You never would have guessed from the opening that it would end up being a horror film. Considering it was written by a Silent Hill writer who also seemed to know OP enough to get things that in hindsight perfectly right, it's justified it ended up being the closest thing OP can get to a horror film.
I adore this movie. It's one of my personal favorites of One Piece films and horror films. Since I can barely watch horror films anyway. I can watch thrillers but slasher film is a big no-no. I can't bear to watch people to get murdered yet somehow I can watch body horror. I have no clue why... maybe my fascination with the grossness of anatomy makes it more enticing to me. I have seen a corpse before...even if it's only for an anatomy class and it still makes me sick while fascinating to look at. Still, horror films in general with the subgenre of torture and slasher porns are a thing I refused to watch with a ten-foot pole. I can only watch those genres only if they are animated. Because if I see it in live-action, I would duck my head and read fantastical books. I don't mind injecting horror then and there in my writing but I prefer to keep it in implication.
Yeah, I won't even see horror movies from the bland and forgettable to the decent to the brilliant. I can watch Peele movies because they at least offer something unlike say, Brightburn. For example, if Brightburn is just 'Superman but EEEVVVILLLLL' type of movie, then I won't watch it anyway. I have seen enough of it from DC alone, y'know. The Injustice games, anyone? And that's just an example. If I want to watch a Superman be evil, then I'll watch the actual Superman be evil incarnate. The idea the Justice League can be evil incarnate and ruling the damn world with an iron fist is nothing new. Superboy Prime is another example, for the love of Godoka. If anything else, Brightburn would just add up to another one in the pile with the only thing going for it is that it played up the horror aspect. Seriously, when the MCU and DCEU have more to offer than a movie that only offered that played up the horror aspect. It just marks this as a decent yet unremarkable movie into a cinematic universe that's just isn't worth it. I mean, go for it if you want to, Sony, because I don't think people in the comics fandom would care as much unless you expand on the mythos other than y'know just being expies of DC heroes. That's the thing that gets me wary about it because all you've been doing is just scaring up the DC heroes in the way DC heroes had been framed to death and back. It's nothing I haven't seen before, regarding alignment switches. You are basically making an Elseworlds tale but with major name changes. When other slasher films have more interesting mythos, expand more on your universe's mythos other than just aliens and corruption and innateness whatever. And I avoid horrors and all its subgenres! Again, no superhero film playing up the horror aspect, particularly with a cinematic universe of its own, is just adding up to nothing when we have other Evil Justice League works in other media like video games. When Zack Synder's Man of Steel has more to offer than you do, even if that writing is poor and your writing is definitely better, then your movie is just, as a whole, forgettable. Baron Omatsuri has a lot more to offer than Brightburn any day of the week.
I am never good with horror. I can only watch horror only if someone in the room with me and that it's daylight and that the house is locked up entirely. Sorry, I just hate watching horror and every subgenre with it like slasher and torture. Thrillers are a different beast and honestly, I'd watch those than horror. If you want to take out on a date to a movie, don't go to a horror film as a go-to. Not when you want me to cling to you. If that's your goal, then I'll make damn sure I pick the horror movie. Or pick another movie. I always make it a priority to watch animated films so watch out for that.
Many fanfictions including This Bites dealt with this movie, mainly because they see its worth not just in its nightmares but also it has clear indications of the original story's themes.
And that is why I really like that.
OP, despite opinions, has always been dark. Do I have to point you to the East Blue saga? It's not just Arlong there but there are also Krieg who was perfectly willing to kill. OP runs on a world of nonsense and imagination that anything can be possible in the Grand Line. Even nightmares like Lily Carnation. It's just this film takes it farther in that direction while keeping it simple. Its simplicity works in the film's favor. It stands on its own as both a horror movie and a standalone film. You can watch it without knowledge of One Piece. Although basic knowledge is recommended.
Hosoda, while I don't know if he knew enough about One Piece, was able to piece together Oda's themes of the found family with his common theme of family as well. He was able to create characters, while not strong physically, is a big help in the saving of the Strawhats.
The supporting cast of this film, Brief and the Tearoom Pirates, was able to carry the films when Luffy is the only Strawhat left. They are well-rounded, sympathetic, and likable to carry the films. It also carried a theme of Oda's theme of friendship and Hosoda's common theme of family to mesh well in an awesome cuisine.
