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The Series:
The second season of One
Piece is in full swing and Luffy and his crew start the first big
story arc
since arriving on the Grand Line. With a
new crew member, some new villains and some very tall new friends the
show
hasn't lost any steam and is still going strong.
Series background:
When Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates was executed, he
used his last words to tell the world that he had hidden all of his
treasure:
"You want it, you can have it. Find it! I left everything the world has
to
offer there!" This started the Great Pirate Era: the seas are filled
with
men looking for adventure, riches, and most of all Gold Roger's
treasure: the
One Piece.
Of the many looking for the One Piece, few are as unlikely
to find it as Monkey D. Luffy. This young boy has vowed to become King
of the
Pirates, but he doesn't have a ship, or even a crew. He sets off to sea
in a
barrel, and it is only by luck that he's taken aboard a pirate ship.
While Luffy may have none of the skills that a pirate would
need, like how to navigate on water (or dry land for that matter) he
does have
a powerful advantage: he's eaten a Gum-Gum Devil Fruit. This magical
object has
turned his body to rubber. Not only does this make him invulnerable to
bullets
and most physical attacks, but he can stretch his arms great lengths
and use
his first as powerful weapons or turn himself into a human slingshot
and launch
his body through the air. Along with his unwavering resolve to succeed,
this
makes him a formidable opponent.
In the first season Luffy set off from his home in an old
barrel and started to gather his crew.
He now has a real ship and the people to man it:
Zoro (translated as Zolo in the manga) a
pirate-hunter who wants to become known as the best swordsman in the
world, Nami,
an attractive thief who acts as navigator and dreams of mapping all of
the
oceans of the world, Sanji, a cook and master kick-boxer who's greatest
desire
is to find the All Blue a sea that contains every type of fish in the
world, and
Usopp, a youth who's good with a slingshot (and telling tall tales) who
has
dreams of becoming a great pirate also.
Together they're searching for the One Piece!
This set:
At the end of the last set Luffy met Nefeltari Vivi.
As this set opens, the pirate discovers that
she's really the crowned princess of Alabasta, located on an island on
the
Grand Line. Her country is undergoing a
revolution and she has volunteered to fund out just who is behind it. Infiltrating the criminal organization
Baroque Works, Vivi has discovered that Mr. 0 is inciting the people
and plans
to take over the country. Not only that,
but she's uncovered Mr. 0's true identity:
he's really one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Sir Crocodile.
Unfortunately she reveals this information to Luffy, Nami,
and Zoro while agents of Baroque Works are spying on them, which puts
the whole
Straw Hat Crew in danger. Totally
ignorant of the danger, Luffy agrees to take Vivi back to her country
so she
can reveal the origins of the rebellion.
With Baroque Works after them it won't be easy, and what's worse
is that
they have to stop on another island first, Little Graden.
While it sounds peaceful, Little Garden is anything
but. It's an island lost in time, with
dinosaurs and vicious beasts inhabiting it.
Not only that, but there are two giants, Dorry and Broggy, from
the island
of Elbaf.
They have been fighting a duel, everyday for over 100 years. Each time it ends in a draw.
When members of Baroque Works arrive on the island
and discover that the giants have a huge bounty on their heads however,
their
constant combat draws to a close.
There's also a side story that takes up a couple of
episodes. In these we get to find out
what happened to Luffy's friend from the first season Coby and
Helmeppo, the
son of "Axe-Hand" Morgan.
They've joined the marines as chore boys, but they come to the
attention
of an admiral when Helmeppo's father escapes.
I enjoyed this collection just as much as I did the earlier
ones. The show continues to faithfully
adapt the manga, and Creator Eiichiro Oda has not lost any of his
imaginative
flair. The creative creatures and
bizarre situations continue to entertain.
I especially enjoyed Sanji and Zoro's contest to see who could
bring
back the biggest dinosaur and Mr. 3's totally weird power.
As with the earlier episodes, the animation style continues
to be a little on the cheap side and cuts a lot of corners. The show airs for over 40 weeks a year in Japan,
and
creating an animated show that often is grueling. So
a lot of short cuts are taken. It's not
unusual to see the camera panning or
zooming in and out on static images to give the illusion of motion, the
backgrounds (and foregrounds for that matter) are pretty sparse. They also repeat a lot of footage at the
beginning of every episode, with these recaps sometimes taking over 3
minutes. That's a lot especially when
you're watching the shows one after another.
It should also be noted that this is the uncut version of
the show. Though it is aimed at kids, there is some swearing. People
called
"ass" and "son of a bitch", but nothing worse than that.
People do get killed too, and when blood is spilled it's red. The show
isn't
very bloody though, and I had no problems letting my 6th grader watch
it.
The DVD:
This set contains the next 12 episodes (67-78) on two DVDs,
each in its own thinpak case. The two
cases are held in a nice slipcase.
Audio:
This set offers the original Japanese track in stereo as
well as an English dub in either stereo or 5.1. While the 5.1 dub was
nice
during the battle scenes, I preferred the original language track. The
voices
just seemed to fit characters better and made for a more enjoyable
viewing
experience. The English voice actors did do a good job however and
people who
like watching in English shouldn't be disappointed.
Video:
The full frame video looked pretty good overall. The colors
were bright and solid and the blacks were nice and inky. The image was
generally sharp too. The only real problem was a more than average
amount of
aliasing. Diagonal lines are often jagged and when the camera pans
across a
scene, fine lines tend to shimmer a bit. There's also a bit of cross
colorization, but it wasn't distracting.
Extras:
I was a little disappointed that the bonus items were so
meager. There's a "Marathon Play" option, which lets you watch the
show without the opening and closing credits, which is really cool. I
wish more
anime would offer something like this.
Unfortunately the only other bonus item commentary on one
episode by the
English crew that was about average for an anime commentary track.
Final Thoughts:
A battle between two giants that have raged for 100 years, a
villain who can shoot an unlimited amount of wax out of his arms, and
the
return of Coby and Helmeppo. What more
could
you want? Still as entertaining as ever,
this set is a must-own. Highly
Recommended. |
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