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Review

by Carl Kimlinger,

One Piece

DVD Season 3 Part 2

Synopsis:
One Piece DVD Season 3 Part 2
Having entered Skypiea without permission and subsequently beaten the snot out of the White Berets sent after them, Luffy and his crew are declared 2nd degree criminals. As reward for their reclassification, half of the crew is kidnapped and the other half forced through a series of trials to save them. The kidnapped half, comprised of Zoro, Robin, Nami and Chopper, immediately abandons their intended role as victims to explore the Upper Yard while Luffy, Sanji and Usopp head straight into their trial, a fight to the death with Satori, one of God Eneru's top priest-lieutenants. Havoc is subsequently wreaked. Taking advantage of the havoc, Wyper, the leader of the Upper Yard's dispossessed natives, stages an assault aimed at destroying Eneru and reclaiming his people's land. Even greater havoc is wreaked.
Review:

The Skypiea arc gets underway in earnest here, which means all of the world-building, power-explication and villain-vilifying you can stomach. Skypiea is the first extended arc since Alabasta, and extended arcs are great, but they do require a lot of grunt work to set up. This set is pretty much pure grunt work—necessary, but not necessarily much fun. Though, being One Piece, it's more enjoyable than it has to be.

This is the part in the story arc where the laws, physics, conflicts and other assorted details of whatever country the Luffy Pirates are visiting are laid out. We learn here, for instance, that the sea-shells that form the basis of Skypiea technology can also be used for more nefarious purposes than powering boats and cooking soup—like crushing skulls and torching boats. We are introduced to Mantra, a mysterious power that allows God Eneru and his followers to predict martial-arts moves, as well as the various nasties who will be using it against our heroes. Rather a lot of Skypiea history gets spouted, filling us in on who the old dude with the knight complex is, how Eneru became God, and why the Indian-looking guys hate his guts. The Luffy Pirates also investigate the fate of the city of gold they heard about back on the surface and learn more about the laws and hierarchies of God Eneru's despotic government than perhaps they want to.

That's a lot of information to be dumped in a short time, and there's no denying the drag it has on the series' forward momentum. Rather than charging, the series kind of lurches forward, stopping between fights with God Eneru's lieutenants and encounters with giant man-eating fauna to explain this or that point. The relatively minor Satori battle is so heavily inter-cut with Nami's explorations and the natives' battle preparations, among other things, that it stretches out over four whole episodes. Which, given how please-god-make-him-stop annoying Satori is, is four episodes too long. Speeches, flashbacks, and cuts to Eneru doing his megalomaniac thing have a similarly disruptive effect on later episodes.

And yet, no matter how inelegant its info dumps, or how distended its episodes, the series never completely loses its entertainer's instincts. Nami's explorations aren't just a means of resolving the city of gold mystery and overextending the Satori fight, they're also fun little interludes with a classical adventure bent. Sure the Satori fight is too long and too discontinuous, but it's also brimming with the series' customary imagination (Satori's combat style is unconventional, to say the least) and ends with one sadistically satisfying thumping. And, absent high adventure and cathartic violence, the series never loses its screwball sense of humor. Not even when expounding on the wonders of sea-shell technology.

With the series occupying itself detailing Skypiea and laying the foundation for the maelstrom that will inevitably consume it, there is little opportunity for it to showcase the capabilities of its whacked-out visuals. There are plenty of explosions, chases, boating accidents and other sundry bursts of action, but none of the explosive confluences of violence and tragedy that show off the series' seamless blend of incongruous cool, brutal fighting, and gut-punch drama to its best advantage. Goonies-styled adventuring allows for any number of opportunities to explore the many, sometimes grotesque, comic reactions Luffy is capable of, but few chances, if any, to showcase the black-faced thunder he can summon when his ideals are trod upon. And without a properly constructed no-holds-barred fight to let loose during, neither the bombastic energy of the razor-edited cheapo animation nor the stirring power of the series' larger than life score can be fully appreciated.

After some of the rather listless dubs Funimation has been saddling its less important series with, it's a bit of revelation to come back to One Piece. It isn't the company's best (that would be Sgt. Frog), but it is a lively, colorful adaptation that isn't afraid to punch up the script with character-appropriate banter or to follow the original straight over the top. Among the returning cast Sonny Strait's Usopp remains a wisecracking treat, while the smooth villainy of J. Michael Tatum's Eneru and dead-on accuracy of Chris Cason's Satori make them standouts amongst the Skypieans. Oh, and the goat people are hilarious. Good stuff.

As usual this set's one major extra (aside from the marathon feature) is a one-episode commentary track, this time featuring One Piece dub honcho Mike McFarland and actresses Stephanie Young (Robin) and Luci Christian (Nami). The advantages of multiple ADR directors, the challenges of acting and directing without full knowledge of the series, and the shifting perceptions of their characters are all discussed.