Look at it this way, at this point, the film was released sometime post-Foxy arc. Before Sabaody, Marineford.
As a result of this, some hindsight such as Luffy's fear of loneliness and his preference to be hurt than loneliness, Baron Omatsuri seemingly templating Gecko Moria and his despair of losing his crew to Kaido, a captain losing his crew and Brook not wishing that pain on nobody, the crew's separation from Sabaody is legit and made this movie relevant. The sixth movie would fit in just as finely as the G8 arc. The film has long since been vindicated and could stand by G8 arc as one of the best the animation team could produce.
The horror aspect is tackled well. It has suspense which kept building and building with hints of its true nature is what makes it a good horror. They still kept the levity well and good with Tearoom Pirates' love for each other. As a psychology horror - which I am always here for psychological horror and existentialism - the movie fits this so well.
There are still flaws with this movie. It's ambiguous if the Strawhats were either infected by Lily Carnation's spores/pollen or their emotions had been heightened in a situation that didn't look out of place in a normal environment like the fight for Merry. There is almost no end at all, the CGI is very visible and could take attention off of what is necessary, and it's unlikely Luffy would tell them about their horrible encounter rendering the movie pointless. It fulfilled its purpose as a movie that does not affect canon, unlike Strong World. I'm pretty sure Brief and the Tearoom Pirates are unlikely to tell either. I think the Strawhats carried them off the island to a nearby island so they can retire peacefully there. I don't think the Strawhats would leave stranded people alone to fend for themselves, especially a family.
Sure, the animation can get weird but it's a director's take and I enjoy this take very much.
I will admit it's not for everyone's tastes in the same way Strong World, Z, or Gold is. Z is definitely one of OP's better films though. Post-Time Skip movies are weird with timelines, knowing just how the crew immediately arrived in Punk Hazard once they hit the New World. Seriously, any movie they released since Post-Time Skip is majorly before Dressrosa at best since the crew is separated for two weeks interim Dressrosa and Wano.
There is literally no between opinions in the general OP fandom for this movie. Either you hate it or you love it. The horror in itself that nobody expected from OP can be a deterrent as well as a draw. Personally, it's the horror aspect that draws me in as well as other stuff that made this movie much more relevant pre-Time Skip because as a Pre-Time Skip movie, it makes damn good about what OP's themes are as well as the hindsight of what OP can be capable of.
It's a movie that can stand on its own while still maintaining the central themes that are respective to both OP and Hosoda's in the director take. That is something, unfortunately, the Death Note live-action Netflix film couldn't do as well as Dragon Ball Evolution and Ghost in the Shell Hollywood films.
If you don't know how to start One Piece, I would recommend this movie as an appetizer or even cocktail before the main course.
Why do you create the most abstract theories that make the most sense to the damn story?! From the way you told everything, it makes the most sense towards the Inherited Will theory that includes the destruction of the Red Line and the erasure of the Grand Line and the Calm Belts as all the Blues and formerly the Grand Line and Calm Belts would join in, ultimately creating the All Blue.
While Joy Boy Theories isn't perfect in his theories, he does make abstract ones and think from different angles. I'm pretty sure some people in the world at least thought the Red Line works as a dam, which later was helped by Tekking101 who elaborated the supercontinent worked in the WG's favor in controlling the world.
The destruction of the Red Line always been there, even before I even arrived into the OP fandom. I always enjoyed theories and speculations because they always make fandoms all the more fun. Seriously, just look at VLD where the theories run rampant until the showrunners decidedly chose to flip the middle finger in the worst possible way. I always accepted the destruction of the Red Line theory because to me, where else the All Blue's existence had been blocked but its legends remained as a single ocean permeated throughout the world. Nobody could've guessed the All Blue literally meant all the oceans combined, not a separate ocean from the Grand Line, Blues, and Calm Belts. I doubt Sanji and Zeff thought that was meant to be literal. I thought that was the only explanation for why the All Blue doesn't seem to exist anywhere in the current ocean that is the One Piece world. Hell, we don't know any songs or what time these songs came from but we can guess the All Blue might've been around in the Void Century before the obstruction of the Red Line began.
However, I never would have imagined geography of the damn world of OP would be this important to this extent. The world has always been well-thought-out so I never bothered much about the geography when everything about it worked in the favor of the story and soon enough the World Government. I should've known though because the ocean is typically a key in pirate stories. For Godoka's sake, there was a sea goddess/personification of the sea in Pirates of the Caribbean.
