Advance Anime Review: One Piece: The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta
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Gretchen Lee
Gretchen is an anime junkie who spends far too much time reading manga and searching for that elusive new favorite series. She lives with her cat, and raises tomato trees. By Gretchen Lee
Published on 02/17/2008
My introduction into the world of Monkey D. Luffy and his shipmates was fun and good for a smile, but I get the distinct feeling this eighth movie is best enjoyed by those who are more familiar with the series...
Land or sea, a pirate's life for thee
My introduction into the world of Monkey D. Luffy and his shipmates was fun and good for a smile, but I get the distinct feeling this eighth movie is best enjoyed by those who are more familiar with the series. Although, for a person like me, who went into the movie completely clueless, it wasn't difficult to cotton on to the story. It was a pleasant surprise to not be lost, and follow along, even if a few of the jokes probably flew right over my head.
One bright, sunny afternoon at sea, Luffy and his comrades make a disturbing catch: A cross-dressing dancer with the ability to mimic other peoples' faces. While the dancer is showing off his talent, Vivi, princess of the desert city Alabasta, recognizes one of the faces as her own father's. She doesn't tell the others until after the catch of the day has made his grand exit, and realizing something is Not Quite Right, they sail for Vivi's home.
She returns to find it torn by a civil war created by the face-stealing cross-dressing dancer, Bon Clay, and his leader, Crocodile, of the Baroque Works gang. Luffy and the others vow to help Vivi, more because their rival Crocodile is involved rather than concern for her home, although, being good people, they do care about bringing an end to a senseless war as well.
I don't know how this particular film measures up with the preceding seven, but it did well as a stand alone film. Okay, so afterward I did have to go look up the original One Piece to find out why Luffy is so darned flexible, but other than that, I was able to enjoy the characters as they were presented, even without backstory. Luffy's crew members all had distinct personalities, and I liked that the movie didn't seem to depend too much on previous events that might have happened in the ongoing anime. If it did reference previous events, then the film did a good job explaining what was needed for this particular story.
The artwork in the movie is...interesting. Folks who are used to the series are most likely used to the artwork. Encountering it for the first time, I didn't like it. All those distorted faces and skinny limbs just didn't do it for me. By the end of the movie, however, the bright colors and odd character designs had grown on me. Now, I don't want all my anime looking like this one, but One Piece is unique, and I'll never mistake it for another series.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie. It had pretty colors, it made me smile, and there was plenty of action. Humor and action go a long way in making for a fun movie. It's not something I would personally buy, but people who are into the series have probably already gone to see the movie in the theater thanks to FUNimation's "The Foreign Exchange" project, and pre-ordered their copy of the dvd. Adventures in Alabasta is an entertaining introduction to the One Piece world, and would most likely make a nice addition to someone's ongoing collection.
Details: Runtime 90 minutes, rated PG-13. There are no extras on the disc, but it does include a trailers section on the menu. This film will be released on dvd February 19th.
One bright, sunny afternoon at sea, Luffy and his comrades make a disturbing catch: A cross-dressing dancer with the ability to mimic other peoples' faces. While the dancer is showing off his talent, Vivi, princess of the desert city Alabasta, recognizes one of the faces as her own father's. She doesn't tell the others until after the catch of the day has made his grand exit, and realizing something is Not Quite Right, they sail for Vivi's home.
She returns to find it torn by a civil war created by the face-stealing cross-dressing dancer, Bon Clay, and his leader, Crocodile, of the Baroque Works gang. Luffy and the others vow to help Vivi, more because their rival Crocodile is involved rather than concern for her home, although, being good people, they do care about bringing an end to a senseless war as well.
I don't know how this particular film measures up with the preceding seven, but it did well as a stand alone film. Okay, so afterward I did have to go look up the original One Piece to find out why Luffy is so darned flexible, but other than that, I was able to enjoy the characters as they were presented, even without backstory. Luffy's crew members all had distinct personalities, and I liked that the movie didn't seem to depend too much on previous events that might have happened in the ongoing anime. If it did reference previous events, then the film did a good job explaining what was needed for this particular story.
The artwork in the movie is...interesting. Folks who are used to the series are most likely used to the artwork. Encountering it for the first time, I didn't like it. All those distorted faces and skinny limbs just didn't do it for me. By the end of the movie, however, the bright colors and odd character designs had grown on me. Now, I don't want all my anime looking like this one, but One Piece is unique, and I'll never mistake it for another series.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie. It had pretty colors, it made me smile, and there was plenty of action. Humor and action go a long way in making for a fun movie. It's not something I would personally buy, but people who are into the series have probably already gone to see the movie in the theater thanks to FUNimation's "The Foreign Exchange" project, and pre-ordered their copy of the dvd. Adventures in Alabasta is an entertaining introduction to the One Piece world, and would most likely make a nice addition to someone's ongoing collection.
Details: Runtime 90 minutes, rated PG-13. There are no extras on the disc, but it does include a trailers section on the menu. This film will be released on dvd February 19th.