With its character introductions, motivational flashbacks, and Skypiea-expanding informational interludes, this is one of those stretches of episodes that is best appreciated not for what it is, but for what it is setting up. What it is, is exposition—alleviated by pummeled priests, bazooka-wielding natives, and eye-popping dives off of mile-high waterfalls, to be sure, but still exposition. What it is setting up, as the chaos it builds to in its final episodes attests, is an all-you-can-eat feast of unfettered pirate mayhem. Excuse me while I wipe away the anticipatory drool.

Grade:
Overall (dub) : B-
Overall (sub) : B-
Story : B-
Animation : B-
Art : B
Music : B+

+ Everything you ever wanted to know about Skypiea in thirteen easy lessons.
All preparation and no payoff, and clumsy preparation at that.

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Production Info:
Series Director:
Toshinori Fukazawa
Satoshi Itō
Aya Komaki
Yasunori Koyama
Kōhei Kureta
Hiroaki Miyamoto
Tatsuya Nagamine
Munehisa Sakai
Junji Shimizu
Kōnosuke Uda
Director:
Toshinori Fukazawa
Satoshi Itō
Aya Komaki
Yasunori Koyama
Kōhei Kureta
Hiroaki Miyamoto
Tatsuya Nagamine
Munehisa Sakai
Junji Shimizu
Kōnosuke Uda
Series Composition:
Junki Takegami
Hirohiko Uesaka
Shoji Yonemura
Script:
Shinzō Fujita
Hiroshi Hashimoto
Akiko Inoue
Naoki Koga
Takuya Masumoto
Kisa Miura
Isao Murayama
Tomohiro Nakayama
Tsuyoshi Sakurai
Michiru Shimada
Yoshiyuki Suga
Yōichi Takahashi
Junki Takegami
Suminori Takegami
Jin Tanaka
Atsuhiro Tomioka
Hirohiko Uesaka
Ryota Yamaguchi
Ryō Yamazaki
Shoji Yonemura
Storyboard:
Honehone
Masatoshi Chioka
Akitarō Daichi
Tetsuya Endō
Akiko Fujisawa
Junichi Fujise
Kentarō Fujita
Toshinori Fukazawa
Hiroshi Hara
Morio Hatano
Jong Heo
Ayako Hiraike
Mamoru Hosoda
Masahiro Hosoda
Takahiro Imamura
Eisaku Inoue
Shō Inuzuka
Megumi Ishitani
Katsumi Ishizuka
Naoyuki Itō
Satoshi Itō
Bahi JD
Hidehiko Kadota
Yukio Kaizawa
Gō Koga
Aya Komaki
Ken Koyama
Yasunori Koyama
Kōhei Kureta
Takeshi Maenami
Tetsuaki Matsuda
Shō Matsui
Wataru Matsumi
Nanami Michibata
Hiroaki Miyamoto
Yoshio Mukainakano
Tatsuya Nagamine
Yutaka Nakajima
Ryōta Nakamura
Tetsuji Nakamura
Yukihiko Nakao
Yutaka Nakashima
Masayoshi Nishida
Daisuke Nishio
Seiji Okuda
Hazuki Omoya
Makiko Orimoto
Takashi Otsuka
Munehisa Sakai
Toshihiko Sano
Hiroyuki Satō
Naotoshi Shida
Tasuku Shimaya
Junji Shimizu
Nozomu Shishido
Makoto Sonoda
Yoshiyuki Suga
Yūsuke Suzuki
Kenichi Takeshita
Yasuhiro Tanabe
Ryōsuke Tanaka
Takayuki Tanaka
Henry Thurlow
Katsumi Tokoro
Yûji Tokuno
Yong Ce Tu
Kōnosuke Uda
Yoshihiro Ueda
Ryota Yamaguchi
Shigeyasu Yamauchi
Kenji Yokoyama
Episode Director:
Tetsuya Endō
Yuji Endō
Junichi Fujise
Kentarō Fujita
Toshinori Fukazawa
Morio Hatano
Ayako Hiraike
Mamoru Hosoda
Masahiro Hosoda
Eri Hyun
Yōko Ikeda
Takahiro Imamura
Shō Inuzuka
Megumi Ishitani
Takaaki Ishiyama
Naoyuki Itō
Satoshi Itō
Hidehiko Kadota
Yukio Kaizawa
Hiroyuki Kakudō
Gō Koga
Aya Komaki
Harume Kosaka
Ken Koyama
Yasunori Koyama
Chihiro Kumano
Kōhei Kureta
Toshihiro Maeya
Shō Matsui
Wataru Matsumi
