One Piece Movie Collection 3 Review

4 stars for this compilation of feature length adventures with the Straw Hat Pirates.

One Piece Movie Collection 3 consists of Movies 7, 8 and 9, and brings the story up to One Piece Movie: Strong World, which is number 10 in the series.

One Piece Movie 7 is entitled Mega Mecha Soldier of Karakura Castle, and is an all new adventure. When the Straw Hats find a treasure chest, they naturally expect it to contain treasure. However all it contains is an old woman, who has what is known as a Kame Pose, which can lead them to her home island where the Gold Crown can be found. This is a legendary item, fabled to be able to be worn only by the King of the Seas.

Luffy is, of course, extremely interested in this, so off they go, only to be met with a less than enthusiastic reaction from the locals, and in particular Sir Ratchett, son of the old lady and self appointed leader of Mecha island.

The team must solve the riddle of the Yurari song and work out why Chopper is hearing voices in order to figure out the secrets of this mysterious island and get the treasure they feel they deserve for returning the old woman home.

Fans of One Piece who follow the series using the UK releases may find this one a little strange, as it hasn’t had the Funimation treatment, so although the characters look the same, if you are used to the dubbed version they sound totally different, which is a little disconcerting at first!

One Piece Movie 8 is entitled Episode Of Alabasta: The Pirates and The Princess of The Desert and will be extremely familiar to anyone who has watched the Alabasta arc, as it basically redoes that story line, but in a condensed form. The Straw Hats must help the Princess Vivi to save her homeland from Baroque Works, a gang of evil mercenaries. This film has been dubbed, so features all the familiar voices, if you want it to.

One Piece Movie 9 is entitled Episode Of Chopper + The Miracle Winter Cherry Blossom and again, is not a new story. It retells the Drum Island story, in which the Straw Hat Pirates first meet Chopper, the ship’s doctor. It is a bit of a strange one, as it features Franky (who wasn’t part of the crew yet when they met Chopper) and they are also aboard the Thousand Sunny, whereas in the anime Chopper joins the crew on the Going Merry. As with Movie 7, this one hasn’t been dubbed and is available only with English subtitles.

Although this is obviously a must own for One Piece fans, it is nevertheless slightly disappointing to discover that two of the films are essentially just remakes of existing story lines. That said though, they are still great fun with our favourite pirates and there is unlikely to be a One Piece fan that wouldn’t thank you for popping this compilation into their Christmas stocking.

One Piece Movie Collection 3 is available to buy now on DVD.