Review: One Piece Collection 16 Review
By: Zero OmegaIntroductionWe're back with Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat Crew for One Piece Collection 16. This DVD pack published by Funimation covers episodes 373 - 396 of the popular anime, One Piece. These episodes span the end of the Thriller Bark arc and briefly gets into the following Sabaody Archipelago Arc. However, before getting into the start of a very important saga, we see more of Bartholomew Kuma's terrifying powers, experience Zoro being a complete bad ass, and learn about Brook's complete backstory. If you're familiar with One Piece already, then you don't need further introduction. If you haven't been following One Piece up until this point, then I suggest turning back now lest you get hit with spoilers.
Kuma is large, and in charge...
ReviewThe first half of this box set covers the end of the Gekko Moriah and Bartholomew Kuma fights. When we last left off, Nightmare Luffy had just defeated Oars, now the Straw Hat crew launch their final attack on Oars to finish the job. However, Moriah launches his ultimate attack Shadows Asgard which allows him to absorb all the shadows of all the inhabitants on Thriller Bark. This, in turn, turns Moriah into a massive, freakish looking beast, the final battle on Thriller Bark is now ahead.
A face only a mother could love.
This arc has been enjoyable so far, and despite it's darker setting, it's a nice reprieve from incredibly serious story line we just finished from Enies Lobby. It's been a nice break from the serious and a calm before the storm of what's to come for Luffy, the crew, and the viewer. It also helps establish at least two characters we'll be seeing in the future, which brings me to my next point... The amazing thing about One Piece is that every arc so far has established characters that we'll see in the future and Thriller Bark does just the same, both in introducing characters and reintroducing characters. Later on we're going to see more from Moriah and Kuma; in the mean time though, we get to see Brook's backstory and learn that his crew befriended Laboon, the whale that Luffy and his crew came across after entering the Grand Line.
Who could say "no" to such a cute creature?
The constant call backs that One Piece do, and the fact that they all make logical sense is astounding and a credit to the writing of the story. I had written off Laboon as a basically nonsense character that we wouldn't hear from again, but sure enough, we see he's much more intertwined with the story than I previously thought. I love the callbacks, and knowing that this isn't the last one we'll see has me excited for what's to come. On the subject of Laboon, I thought I was sufficiently depressed over Robin's backstory in our last arc. Brook's backstory had me reeling with the feels. I truly appreciate the writing of all these character backstories, there's a level of sympathy I feel for every one of them that I don't really recall getting a lot in other series. Brook's story is incredibly tragic for a character that seemed to be developing into just a wild, happy-go-lucky trope.
Well... Shoot, now all my friends are dead.
I've ended up appreciating him more as a character, and now I truly want to see him succeed with the crew. Speaking of crew, one last thing I want to touch on is the sheer belief of how powerful the attacks in this show get as it progresses, particularly with Kuma. His powers are absolutely terrifying when we see them and his final interactions with Zoro are intense.
Apparently Goku isn't the only one that can actually use a Spirit Bomb.
It seems fairly obvious that while there are no plans to kill anyone on the crew, I did legitimately feel that Zoro was in serious trouble. Unlike other shonen anime where big battles and big attacks seem to just cause the same amount of damage and destruction, I feel that One Piece really does a great job in demonstrating the increasing scale of power.
Tis but a flesh wound.
The second half of the box set contains the few filler episodes before kick starting us into the new Sabaody Archipelago Arc. Here we get introduced to a brand new cast of characters and find out that all the chaos Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates have been causing actually them to gain some further notoriety outside of amassing larger bounties on their heads. The introduction of the Celestial Dragons and Eleven Supernovas and the story that they are going to tell over the next arcs is genuinely exciting even though we only get a slight taste of it in this box set. While we get introduced to more than a dozen new, and returning (remember what I said about call backs?), characters they are developed in such a way that makes them memorable.
The gang's all here and ready to party.
We approaching one of the most important and game changing sagas in the series, and the upcoming episodes in the next box set will be a blast to watch. As for Funimation's One Piece Collection 16 box set itself, it is the same standard box set that you've gotten 15 times before. You've got the same basic textless opening, trailers, commentary, and some behind the scenes look. If you're a big fan of the series, you'll want to check these out. I always appreciate Funimation's marathon mode that they include in this. Marathon mode allows you to watch the episodes in succession, removing the opening theme in all but the very first episode. Overall, the box set is your standard few frills box set, which isn't a bad thing.
Final ThoughtsIt's hard to not recommend picking up this box set if you're a fan of the series. There's no reason to stop and One Piece only gets better as it goes on. If you've already started collecting your box sets, then you should add this one to it. If you're looking to start building your collection, then don't skip this. One Piece Collection 16 is out now and you can pick it up on the Funimaton site here.[yasr_multiset setid=9]