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REVIEW: One Piece Film Red Blu-ray Disc




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louis6578



Joined: 31 Jul 2013
Posts: 1881
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2023 2:22 pm Reply with quote
I can't be the only one annoyed by the fact that despite AmaLee covering the songs exceptionally well, her covers aren't on this release for the dub track.
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Everlasting Coconut



Joined: 22 Jul 2019
Posts: 316
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2023 2:25 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I couldn't determine how much the enjoyment was from the film's quality or the relative novelty of a refreshing side story amidst the lengthy Wano arc


Interesting. I think that might be why I enjoyed the movie so much the first time around. The Wano fatigue was real, and Film Red giving us a break from it was a welcome breath of fresh air. But after letting some time pass and viewing it a second time, I don't think I can say I like this movie. It's mediocre at best.

I used to think Uta was Film Red's biggest strength, but now I'm not so sure. Now, this is just a matter of personal taste, but I am so unbelievably tired of the trope where the antagonist wants to create a fake utopia where everyone will be "happy." It's been done to death in anime, and I predicted that that's where the story was going when the first 50-second trailer came out.

Then there's the inevitable fact that Uta sticks out like a sore thumb since she's a movie-only character. Luffy suddenly revealing that this famous idol is his childhood friend and Shanks' daughter despite the fact that she had never even been mentioned before in the story is a little difficult to roll with.

Also, people who are really into One Piece's lore and power mechanics might not like Uta's Devil's Fruit. If you thought Law's powers were broken and vaguely-defined, prepare for Uta's fruit to blow things out of the park.

As for the art and animation, I don't remember which ANN reviewer was it that described Film Red as visually uncreative, but I will have to agree, and I will also add that it's pretty ugly to look at. Everything from the colors, the Tot Musica fight, the main cast's movie-exclusive fits... It's just not a visually pleasing experience.

Then there's the fanservice. I remember when ANN first reviewed this movie, I said the fanservice wasn't intrusive. I would like to ask my old self what the hell I was smoking when I posted that. Law and Bepo shouldn't be in this movie, the Thousand Sunny turning into a cute mascot served no purpose other than to sell toys, Katakuri showing up for five whole seconds to team up with Shanks was as random as it gets, etc.

Last but not least, one of the biggest debates that took place when this movie first came out was whether or not it actually felt like a One Piece story, and as the reviewer stated, the pop idol angle is divisive. I gotta say, I'm all in for a One Piece musical, but this movie just ain't it. I don't want idol vibes in a One Piece story, I want A Thousand Dreamers vibes.

So in the end, is there anything I like about Film Red? Well, I really wanna like Uta's relationship with Shanks and Luffy, but due to the aforementioned reasons, the movie doesn't make it easy. But you know what is easy to like? Kizaru's black and yellow movie suit. I'm begging you Oda, make it canon! My man Borsalino was dripping in style.
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jroa



Joined: 08 Aug 2012
Posts: 549
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2023 6:50 pm Reply with quote
Everlasting Coconut wrote:
Interesting. I think that might be why I enjoyed the movie so much the first time around. The Wano fatigue was real, and Film Red giving us a break from it was a welcome breath of fresh air. But after letting some time pass and viewing it a second time, I don't think I can say I like this movie. It's mediocre at best.

I used to think Uta was Film Red's biggest strength, but now I'm not so sure. Now, this is just a matter of personal taste, but I am so unbelievably tired of the trope where the antagonist wants to create a fake utopia where everyone will be "happy." It's been done to death in anime, and I predicted that that's where the story was going when the first 50-second trailer came out.


I've seen the film multiple times, albeit all of them last year, but can't say that I'd agree with you. First, that's a very subjective and personal criticism. There is practically no type of story at this point in the history of human literature, fiction or overall entertainment that hasn't been "done to death" on a purely conceptual level. It's almost like getting bored at "coming of age" stories to use another example. It's a respectable opinion, but for me the details and nuances are what make a difference and shouldn't be brushed aside.

