Clockwork Island Adventure

Clockwork Island Adventure (ねじまき島の冒険) is a theatrical feature, originally released on March 3, 2001 as a double feature with Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge of Diaboromon at Toei's Spring Anime Fair. Its story stands separate from the canon, though its status quo somewhat fits the period between the East Blue Saga and the Alabasta Saga; it was also bundled with the otherwise-unrelated short Jango's Dance Carnival.

Like most of Toei's early movies, Clockwork Island Adventure was never dubbed into English. Its only 'official' English-language release remains a 2014 Manga Entertainment box-set compiling the first three movies with optional subtitles.

Synopsis
In pursuit of a stolen Going Merry, the Straw Hat Pirates join forces with the Thief Brothers, a pair of mismatched rogues with designs on the wondrous - but deadly - Clockwork Island. Soon, an all-out war erupts between them and Clockwork Island's reigning pirate clan, whose tyrannical captain Bear King schemes to not only conquer the seas with a fearsome superweapon, but take Nami as his bride by any means necessary.

Extended Summary
Having found a sunny, peaceful island in the midst of their voyage, the Straw Hat Pirates - Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji - disembark and relax on the beach together. To the others' annoyance, Luffy soon begins clamoring over a toy windmill washed ashore by the surf; the annoyance turns to horror, however, when Luffy begins marveling at how the Going Merry is "sailing itself". Too late, the Straw Hats realize their ship has been stolen, and already sailed too far for even Luffy to reach.

Later the Straw Hats are shown cramped on a small swan paddle boat to chase the thief wearing clothes for wedding ceremonies as their regular clothes were stolen with the Going Merry (except Luffy, who was wearing his regular outfit). They come across a boy struggling in the water, and Sanji dives in to save him. However it ends up being a trick as all of the Straw Hats ends up getting captured by a net, lifted up and out of the water. They are brought down on the deck of another ship, where a man in a pilot's uniform stands. He introduces himself as Borodo as the boy introduces himself as Akisu, and they are the Thief Brothers. They declare they will become the greatest thieves in the world and steal the Diamond Clock from Clockwork Island, which Nami explains is one of the greatest artifacts in the world.

Luffy asks Borodo about the Going Merry, which he replies was taken by the Trump Siblings. He shows the wanted posters of Boo Jack, Honey Queen, Skunk One, Pin Joker, and Bear King to them. They then find a fleet of ships coming toward them, the fleet of the Trump Siblings. In the crow's nest of one of the ships is Honey Queen completely naked taking a bath. Boo Jack then jumps out and declares that their captain, Bear King, will become the Pirate King. Boo Jack and Honey Queen order an attack, so the pirates of the Trump Siblings start leaping down to attack the Straw Hats. The Straw Hats manage to fight them off, but Boo Jack himself leaps down, curling up and becoming a big spiky white ball.

Luffy places his hat on Nami's head as he gets ready to fight. Usopp declares his plan, "Running is Winning", and has their boat flee from the Trump Siblings' fleet. In the chaos, the Thief Brothers lose a small box, so Borodo leaps into the water after it as Akisu whacks Usopp in the head to stop him. Borodo retrieves the small box, but Honey Queen arrives, standing on the back of Boo Jack in the water, and Boo Jack hurls bombs at the boat, blowing it apart. Boo Jack and Honey Queen kidnap Nami, as she is a great thief, and throw another bomb to make their getaway. Luffy sinks below the ocean's surface, but Sanji manages to retrieve him.

The remaining Straw Hats huddle aboard the wreckage with the Thief Brothers, with Borodo deploying a parachute as a makeshift sail. Sanji blames Borodo's going after the music box for the reason Nami was kidnapped, but Borodo explains that it is the only thing Akisu has left of their hometown. A brief flashback shows how when Borodo found Akisu, the lullaby of the music box was all that could calm him down. Luffy asks if that means they are not brothers, but Borodo replies that they are brothers even if not through blood. As they sail along, Usopp spots a whirlpool, and Borodo says that it means they are coming close to Clockwork Island.

