What a long title! The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta is the 8th movie in the One Piece saga. Count ‘em! 8 … and there’s more to go. My version of the movie is the one supplied in the One Piece: Movie Collection 3. These One Piece collections are good value; a bunch of movies for the price of a single DVD.
I think One Piece is notable for being one of the very few anime in which the movies are better than the episodes. Both are chaotic. Just as Karakuri Castle begins by the Straw Hat Pirates fishing someone out of the sea, so does The Desert Princess and the Pirates.
In this case the aforementioned quirky character is suspected to be one of the dreaded Crocodile’s gang. Mr 2 Bon Clay, the rescued gang member, has eaten of the Devil Fruit and therefore has a supernatural power. He can look and sound like anyone he’s touched. This is a pretty useful ability for anyone as manipulative as Crocodile.
The Straw Hat pirates have skin in the game. Vivi has history with Crocodile and his men. Vivi is the Princess of the desert kingdom of Albasta and it is her people Crocodile are threatening. The Royal Army has already been tricked into fighting the Rebels. The Rebels are supplied and tricked by Crocodile so that they can effectively fight back against the Royal Army.
This movie, as is not uncommon in anime, is a fight match up. Crocodile is a fearsome foe and his gang have remarkable powers. The movie essentially pairs up pirates against members of Crocodile’s gang into a series of melee encounters. Each time the Straw Hat pirates are tested but, by and large, the movie progresses as you would suspect.
I tend to have One Piece, the episodes, running on the TV as background when I’m doing something geeky. As a rule I tend to pay the movies more attention. The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta is the exception that proves the rule. I didn’t really need to pay attention to this to enjoy it. Sure, yes, Crocodile is an important villain in the series, more than just a casual encounter, and the movie changes the makeup of the Straw Hat pirates – but you’ll get all that without paying wrapt attention.
As it happens I was in the mood for 90 minutes of far out and slightly surreal combat when I put the DVD into my PlayStation 3. I rather liked giving the movie as much as half of my attention. I watched some of it with beer and pizza and that’s pretty much perfect.
Overall? One Piece fans will like it. Anime fans who like their action toned down a notch probably won’t like it. People who’ve not yet encountered One Piece might as well sample this movie and if it’s a strong hit for them they should well consider joining in with the series. One Piece is the most popular anime in Japan, after all.
My copy of One Piece: Movie Collection 3 was provided for review. The set was published in November 2014 by Manga UK.