Quote:
Then there's the inevitable fact that Uta sticks out like a sore thumb since she's a movie-only character. Luffy suddenly revealing that this famous idol is his childhood friend and Shanks' daughter despite the fact that she had never even been mentioned before in the story is a little difficult to roll with.


I didn't really mind that. Luffy and other characters have provided us with new information about their pasts at various points in One Piece without extensive prior foreshadowing. Having said that, it works surprisingly well with Luffy's random interest in having a musician join the crew.

Quote:
Also, people who are really into One Piece's lore and power mechanics might not like Uta's Devil's Fruit. If you thought Law's powers were broken and vaguely-defined, prepare for Uta's fruit to blow things out of the park.


It's certainly incredibly powerful, on paper, but it also has significant limitations. Then again, I stopped caring about power levels many years ago since, in the end, they're always arbitrary.

Quote:
As for the art and animation, I don't remember which ANN reviewer was it that described Film Red as visually uncreative, but I will have to agree, and I will also add that it's pretty ugly to look at. Everything from the colors, the Tot Musica fight, the main cast's movie-exclusive fits... It's just not a visually pleasing experience.


Certainly, creating a One Piece movie in such a strange moment in time is a challenge, especially when the TV series is looking much better than ever before (which may or may not be sustainable, but that's another debate). Earlier movies didn't have to compete for resources like that.

That said, there are still plenty of visually creative sequences in the film, whether it's in animation or at least in terms of storyboarding. Particularly during and around the various song sequences, but not exclusively. For instance, I thought the flashbacks were quite good at that.

I guess there's always going to be a subjective factor in terms of personal taste though.

Quote:
Then there's the fanservice. I remember when ANN first reviewed this movie, I said the fanservice wasn't intrusive. I would like to ask my old self what the hell I was smoking when I posted that. Law and Bepo shouldn't be in this movie, the Thousand Sunny turning into a cute mascot served no purpose other than to sell toys, Katakuri showing up for five whole seconds to team up with Shanks was as random as it gets, etc.


Why not? I thought their powers worked well in this context and there's been stranger cameos even in the manga. Regarding the mascot scene with the Thousand Sunny, I thought the in-universe purpose was simple: another way to show us that much of the film wasn't taking place in the real world. Arguably, it also ties easily into Uta being able to transform other people and things. Not a major plot point, but not useless.


Quote:
Last but not least, one of the biggest debates that took place when this movie first came out was whether or not it actually felt like a One Piece story, and as the reviewer stated, the pop idol angle is divisive. I gotta say, I'm all in for a One Piece musical, but this movie just ain't it. I don't want idol vibes in a One Piece story, I want [A Thousand Dreamers vibes.


Oda himself participated in the process of selecting the artist and deciding what kind of songs would be used, so I guess his musical tastes don't match yours. It's funny that some people are willing to accept all sorts of insane, clashing setting details in One Piece, but apparently can't accept the existence of an idol.
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Everlasting Coconut



Joined: 22 Jul 2019
Posts: 316
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2023 8:47 pm Reply with quote
jroa wrote:


I've seen the film multiple times, albeit all of them last year, but can't say that I'd agree with you. First, that's a very subjective and personal criticism.


I suppose that's why the first thing I said was that it's a matter of personal taste Razz

Quote:
I didn't really mind that. Luffy and other characters have provided us with new information about their pasts at various points in One Piece without extensive prior foreshadowing.


Yeah, but just because it's happened in the past doesn't mean it's good. For example, things like Sabo's introduction felt extremely awkward and shoehorned in. Heck, I even thought Ace's introduction was awkward.

Quote:
It's certainly incredibly powerful, on paper, but it also has significant limitations. Then again, I stopped caring about power levels many years ago since, in the end, they're always arbitrary.


Yeah, things like power-scaling discussions are pointless and usually miss the point of a story. But when it comes to battles, specially in shounen stories, you do need to have a certain clarity when defining your character's powers and power levels in general. A simple and easy to understand power level system can be great for creating tension during fights.

