Posted: 10/03/2011

One Piece: Collection No. 2

by Ruben R. Rosario

Now available on DVD from Funimation.

The Straw Hat Pirates are at it again, bringing laughs, betrayals and tons of adventure in One Piece Collection No. 2. The story picks up again from the Don Krieg Pirates that are attacking the Baratie Restaurant and it’s up to Luffy and Sanji to stop them. Meanwhile, Usopp and Zoro are searching for Nami that took off on her own, along with their new pirate ship, Going Merry. They come to find out that she’s mixed up with a pirate gang of fish men, lead by a ruthless leader named Arlong. Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats square off against Arlong in order to save Nami and the inhabitants of the island. One Piece Collection No. 2 collects episodes 27-53 of this long running series.

I have to admit, I was scared to watch nor read One Piece, due to it’s vast length in both mediums. I am now glad that I am adhering to the advice that friends gave me when this show came out 10 years ago. Just as I had stated before, One Piece finds a way to meld many of the shonen formula that is done to death and just give it a run for its money. Everything from the action scenes to the plotting of the stories done in One Piece Collection No. 2 further builds upon legacy that One Piece has carved into anime fandom. Just like Sanji’s and Zoro’s backstories in the first season, Nami’s backstory is a tragic one and is fleshed out well within the Arlong story arc to give her a stronger presence than what we’ve seen from her thus far.

The video and audio for this set are just about standard for a series that’s ten years old. The video is presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio, a 5.1 English languge track and stereo English and Japanese tracks. While the English dub isn’t bad, the Japanese dub brings the liveliness of the wacky cast of One Piece. The times where the 5.1 track hits the right spots are during the big action sequences, that give the show depth. This collection comes with just about the same extra as the last set, which include a few commentaries for a few episodes, textless opening and closing songs and some trailers for other Funimation shows. While it’s not much, there’s so much content in terms of the actual series that there’s no need for extras.

All in all, for the price of what Funimation is putting the One Piece Collection’s, there’s no reason not to buy this. One Piece is a fantastic show that really captures the best elements of a great shonen series and uses them to create something truly entertaining and worthwhile. While it’s certainly an investment and the character designs are radically different than other typical anime, that might turn people off, there’s a damn good reason why its still around to this day. Highly Recommended!

Ruben R. Rosario is a graduate from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Audio for Visual Media. He works as a freelance location sound mixer, boom operator, sound designer, and writer in his native Chicago. He’s an avid collector of films, comics, and anime.

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