On Clockwork Island, in a great castle, Bear King sits on his throne while two scientists explain the situation to him. They say the weapon of mass destruction he is having them build has spilled too much blood, but Bear King does not care and orders them back to work, as he will need the weapon to conquer the seas and become Pirate King. Honey Queen and Boo Jack come into the room carrying Nami, and Skunk One looks all over Nami creepily. Bear King asks if Nami will be his bride, and she glares at him, so Bear King says that she is his type. Nami tells Bear King that she cannot stand hairy men, so he offers to shave, but then says that she hates weak men more, doubting that Bear King could beat Luffy. Honey Queen and Boo Jack show Bear King the wanted poster of Luffy, and Pin Joker says that Zoro must be with him too. Bear King declares that he will kill Luffy and use his bounty to fund his wedding with Nami.

Meanwhile, the remaining Straw Hats and the Thief Brothers arrive on Clockwork Island, and immediately start heading up the winding stairs to the town that is at the top. The way is laden with traps, though, and the stairs turn to a ramp as they start to slide down, water rushing toward them. Luffy grabs on and uses his Gomu Gomu powers to stop them from being skewered upon spikes, and as boulders come rolling toward them Sanji leaps from wall to wall, kicking them away. Zoro reaches down and tears up the floor so that they can walk up the path to the top. They arrive at Clockwork Town, a fun place with windmills everywhere, and a large tower, Trump Castle, is in the center. At the top of the tower Usopp can spot the Going Merry. The four decide they will get new clothes and grab a bite to eat before rescuing Nami, much to Borodo's shock.

Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji get new clothes that are much easier to move in, and the group heads into a sort of shop. Luffy says Clockwork Town is fun, but the two scientists at the shop disagree. They explain that they created the Diamond Clock, but ever since, they have been suffering since the Trump Siblings arrived. Ever since, they have been creating killing weapons instead. Borodo declares that the Straw Hats will defeat the Trump Siblings, but they object, as they have not agreed to anything yet. Usopp says Borodo just wants this because the Diamond Clock will be easier to steal without the Trump Siblings around. The scientists say it will probably be better if the Diamond Clock is taken away. Luffy then says that you cannot make a fortune without risking your life, so they decide to set out. As the group leaves, the scientists find a music box on the ground, realizing that the boy was Akisu.

In Trump Castle, Nami beats the Trump Siblings at poker. Honey Queen gets up and walks away, dropping off her clothes and turning into water as she slides into a pipe. Boo Jack decides to go too, wheeling off down a rope. Outside, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Borodo, and Akisu are hauled up in a small basket along a rope, high above Clockwork Town, toward Trump Castle. Luffy notes that the windmills below look just like his windmill, and he takes it out and finds it is broken. Akisu quickly fixes it. Suddenly, Honey Queen forms before them, and Boo Jack arrives as well, tossing her clothes to her.

Honey Queen declares she has eaten the Toro Toro no Mi, and so Boo Jack throws balls at them. Sanji leaps out to kick him away, but spikes protrude from Boo Jack's ball, piercing right through Sanji's foot. Sanji cries out in pain as he starts to fall. Borodo catches him only to drop him when Honey Queen floods their airship. Sanji then falls and hits the ground, hard. A mine then nearly blows Sanji up. He is then quickly tied up by Honey Queen and Boo Jack and brought to Trump Castle. Sanji is dumped before Bear King and Nami, and Bear King says he did not kill Sanji because he is Nami's friend. Nami proceeds to deny caring for him anymore. Bear King then sends Skunk One to get rid of the rest of the crew.

Meanwhile, at the gate to Trump Castle, the group, minus Sanji, has arrived and Akisu goes on about how if he was captured, Borodo would save him no matter what, and the others see that Borodo has a metal hand. This irritates Usopp, who says that it does not matter at sea, and how he hates people who depend on others to save them. Luffy then says it's time to get going, and he tells Akisu to stay behind if he's afraid. He uses Gomu Gomu no Pistol to knock down the door, and he charges in, but is quickly mobbed by a huge group of pirates. Zoro runs in after him to help. Meanwhile, back in Trump Castle, Pin Joker notes how Zoro finally arrived.

