The Story:
One Piece, even from the first chapter, has always been about being able to follow your dreams. From the start, the focus and importance put upon the character’s dreams and motivations has been one of the most endearing and amazing parts of this story to me. The Straw Hats’ goals are something that they are willing to risk their lives at any second, and as their bond grows tighter and stronger, they eventually hit a point where their collective goal is to ensure the completion of everyone’s dream. One Piece: The Movie does a great job showing and not telling us this from such an early part of this crew’s journey. With 24 years of hindsight, it’s crazy to see a story with such a small cast and limited focus, with there being more Straw Hats in the current day than named characters in this movie combined, but that charm lingers throughout the entire runtime, and makes this such a pleasurable glance into the past.
With just the original four Straw Hats, that limited focus can do a great job at shining each of their characters at this point in the story, after Syrup Village and before Baratie, and does a great job at giving each Straw Hat time to breathe and show off what makes them such a loved character 25 years later. Luffy’s determination, Zoro’s cold and calculating persona tied into his childish and competitive attitude that makes him a perfect first mate with Luffy, Nami’s greed but huge heart that at the end of the day puts her as one of the most selfish characters in the crew, and Usopp’s larger than life stories and tales that he spins to make sure none of his friends get hurt and he’s able to get away and stall until Zoro and Luffy arrive. All that being said, Tobio and his grandfather Ganzo are great single-shot examples of One Piece’s core thesis. Tobio’s dream of wanting to be an amazing pirate like his mentor Woonan and his grandfather’s dream to make Oden conflict in such a beautiful way, in a symmetrical way to how Luffy interacts with the world. Here we see a driven, motivated kid who against all odds continues to carve out his future and make his insurmountable dream come true. However, this kid is a mirror to the Luffy we see before he meets Shanks, NOT the Luffy we see now.
Like most young people Luffy meets and later on goes to inspire, Tobio is someone who is, at his core, unsure of his dream and is unsure of how he will be able to complete that dream. Through Luffy’s actions and the reveal of who his grandfather is and knows, Tobio can become assured in his dream of either following in his idol’s path or his grandfather’s path, but both potentially leading him to a happy, fulfilled life. This is the beauty of One Piece, and what I love about this movie so much.
The Visuals and Fights:
This movie has such charming, simple, and timeless animation that makes me feel so comfy, even though I've only been watching One Piece for just over a year and a half. Every time I start this journey again with the early animation, it takes me back to a time when I could picture myself watching TV on a Sunday morning on those old box TVs. The 4x3 ratio stretched out, the big hands and feet, the huge eyes and expressive mouths, everything just clicks so perfectly in such a charming way. Toei has improved their animation immensely since this was made, but I genuinely think the first 100~ episodes and first few movies have such a timeless, scrappy, and emotionally resonant animation style that we will never be able to replicate.
El Drago is your average One Piece villain, a character who has their goal (usually in opposition to the person Luffy and the crew are aiding) and gets humbled HARD by Luffy's Gum Gum Pistols. Since this movie is so early in the timeline, Luffy and Zoro are the only "fighters" in the crew, so I knew going in the fights was not going to be Wano-Scale, but I still liked them. We see Zoro's determination and ferocity, with his reputation scaring El Dragon's crew, and with how swiftly he butchers Golass and delivers the coldest line of the movie.
As for the Captain fight, Luffy gives it his all and deftly defeats El Drago, using his creativity and rubber body to counter the bullish strength of the villain. This fight is so nostalgic, with 24 years of fights in the rearview, as we see the simple yet impactful hits that Luffy delivers over and over again, fighting for his new friend's dream.
The Emotions:
One Piece is the most emotionally impactful series I've ever read, with even the "worst" backstory being some of the best in fiction (to me). This movie is no different. The comedy is on point as always, with each Straw Hat getting some good belly laughs out of me. With Usopp trying to con the pirates constantly, Nami faking being Woonan's granddaughter and her rage towards Luffy (always a perfect gag), Zoro's broke boy moment on the Oden ship and his forced edgy attitude, and Luffy just the entire movie, there is no shortage of humor throughout the entire movie.
As for the rest of the emotions, this movie hits the nail on the head. From moments of Hype with Luffy punching El Drago and saving Tobio, to sorrow as Tobio finds Woonan's corpse, to a new peak Luffy moment with him eating the dirty, broken Oden (not only a callback to Zoro eating the rice ball but to Luffy's personal feelings towards respecting people's dreams and not wasting food). This movie doesn't have the GREATEST of moments, but for having such a short runtime and not a lot of backlog of story to use for big, impactful moments, it does the job incredibly well. I'll think about the goodbye Luffy gives to Tobio and Ganzo for a long time, and how even though this isn't canon, I know that they'd be rooting for Luffy to this day.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, this movie was such a blast. I had a great time and it felt like a two-part episode of TV shows past in the best way possible. It was a great start to the amazing movies in the One Piece catalog that would follow this one up. Can't wait to continue this journey and get through the rest of the movies!
