(Toei Animation/Madman)

Someone played Secret Of Monkey Island when they were a kid, obviously.

One Piece is a hugely successful manga and anime series in Japan, so much so that this is one of nine films to be made out of the story. The plot revolves around the pirate captain Monkey D. Luffy, and his search for the most valuable treasure in the world, which will make him the Pirate King. The budding monarch once ate a magical Devil Fruit, which has given his body the elastic properties of rubber, which helps – I guess – when aspiring to form a nation of bloodthirsty parasites. Luffy is aided in his quest by a ragtag crew known as the Straw Hats, who consist of a hard-drinking swordsman, an attractive navigator, a deceitful marksman, a chain-smoking chef, and a humanoid reindeer doctor – obviously.

The film takes the gang to the desert kingdom of Alabasta, where they collaborate with the Princess Vivi to stop a revolution manufactured in secret by the state's greatest hero: the pirate captain Crocodile. He very conveniently has an entourage of his own, which includes – amongst other fantastical idiot savants – a shape-shifting transvestite.

One Piece has never shied from being light-hearted, and nothing has really changed. Despite heavy political intrigue, and thousands of innocent lives being lost, all concerns are either laughed off or childishly ignored. Ideals are never compromised, and shear force of will and strength of character win the day – over logic and otherwise-fatal wounds, no less. There's also a strong undercurrent of Japanese nationalism and collectivism, which I find somewhat bemusing.

In all it's not a bad little film, even if you're not familiar with the series. Having your emotions so clumsily pandered to can be irksome at times, but it's clearly aimed at a far younger and less analytical audience than a twenty-something music journalist.

***

JAKEB SMITH

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