Suddenly several pirates, formerly under El Drago, arrive with the King Cannon, which is now completed. They dance, proclaiming about how much better Bear King is than El Drago. Sanji apologizes to Nami about how he could not do anything because he wanted to use only his own strength to show off to her. Bear King interrupts, demanding what Sanji's relationship with his "fiance" is, and Sanji replies that he "rubbed suntan lotion on her smooth skin". This makes Bear King angry, and after beating Sanji up declares that he will have Sanji crucified.

Down below, Luffy and Zoro fight through the pirates when Skunk One arrives, standing on a tall pole. He points them toward Sanji, who is hanging from a cross up high outside the castle, and so he unleashes a cloud of gas, gas that will make those who inhale it paralyzed. As Luffy, Zoro, and Borodo's strength start to fail, Usopp turns to Akisu, declaring how brave he can truly be. Usopp scales the pole and grabs Skunk One around the legs, holding the flap that releases the gas shut, yelling for the others to go on ahead. Skunk One becomes furious, trying to shake Usopp off, and Usopp has to put his mouth over the gas release to keep the gas from coming out. The others see Usopp's diversion and so they rush on ahead as Skunk One launches into the air with Usopp along. He lands on the balcony of Trump Castle, and Usopp collapses, filled with the poisonous gas. Bear King declares that Usopp will be crucified as well, and he is put up on a cross beside Sanji as Nami looks on in despair.

Luffy, Zoro, Borodo and Akisu rush up the stairs of the castle, fighting through the enemy pirates, but as they near the top they come to a chamber where the floor and ceiling close in on them. Zoro and Luffy struggle to hold it up as Akisu is knocked out, and Borodo takes Akisu to safety. Borodo reveals that he was the one to steal the Going Merry, as he wanted to bring the Straw Hats to Clockwork Island. Zoro blames it on Borodo's greed for the Diamond Clock, but Borodo replies that he wanted the Trump Siblings defeated so the island could be free and Akisu could meet his family, as Clockwork Island is his home.

Borodo rushes ahead to face the Trump Siblings, leaving Luffy and Zoro to their fate. Pin Joker then arrives, drawing his sword and saying how Zoro gave him the scar he has across his face. Zoro replies that he does not remember Pin Joker, so Pin Joker becomes angry, using Hari Hari Ken (Sword of Arrows) to stick Zoro full of needles. Zoro falls to one knee, as the needles were tipped with Skunk One's poison. Zoro tells Luffy to hold on a little longer as he draws his sword and charges at Pin Joker, but a fence comes up in front of Pin Joker, causing Zoro to only slash it instead. Pin Joker jabs his sword through the fence, getting Zoro in the midsection, and so he carries away the injured Zoro on the lift, where he is brought to Bear King to be crucified.

At the top floor of the castle, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp hang bound to crosses as Bear King readies to King Cannon to blow them all apart. He says that Nami must be overjoyed, but Nami aims a kick at Bear King, snapping how she'd rather die with her friends then marry him. Bear King strikes her across the face, saying it can be arranged, and so Nami is set up to be killed as well. Down below, Akisu wakes up to see Luffy struggling under the ceiling, asking where Borodo went. Luffy explains Borodo went to fight the Trump Siblings, so Akisu runs up the stairs after him, much to Luffy's dismay. Meanwhile, Bear King fires up the King Cannon, but before he can fire, a large metal wall comes up, with Borodo standing before it. He walks forward with dynamite strapped to his midsection, and holds a lighter, ready to sacrifice himself for the island. Bear King only laughs, stepping forward as he says that detonating the dynamite will only destroy the island's key, which is below his feet, within the castle. If the island key is destroyed, the whole island will be destroyed as well.

Before Borodo can react, Bear King starts tossing him around like a rag doll, knocking the dynamite off of him. Akisu tries in vain to help his brother. As Borodo hits the floor, Pin Joker picks him up angrily after Borodo corrects him on a misspoken word (Pin Joker misspeaks many times throughout the movie). Akisu then tries to defend Borodo. Meanwhile down below, Luffy sees that his windmill toy, which Akisu kept after fixing it, is broken, so with great fury he pushes up the ceiling, forcing himself up and through the floor of the throne room where the Trump Siblings are.



