May 4th, 2020 
Charles Solomon 
Eiichiro Oda’s pirate comedy-adventure One Piece may well be the most popular animated franchise on the planet. The 96 paperback collections of the original manga have sold more than 450 million books–not far behind the “Harry Potter” series. More than 939 episodes of the animated TV series have been produced with no end in sight. Not to mention theatrical features, OVA’s, TV specials, video games, light novels, trading cards and a flood of license products.
A “life-sized” (174 cm or about 5’7”) statue of Luffy stands in front of the Kumamoto Prefectural Government building to attract visitors–and commemorate Oda’s ¥800 million ($7.1) donation to help his hometown rebuild after a devastating earthquake in 2016.
As a boy, Monkey D. Luffy (rhymes, appropriately, with “goofy”) declared he would become King of the Pirates. Around the same time, he ate the cursed Gum-Gum Fruit, which turned his body into rubber: He can out-stretch Elastigirl to deliver kicks and punches, and can’t be harmed by lightning. Over the years, he’s assembled an eccentric crew that includes Usopp, a needle-nosed sniper with a slingshot; Brook, a pop musician who’s a living skeleton; Roronoa Zoro, a scarred warrior who fights with three swords simultaneously; and Tony Tony Chopper, a doctor who’s technically a reindeer, although he looks like a teddy bear.
The 14th feature One Piece: Stampede (2019) was created to mark the 20th anniversary of the animated series, and scored a big hit in Japan. The sinister Buena Festa invites any and all buccaneers to a Pirate Festival, where a lucky participant might win a chance to acquire the fabulous treasure of Pirate King Gol D. Roger. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates attend, as do a lot of their friends and foes from the series: Buggy the Clown appeared in Luffy’s first adventure, two decades ago. Dozens of characters put in cameo appearances, and the longer viewers have been watching One Piece, the more pirates they’ll recognize.
Lurking in a cavern beneath the festivities is Douglas Bullet, a.k.a. the Demon Heir, a former member of Roger’s crew who hopes to assume Roger’s mantle. His proclamations that people can and should only rely on themselves infuriate Luffy, who values friendship over everything. Bullet has the power to absorb and transmute things surrounding him, and he morphs into a gargantuan, seemingly indestructible monster. Luffy and his chums have to take him out.
The minimal plot serves as an excuse to launch a no-holds-barred slugfest that includes explosions, fist fights, earthquakes, naval bombardments, and more fist fights and explosions. Director Takashi Otsuka successfully uses CG for the pirate ships, explosions and crowd scenes without breaking the familiar, 2D world of the series. The nonstop mayhem of the last hour or so of the film will delight One Piece fans, although the uninitiated may find it exhausting.
Luffy never grows or changes. Colleen Clinkenbeard, who supplies his trademark raspy voice, notes, “The rhythms of Luffy’s speech come from the fact that he doesn’t think: Everything is a little bit confused or overly happy.” But his big heart, his silliness and his devotion to his friends win audiences wherever he goes.
Earlier this year, Netflix announced it had ordered ten episodes of a live action adaptation of One Piece. An adventure that centers on a character with an infinitely flexible rubber body and his equally bizarre chums sounds like a property that should remain animated. But perhaps this new version of One Piece will fare better than the disastrous attempts to re-do Dragon Ball and Ghost in the Shell in live action.
One Piece: Stampede
Funimation: $34.98 2 discs, DVD and Blu-ray
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