Nanami Michibata
Hiroaki Miyamoto
Kazutoshi Mori
Yoshio Mukainakano
Tatsuya Nagamine
Daisuke Nakajima
Yutaka Nakajima
Ryōta Nakamura
Tetsuji Nakamura
Yukihiko Nakao
Yutaka Nakashima
Kōdai Nakatsuka
Daisuke Nishio
Hazuki Omoya
Keisuke Ōnishi
Takashi Otsuka
Munehisa Sakai
Toshihiko Sano
Hiroyuki Satō
Tasuku Shimaya
Akira Shimizu
Junji Shimizu
Nozomu Shishido
Makoto Sonoda
Yūsuke Suzuki
Kenichi Takeshita
Hikaru Takeuchi
Yasuhiro Tanabe
Kōji Tanaka
Ryōsuke Tanaka
Henry Thurlow
Katsumi Tokoro
Yûji Tokuno
Kōnosuke Uda
Yoshihiro Ueda
Sumio Watanabe
Tōru Yamada
Shigeyasu Yamauchi
Unit Director:
Toshinori Fukazawa
Tomohiro Higashi
Eri Hyun
Megumi Ishitani
Satoshi Itō
Aya Komaki
Kōhei Kureta
Nanami Michibata
Tatsuya Nagamine
Takashi Otsuka
Tasuku Shimaya
Music:
Shiroh Hamaguchi
Kōhei Tanaka
Original Manga: Eiichiro Oda
Character Design:
Kazuya Hisada
Noboru Koizumi
Midori Matsuda
Art Director:
Tong Nian Chen
Kunihiro Chida
Jason de la Cruz
Yurino Doi
Momoko Fujikura
Kumiko Fukuzawa
Jun Golez
Eiji Hamano
Yoshiaki Honma
Guo Wei Huang
Toshinori Iino
Eisaku Inoue
Iwamitsu Itō
Michiyo Kawasaki
Shinichi Konno
Toshiaki Marumori
Takafumi Mizuno
Dhavee Morato
Hideto Nakahara
Nagisa Nishida
Minoru Ōnishi
Yū Saitō
Uli Samaniego
Yuri Sanan
Dino Francis Santos
Miyuki Satō
Tadami Shimokawa
Hiromitsu Shiozaki
Miho Shiraishi
Seiichiro Sugiura
Makoto Suwada
Midori Tanaka
Shoji Tokiwa
Natsuko Tosugi
Fumihiro Uchikawa
Tomoko Yoshida
Ryūji Yoshiike
Takashi Yoshiike
Chief Animation Director:
Kazuya Hisada
Keiichi Ichikawa
Takeo Ide
Hisashi Kagawa
Midori Matsuda
Yong Ce Tu
Animation Director:
Honehone
Majiro
Shigefumi Aragaki
Zhen Lei Cheng
Toshio Deguchi
Kentarō Fujita
Masayuki Fujita
Yasuko Fukumoto
Mami Furutoku
Huan Ge
Grand Guerilla
Yūji Hakamada
Eun Mi Han
Zi Wei He
Kazuya Hisada
Feng Cheng Hu
Keiichi Ichikawa
Takeo Ide
Kazuyuki Ikai
Takuya Imakado
Eisaku Inoue
Masahiko Inuzuka
Katsumi Ishizuka
Yūsuke Isōchi
Kimitaka Itō
Shūichi Itō
Nobuyuki Iwai
Atsuko Kawamura
Jun-Oh Kim
Yu Jin Kim
Yuki Kinoshita
Masahiro Kitazaki
Yukari Kobayashi
Noboru Koizumi
Takashi Kojima
Yūji Kondō
Kazuya Kuta
Ye Sung Lee
Shao Lei Li
Natsuko Makiyo
Hideaki Maniwa
Midori Matsuda
Kenji Matsuoka
Kiyoshi Matsushita
Yūki Minagawa
Keisuke Mori
Naoki Murakami
Yukiko Nakatani
Asako Narasaki
Keita Saitō
Sadahiko Sakamaki
Toshihiko Sano
Masahiro Shimanuki
Takanori Shimura
Takayuki Shimura
Shigefumi Shingaki
Kouji Sugimoto
Shū Sugita
Shinichi Suzuki
Masayuki Takagi
Isamu Takara
Kazuo Takigawa
Shigenori Taniguchi
Naoki Tate
Yong Ce Tu
Yosuke Yabumoto
Takumi Yamamoto
Tadayoshi Yamamuro
Megumi Yamashita
Mamoru Yokota
Kenji Yokoyama
Art design: Ryūji Yoshiike
Background Art Director:
Yoshiaki Honma
Guo Wei Huang
Director of Photography:
Hideki Chiba
Tomoya Hosaka
Hirosato Ōnishi
Producer:
Shintarō Hashimoto
Miki Kobayashi
Yoshihiro Suzuki
Satoshi Teramoto
Licensed by: FUNimation Entertainment

Full encyclopedia details about
One Piece (TV)

Release information about
One Piece - Season 3 Voyage 2 (DVD)

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