One Piece Film: Z is the latest film entry into the long-running One Piece has arrived. Monkey D. Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat crew must deal with Z and his Neo Marines. While Z felt like an hour or so long One Piece episode, it was able to prove that the series, despite it’s longevity is still damn good.

One Piece Film: Z is an 2014 anime shounen film based on the anime and mange One Piece. It is produced by Toei Animation and is licensed by Funimation. It is available on DVD and Blu-Ray.

I’ve been watching One Piece since it started way back in the 90s, nearing 1000 episodes (669 as of this writing), and 75 volumes in the manga, One Piece is still able to bring some great action scenes and stories for Monkey D. Luffy and the rest of his Straw Hat crew. Z is no different from an average episode of the anime, but it’s still fun as hell to watch.

While Z is nothing more than an extended One Piece episode, it’s still just as fun.

THE GOOD: One Piece is one of the rare ongoing/long-running anime series that never feels dried out or tiresome. Yes there’s almost 700 episodes and 12 movies, but the writing, comedy, and action sequences are so fun it’s hard to turn away from the series even when deciding to go on a bit of a break, in comes Film Z.

A beaten Luffy.

Z is a fun film, despite being an extended episode of the anime (like most anime films). One thing I did like about Z was that the titular antagonist was shown to be a legitimate threat to the Straw Hats for a large amount of the film. Even in the finale battle Luffy didn’t just one up Z, it took him everything he had, and then some to keep up, leading to a draw more than an actual defeat.

Zephr in One Piece Film:: Z.

THE BAD: Some scenes were a little wonky, such as the Franky mech, which felt a bit out there even for One Piece.

Robin & Zorro in Z.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Film Z is pretty much an extended episode of One Piece, but the antagonist Z/Zephr makes the film. Not that it’s hard to make One Piece watchable. Some of the scenes were a little out there, even for One Piece standards, but it was nothing too bad. Otaku Dome gives One Piece Film: Z an 80 out of 100.