Anime Reviews (2010-2019): One Piece: Episode of Skypeia (A Neo-Tokyo 2099 Anime on Blu-ray review) (2018)

if you are a big fan of “One Piece” and don’t have much time (or money) to invest in watching the “Skypeia Arc”, then I definitely recommend watching the special!

TITLE: One Piece: Episode of Skypeia

ORIGINAL TV AIR DATE: 2018

DURATION: 107 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English and Japanese Dolby TrueHD5.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: November 26, 2019

Originally created by Oda Eiichiro

Directed by Uda Konosuke

Script by Nakayama Tomohiro

Music by Inai Keiji, Tanaka Kohei, Maruo Minoru, Hamaguchi Shiroh, Iwasaki Yasunaroi

Character Design by Sato Masayuki

Art Director: Watanabe Yoshito

Chief Animation Director: Isouchi Yusuke

Animation Production by Toei Animation

Featuring the following voice talent:

Mayumi Tanaka/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Monkey D. Luffy

Akemi Okamura/Luci Christian as Nami

Hiroaki Hirata/Eric Vale as Sanji

Kappei Yamaguchi/Sonny Strait as Usopp

Nakai Kazuya/Christopher R. Sabat as Roronoa Zoro

Yamaguchi Yuriko/Stephanie Young as Nico Robin

Morikawa Toshiyuki/J. Michael Tatum as Eneru

Takemoto Eiji/Patrick McAllister as Ohm

Shibata Hidekatsu/Robert McCollum as Calgara

Ohtsuka Houchu/George Manley as Montblanc Norland

Ennosuke Ichikawa IV/John Swasey as Gan Fall

Ohba Mahito/Bill Jenkins as Narrator

The Straw Hats embark on a dangerous trip to the sky where their destination comes straight out of a fairytale. The island of Skypiea and its grand city of gold await among the clouds, but a clash of winged clans and a man who calls himself God won’t make things easy! Only Luffy can resist this God’s mighty power and light the mysteries of the past.

“ONE PIECE” is a popular anime series based on the popular manga series serialized in Shonen Jump by Eiichiro Oda. Suffice to say, “ONE PIECE” is the highest selling manga for Weekly Shonen Jump and its popularity has extended to various anime (via the TV series, OVA and films) and video games in America and also worldwide.

The series is so popular, the episode count currently in Japan is in its 20th season and a total of over 900 episodes having been aired in Japan. Several animated films, many video games and for the most part, a very successful anime/manga series worldwide.

And this includes 13 specials which began in 2000 but has aired on Fuji TV consistently since 2012.

“ONE PIECE” is an adventure anime about a 17-year-old boy named Monkey D. Luffy who gained enormous strength (and stretching abilities) after eating a magical demon fruit. He eventually teams up with a group of pirates and have the name “The Straw Hats”. Luffy’s driven to one day obtain the most sought out treasure known as “One Piece” and eventually become the King of the Pirates.

For the 13th special “One Piece: Episode of Sorajima” (a.k.a. Episode of Skypeia) which aired on FujiTV in Japan back in August 2018 and features an abridged remake of the Skypeia story arc.

Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates continue their search for “One Piece”. But with this latest adventure, the group looks for the legendary Skypeia, a land which is built in the clouds and features winged humanoids.

But when they arrived, the Straw Hat Pirates were attacked by various individuals in Skypeia but now the powerful has turned on his own kind and his plans to kill everyone in Skypeia is in full effect. Will the Straw Hat Pirates be able to beat their opponents and stop Enneru?

The Straw Hat Pirates consists of:

Monkey D. Luffy – A 17-year-old guy who is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and dreams to be a pirate king by getting his hands on the “ONE PIECE” artifact. When he was young, he accidentally ate a devil fruit which made his body rubbery and can stretch and blow up. An airhead of sorts, loves to eat but always believes and fights for his friends.

Roronoa Zoro – A 19-year-old skilled swordsman. A skilled and very strong fighter. Wants to be the greatest swordsman in the world.

Nami – The navigator of the group. The main female crew member and really good at weapons.

Usopp – A 17-year-old marksman. A talented inventor and artistic. Known by his long nose, his marksmanship with slingshots and weapons are great.

Sanji – The chef of the crew. A skilled fighter that uses only kicks in battle and is passionate towards Nami.

Tony Tony Chopper – A reindeer with a blue nose. Ate a devil fruit known as human-human fruit which makes him human in someways but keeping his reindeer look. Able to speak to humans, walk upright and also able to have transformations to become a huge beast. But his talent is his medical skills as he was trained by the Doctrine to become a doctor. Has very low self-confidence because he had been treated badly not only by his kind but also by humans and has not really had a friend but the Doctor and Doctrine.

Nico Robin – The former Vice President of Baroque Works who has become the newest member of the Straw Hat Pirates despite some of the crew not trusting her since she was a former enemy. Has the ability to use her body parts and project them elsewhere and other mysterious abilities not yet known.

VIDEO:

“One Piece: Episode of Skypeia” is presented in 1080p High Definition and the special looks vibrant. While a TV special, the animation looks fantastic and not too soft. Colors look great! Animation production from Toei Animation is magnificent!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“One Piece: Episode of Skypeia” is presented in Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 . Both Japanese and English dub soundtracks are fantastic and dialogue and music are both crystal clear through the center, front and surround channels. But of course, with the English track having a 5.1 soundtrack is the better of the two.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“One Piece: Episode of Skypeia” comes with a short outtakes featurette featuring the English dub cast.

EXTRAS:

“One Piece: Episode of Skypeia” comes with the Blu-ray and DVD version of the film.

The 13th “One Piece” special titled “One Piece: Episode of Skypeia” (“Episode of Sorajima” in Japan) is an abridged version of season six (in Japan) of “One Piece” featuring the Skypeia Arc.

Of course, in order to feature the storyline in a 130 minute special, quite a number of things had to be changed in the special vs. the TV series arc. Personally, I was surprised of how many changes were made but it was done in order to make the storyline a lot more coherent.

For example, the Straw Hats being attacked by Wyper and meeing Gan Fall and Pierre is now gone. And Aisa plays a much lesser role in the special, and her meeting with Luffy and Nami never happens, and that is to name a few.

“One Piece” is one of the anime rarities where it has been an ongoing on television since 1999, while the manga series has been ongoing since 1997.

One of the well-known, successful anime series of all time, “One Piece: Episode of Skypeia” is an interesting arc as Nico Robin joins the group and takes part in her first adventure with the group. And Enneru is one of the the more powerful antagonists from the group’s earlier years.

Because of the changes, I think the storyline makes it a safer for those who never watched earlier episodes. I wouldn’t recommend this special as a starting point for viewers but it’s a straightforward storyline.

Also, included is a outtakes featurette featuring the Funimation English cast.

Overall, if you are a big fan of “One Piece” and don’t have much time (or money) to invest in watching the “Skypeia Arc”, then I definitely recommend watching the special!

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