As everyone gapes in shock, Luffy picks up a stick of dynamite, notes how cool it is, and lights it. Everyone freaks out for Luffy to throw it away, so Luffy tosses it to the iron wall in front of his crew. It blows the iron wall to pieces, and Luffy asks where his friends are, which the Thief Brothers reply to that he just blew them up. However, Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp emerge from the smoke, albeit somewhat battered.

With the three now free, the Trump Siblings burst into action. Skunk One chases Usopp up to the roof of the castle. Sanji and Boo Jack square off, and Boo Jack laughs that Sanji will not be able to kick him with his bleeding feet. Usopp tosses down Sanji's shoes to him, and Sanji puts them on, but Boo Jack refuses to believe they will make a difference. Usopp shoots Skunk One in the face with a Sure Kill Egg Star, and as Skunk One goes down he tosses Zoro's swords down to him. Zoro catches them and barely blocks Pin Joker's sword, who took a stab at his back. Zoro stands in front of Nami, defending her. Bear King and Luffy begin their fight, as Luffy uses Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun, but finds it has no effect. Bear King declares that his body is as strong as steel because he ate the Kachi Kachi (rock hard) Fruit.



Boo Jack curls up into a ball and charges at Sanji, but Sanji sends him careening into the roof with one kick. Sanji leaps up and proceeds to kick Boo Jack, several more times until he drives Boo Jack down through the floor, into the island key chamber. He again drives Boo Jack into the ground, and Sanji stands victorious, flicking away his cigarette, as Boo Jack lies in a bloody heap. On the balcony, Zoro tears off his sleeves, assuming his three sword stance, and he charges at Pin Joker. Skunk One declares to Usopp the power of his poison gas, and he charges at him as Usopp pretends to be frightened. At the last second Usopp fires his Flaming Star, striking Skunk One and causing a big explosion. Usopp falls back into the pool below while Skunk One is sent flying off into oblivion. Floating in the water, Usopp yells that Skunk One got what was coming to him. Luffy uses Gomu Gomu no Whip on Bear King, but gets all tangled up and is knocked to the floor.

Zoro and Pin Joker trade sword swings, engaging in a fierce duel. Pin Joker uses Hari Hari Ken once more, but Zoro blows them back with his swords. He stands back up, and Pin Joker says how he shouldn't be able to stand with all of the poison in his body. Zoro replies that he cannot fall, because he faces a long journey and there is one man at the end of it for him to beat. Zoro then uses Oni Giri and takes Pin Joker down. Upon seeing the defeat that the other Trump Siblings endured, Honey Queen flees, dropping her clothes and becoming water again, heading into a pipe, but Nami grabs the pipe and pours Honey Queen into a jar, which she screws shut and holds down.



Meanwhile, the fight between Luffy and Bear King continues as Bear King's arm lights with fire. Luffy grabs onto it but is singed. Bear King starts pounding Luffy around, but Borodo fires a missile from the King Cannon at Bear King. Bear King is barely able to avoid it as it smashes through the window and flies out into the sky, landing in the water with a great explosion. Borodo says that his next shot will not miss.

Bear King becomes furious that Borodo is using his cannon, so he pulls a gun and fires it at him. Akisu leaps in the way and is shot in the chest, falling to the ground. Luffy becomes furious and throws Bear King through the wall, causing the entire top tower to tip and water to pour down. Bear King emerges, more furious than ever, and he climbs onto the King Cannon and fires it at Luffy. Luffy catches the missile with his foot, twisting himself around and stretching himself way out into the sky, and so he pulls it back in, using Gomu Gomu no Screw to drive the missile right into Bear King's chest. Bear King is driven through the floor and lands in the island key chamber, where there is a great explosion and the island key is destroyed.

Nami tosses Luffy's hat back to him as congratulations for defeating Bear King. Borodo kneels beside Akisu and sees that Akisu's chest was protected by a sheet of metal under his shirt. As Borodo carries Akisu to safety, the Diamond Clock starts chiming. All of the Straw Hats and Borodo as well as Akisu recognize the sound as Akisu's music box. It is then revealed that the two scientists they had met earlier were Akisu's parents.