The fucking ocean in which the Ancient Weapons governed (above/surface level the sea, under the sea, and what guides the sea) basically make you the King of the Seas literally. In the same way, the Deathly Hallows make the Master of Death. It makes the most sense really because if the Void Century was indeed one ocean before the Red Line, it makes sense the Ancient Kingdom would create weapons or have weapons revolving around the sea. That is why I now doubt Uranus is a dragon but controlling the weather up to the impossible and ocean currents is definitely a plus. Maybe it's a dragon with said powers. Maybe a dragon is guarding the One Piece that Luffy would later befriend. Perhaps that dragon is the last true dragon since the Void Century.
I think that's why Roger makes damn sure his successor is the one to free the world, not just gaining his treasure. He only had access to only one Ancient Weapon while Luffy has access to two so far. If anything else, the treasure is just a bonus for the Strawhats while the one that necessitated the true downfall of the World Government is the One Piece which can literally make the world one piece.
Of course, OP has been inspired by various legends and myths around the world. It's kind of a given, just based on the Ancient Weapons alone. The Tale of the Lost Fish Hook might've been one of the many since I already guessed that Japanese mythology would inspire Oda to create part of the history of the Ancient Kingdom and its involvement with Poseidon.
Hey, now I am not saying Toriyama is bad at storytelling. He usually writes as if he's procrastinating. It's clear in comparison to Oda, CLAMP,
I would call myself a casual fan at best for Kaiju. I still adore tokusatsu, which was seeded by Power Rangers after all. My brother and I were first introduced to Godzilla through a video game my dad bought for the Xbox. I remembered how my cousins, brother, and I played the game fighting each other with these gigantic monsters. I always loved playing Mothra while my brother loves Mechagodzilla and King Ghidorah - there's just something about Mothra I just loved even though I amd my brother has a deep fear of bugs, we like Mothra. We always loved how these monsters towered above everybody and we love it. We know King Kong of course but for us in the family, it's Godzilla that is the Kaiju best known. We're an Asian family certainly but knowing Godzilla and King Kong would be inevitable anyway.
I am glad that G-fans are having so much fun with these releases. I am so happy that Shin Godzilla became such a huge hit with a fan at its helm who understands the source material up to the original. Which unfortunately means what Gojira actually entails.
Look, for anybody who wanted to do reboots or remakes that happen to be a fan, find a way that respects the original without outright copying the original. Add the flavors of modern-day and understanding of such. Lauren Montgomery and Joaquin Dos Santos are on the other end of the spectrum, full of references or outright copying it but empty of its meaning - it's teehee, look, it's just like the original but nothing is being added that demonstrated why it lived on so well beyond humor. - or trying to tell a good story. Nothing more but spite was obvious. If they are huge fans, then they should understand what these references mean culturally. J.J. Abrams failed to bring an American Godzilla-like creature into our cultural consciousness although he did understand what Godzilla is partially; seriously, while you got parts of it down pat, you don't understand why Godzilla lasted as long as it did. Hideki Anno is a huge fan of Kaiju and tokusatsu and it's evident he understands Gojira while also making sure it's befitting our day and age. Even without knowing he's a huge fan, I can see just how much passion and love the writing and filmmaking were put into it.
Look, these films aren't perfect. At best, they looked like B-movies that Americans shrugged off in the likes of other monster films. However, they are cultural significances to their homeland and the world. Gojira is part of the Criterion Collection for the love of Godoka.
It's just Godzilla and I'm happy that the franchise continues to exist. To survive for this dang long is a miracle, especially in an age where people dropped media as quickly as a hot potato.
Also...for the love of Godoka, critics, understand the difference between a traditional film and a kaiju film. Don't come in with bad faith or understanding of what makes a good film. Yes, King of Monsters has massive flaws as does even the best films of the Godzilla franchise. Which I have to remind you, runs for over sixty years. For me, Shin Godzilla and Godzilla: King of Monsters is definitely Godzilla films, even when the latter is messy. And these two films from different parts of the world emphasizes Godzilla as both one of the most beautiful wondrous and the scariest and offputting. Essentially, Humanity's Last Hope and Humanity's Worst Fears. It's magical to see the incarnations of Godzilla of modern represent what Godzilla is throughout history, from the beginning to its current form. It's utterly amazing to see, okay!?
