I quite enjoyed this one! Larger scale than the last film but plays in a similar register tonally, feels right at home in the part of the story it was made during and the animation is lovely, the CG elements are honestly better integrated than we would see much later in the series. The look of the traditional animation shot with film combined with the higher budget than the series here makes for a look that holds up great. And at this point in the serialization by Toei, more of the music and tropes are set in stone, so it sounds and plays out like One Piece a bit more than the last film (for better and worse but I digress). But I think the best comparison on how these early movies have felt is something like the early Pokémon films or the Lupin III ones in how they let us hang out with our casts in adventures that feel cohesive and cozy. Also the credits featuring a clip show of the Baroque Works arc yet to come was awesome, seeing Dory and Brogy (my boys) slapped and I can't imagine what it must've felt like to see all that the crew would come to encounter this early on in the story! The last thing in my notes here is so include some sort of joke about the Trump Pirates on a private island full of diamonds trying to force a minor to marry their captain that will age poorly once we are on the other side of the current political climate but I couldn't think of anything relevant.
I quite enjoyed this one! Larger scale than the last film but plays in a similar register tonally, feels right at home in the part of the story it was made during and the animation is lovely, the CG elements are honestly better integrated than we would see much later in the series. The look of the traditional animation shot with film combined with the higher budget than the series here makes for a look that holds up great. And at this point in the serialization by Toei, more of the music and tropes are set in stone, so it sounds and plays out like One Piece a bit more than the last film (for better and worse but I digress). But I think the best comparison on how these early movies have felt is something like the early Pokémon films or the Lupin III ones in how they let us hang out with our casts in adventures that feel cohesive and cozy. Also the credits featuring a clip show of the Baroque Works arc yet to come was awesome, seeing Dory and Brogy (my boys) slapped and I can't imagine what it must've felt like to see all that the crew would come to encounter this early on in the story! The last thing in my notes here is so include some sort of joke about the Trump Pirates on a private island full of diamonds trying to force a minor to marry their captain that will age poorly once we are on the other side of the current political climate but I couldn't think of anything relevant.