The two brothers head back down out of the castle to the townspeople of Clockwork Town, and meet the two scientists from before again. The scientists explain that Akisu is their son, and a brief flashback shows the mother putting Akisu into the water, hoping that he will escape and survive.

With the key destroyed, the entire island starts to collapse, and the Going Merry falls from it and into the ocean. The people of the island land in the water and scramble into the boats as their island is completely gone, but they know it could not be helped and that they will rebuild a new island and a new future. On board one of the ships, Akisu is reunited with his parents, the two scientists from before, and he hugs his mom. As the Straw Hats sail in the Going Merry alongside Borodo in his small ship, Borodo says that Akisu's parents are great people and that he's better off. Borodo says he is glad to be on his own, because the Trump Siblings' treasure is all his now. However, Akisu jumps back onto the boat, declaring that he will continue along with Borodo, and so the Thief Brothers are reunited, deciding to split the treasure between them. The Going Merry then sails over the horizon as the movie draws to a close.

Reception
On its opening weekend, Clockwork Island Adventure initially placed second. The next weekend, it moved down to third. However, the following two weekends - within the period of March 17 to 25 - it moved up to the number one-ranked movie at the Japanese box office.

Translation and Dub Issues

 * For it's UK release, the film was titled 'Adventure Of Spiral Island' on the marketing, the DVD/disc covers and the DVD menu, but the film's subtitles translate the on-screen title as 'Adventures On Clockwork Island'.
 * Additionally, the UK DVD release translates the 'Trump Kyouddai' as the 'Card Brothers', despite one member being a woman; The DVD's back cover translates their name as the 'Trump Siblings'.

Trivia



 * When Borodo spots the Going Merry atop the Trump Siblings' castle, what appears to be a Baroque Works ship can be seen beside it.
 * Among Bear King's subordinates are the Hyena Three, who briefly reference the events of the first movie (even mentioning El Drago by name). This marks the first - and until the ninth movie, only - instance of a One Piece movie acknowledging a predecessor.
 * Pandaman can also be seen among the many Trump foot-soldiers being attacked during the Straw Hats' assault on Trump Castle.
 * The end credits are paired with the song "Believe", from the TV anime's second (and at the time, current) opening.
 * Reflecting this, the credits begin with a montage of past enemies (Krieg, Morgan, Kuro, Buggy, Arlong, and El Drago) and other figures important to the Straw Hats (Bell-mère, Dragon, Mihawk, Kaya, Zeff, and Shanks) modeled off the second TV opening.
 * The bulk of the credits depicts a set of teasers for the Alabasta Saga (the TV anime having just aired Episode 59 by the movie's release date). These include:
 * The Going Merry entering the Grand Line
 * Miss Wednesday speaking to her fellow Baroque Works agents at Whisky Peak, unaware that Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine have been sent after her
 * Dorry and Brogy dueling atop Little Garden
 * Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek relaxing at Kyuka Island
 * Dalton grimly patrolling the recently-sacked Drum Island
 * Wapol and his crew accosting another ship
 * Tony Tony Chopper working inside Drum Castle as Dr. Kureha looks on
 * Tashigi and Smoker mobilizing toward a new threat
 * Portgas D. Ace roaming the seas in his skiff
 * Miss All-Sunday lounging beside a Bananawani in the comfort of Rain Dinners, a shadowy figure just visible behind her
 * Continuity-wise, this movie is likely set at some point between the Loguetown Arc and the Warship Island Arc; Zoro and Usopp are depicted (respectively) with the Meito acquired from Ipponmatsu and the goggles from Daddy Masterson, but no mention is made of the Grand Line or Vivi.
 * In Episode 54, Nami mentions that two days have passed since the Straw Hat Pirates left Loguetown, a possible gap into which this story could fit.
 * This is the only movie where the Straw Hats' battle against another group has Sanji fighting an enemy with a bounty lower than those of Usopp's and Nami's enemies. However, it cannot be stated if Sanji's enemy, Boo Jack, is or is not the third strongest (as it happens normally, except in the Thriller Bark arc), as bounty does not always means fighting power.

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