's curiosity over weird things is the reason why they got involved with this mess. But here's the thing about this movie, Luffy's motivations change from time to time. His first motivation is to get his revenge after they were badly beaten by Z. After getting badly beaten up by Z again, his motivation changed into something that is more simplistic, something that I expect Luffy will say.
As for the rest of the crew, their bond with their fellow crew mates is still the same from the movie and each character has a chance to shine from time to time. Since one of the reasons why One Piece is popular to its male fans aside from the action is the female characters, it is kinda expected that they have some fan service scenes. Thankfully, the director knows when to place these fan service scenes so that us viewers will not be distracted about it once the plot starts to kick in.
Aside from the Straw Hats, a lot of Marine officials are also part of this movie thanks to their relation with Z's past. From these Marine characters, former Admiral Kuzan aka Aokiji gets the most spotlight. He didn't appeared in the movie to kill the Straw Hat Pirates, but he is more of an observer on what's going on with the Z situation. He had a couple of fight scenes in this movie but that is not worth talking about to begin with. So how about the fights worth talking about? All I can say is they are all fantastic. The duels between some of Z’s students and some of Luffy’s crew are well done. My only disappointment about it is the lack of proper build up when it comes to their rivalry.
The climactic battle of the movie is seriously fun to watch. Seeing the Straw Hat Pirates used the weapons left by the pirates that were defeated by Z feels like seeing people who are carrying the grief these pirates have after they were pummeled by Z. If there is one thing that surprised me in this scene is Nami, I mean, I wasn't expecting that she can still fight with her de-aged body! Another thing about the group battle is how the characters that were de-aged reverted back to their actual age. It kinda feels like I am watching a transformation sequence from a magical girl anime.
Z and Luffy's duel at the end of the movie is the highlight of this flick, and they did one fantastic job when it comes to the animation and the tension rising up in that duel. The buildup for this final battle is one of the reasons why I really liked this scene. I just love that they executed every move they have and that it goes straight shonen anime fist fight once they got really tired. What I like about this scene is aside from throwing some punches; they kinda talked about their ideals with their fist. By the time these two are fully exhausted, the two ended up gaining the mutual respect for each other.
At the end, Z performed one heroic sacrifice to save his new friends and his living comrades. What I like about this scene is that it both emotional and badass at the same time. During the time I was watching this scene; I can't help but do a salute because of Z's actions. To top it all off, we have this short flashback scene revealing that he dreamed of becoming a hero when he was still a child. This scene showed us that finally, after overcoming the harsh realities of life, he finally fulfilled his dream of becoming a hero.
Overall, One Piece Film Z is one fun adventure movie. If you are a big One Piece fan, it is highly recommended that you watch this flick, but if you are one of those casual One Piece fans who stopped watching the series at one point in your life, it makes you want to watch the series to the part where you left off. That's how I feel about this movie, especially when I hear my friend point out every character that he can spot in this movie, especially those characters that he kinda fanboyed for a bit. Because of that, I am starting to wonder why those characters that this movie barely featured are worth watching.