Quote:
Why not? I thought their powers worked well in this context and there's been stranger cameos even in the manga


Because they had no relationship to Uta or the main conflict whatsoever. Movies will always try to cram in as many fan favourite characters are possible, but having a smaller cast to focus on will always be the better option in terms of quality. Besides, The Straw Hat crew is already a pretty big cast by itself

Quote:

Oda himself participated in the process of selecting the artist and deciding what kind of songs would be used, so I guess his musical tastes don't match yours.


Right, just because Oda is the author of One Piece doesn't mean I'm gonna like all of his choices. Isn't that kinda obvious though? Don't we all have things we dislike about our favourite shows?
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BigOnAnime
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 01 Jul 2010
Posts: 1256
Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2023 12:02 am Reply with quote
Not having very much in the way of extras is par for the course. Most anime releases even in Japan have very little in the way of special features on the actual disc despite their high price. If you get anything, it's usually the booklets which we tend to get only if there's a limited edition, and even then sometimes the meaty content is cut out (See: Aniplex USA releases missing the interviews from the JP booklets and having the less meaty content while said interviews are present in the UK Anime Limited releases).

Back in the day you used to see a decent amount of extras, but that was when it was more of a selling point, and companies tried to give you the JP booklet content. ADV Films sometimes would put the JP booklet content on the actual disc in the form of a slideshow feature instead of giving you the physical booklet, like with their Kaleido Star singles (the thinpaks stripped the extras, they did that to encourage sales of the initial release that paid the bills).

The chaotic way anime is made often leads to no sort of behind the scenes features being made. So many anime have the episodes delivered hours before they're supposed to air, and then with movies, they can get finished days before they're supposed to release such as one of the Gintama movies.

I don't think it happened with this movie, but also sometimes for whatever reason some JP extras when present don't get brought over. This has happened with multiple Dragon Ball movie releases, and in terms of TV series, Sentai notably didn't include the making of extras for Chu2koi S1, and Ponycan USA didn't include the making of extras for Sound! Euphonium S1.
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johnnysasaki



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 948
PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2023 1:10 pm Reply with quote
louis6578 wrote:
I can't be the only one annoyed by the fact that despite AmaLee covering the songs exceptionally well, her covers aren't on this release for the dub track.


even more annoying when you find out most languages dubbed the songs,except english...
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KitKat1721



Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 976
PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2023 1:57 pm Reply with quote
Says a lot about my expectations for special features on blu-rays nowadays that I was pleasantly surprised they even included the corresponding episodes (and dubbed them as well).

I'll be honest, I really miss having bonus features on blu-rays in general. While there are always a couple exceptions, I feel like the one-two punch of Covid and the merger really killed the likelihood of having dub commentary tracks and/or interviews with the JPN creatives.

Quote:
I can't be the only one annoyed by the fact that despite AmaLee covering the songs exceptionally well, her covers aren't on this release for the dub track.


As far as the songs not being dubbed, it kinda sucks considering how pretty much all of One Piece's in-series diegetic music is dubbed, but I can still totally buy the concept that the biggest pop star in their world is a jpop idol haha. If anything what took me out more was the scene of young Uta singing and then you're hearing a highly produced adult Ado-track. Reasons were never confirmed why they didn't dub them (and likely never will be), but I personally stand by my own theory having to do with Ado's then-recently signed contract with US-based Geffen Records a couple months prior to the film's release. Would make business sense on her end + would explain why this wasn't an issue with other countries' releases being able to dub the songs.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3850
PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2023 9:34 pm Reply with quote
Too bad there aren't more extras, but I appreciate that they included the relevant episodes since that doesn't always happen.
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
Posts: 2168
PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2023 8:34 am Reply with quote
Yeah, Uta is pretty much like what Yugioh did with the Pyramid of Light which the Abridged joked to death:

"Uta was such a great friend that I will never mention her ever again"

The only time I've seen animes referencing movies are the Digimon movies (Hosoda) or The Last cameos in Boruto to the movie I think Fukuyama character actually appeared in the tv series.
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