One Piece - Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack

"Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack", known under the name "Defeat the Pirate Ganzack!", was the premiere anime adaptation and pre-OVA of One Piece. It was released for the Jump Super Anime Tour in 1998 on July 26. It is a 30 minute episode that seems to take place after the Orange Town Arc and sometime before the Syrup Village Arc.

The current voice actors are not present in this episode, and the studio in charge of the animation is different as usual. (Production IG)

Oda's thoughts on the OVA
After the first showing of the OVA, Eiichiro Oda, creator of One Piece, wrote about it:

The "Jump Super Anime Tour '98" is a really fun tour where three Jump series are going to be turned into movies, and shown in theaters all over the country.

And therefore, "One Piece" was made into a short, original anime movie.

The subtitle of the movie is "Defeat the Pirate Ganzack!" It's an original story that Luffy, Zoro and Nami appear in, unrelated to the canon One Piece story.

In anime, a lot of different professionals come together to produce a single show. Directors, writers, character designers, storyboard artists, art directors, colorists, cinematographers, editors, developers, sound artists, musicians, quality control, sound recorders, workers, producers, animators, voice actors, etc. It's amazing. It makes me want to cry.

…

The final product is fantastic! Luffy and friends' voices, movements and sounds are even better than I had imagined them!!

Oda also presented a few sketches with the main characters of the OVA,in the 5th volume of One Piece.
 * Ganzack
 * Plesiosaur
 * Medaka
 * Herring and Skid

Story
The story begins with a hungry crew of Luffy, Nami, and Zoro on a small boat in the sea. All of a sudden, they are attacked by a sea monster and are separated. Luffy is found on an island beach by pirates, who think he has drowned. The pirates are disturbed by a little girl in an armed suit with spikes. She is named Medaka, and urges the pirates to give her back her father. The pirates mock her rather rudely, and make jokes on whether they should let her join their crew. Medaka, out of sheer anger, attacks the pirates. They chase her around, running over Luffy several times, forcing the water out of his lungs and causing him to wake up. He's angry that the pirates ran over him, and punches the two pirates into a rock.

Medaka leads Luffy and Zoro (who appears without explanation) to the house of an old man, where they are offered some food. The two of them wonder where Nami is. The old man urges them to leave the village as quick as possible, before "they come". He explains that all the villagers, including the girl's father, have been taken away by Ganzack and his pirates, to work in the "Devil's Tower". Just then, a shot bursts from the tower and the shaking causes Luffy's food to fall to the ground and spill. He wants more, but is informed that there is not a single scrap more and that they gave them their own food. Luffy is disappointed, but Medaka says that there's plenty of food in the "Devil's Tower", and if he beats Ganzack and his crew, he can have all he can eat. After hearing this, Luffy rushes out of the house mindlessly, followed by Medaka and Zoro.



They sneak into the tower and see how the people are forced to work with threats to the lives of their families. Medaka charges in without thinking. She was caught by the same two pirates from before, but they quickly change their tone when Luffy pops up and demands food. Luffy and Zoro are cornered by the armed pirates. Then, surprisingly, a pirate is lowered down on a rope, tied to a motor and kidnaps Medaka.

Luffy chases after, to find out that it is Nami in a mask. Ganzack, with the appearance of a sea monster, has two crab claws on his shoulder. Ganzack grows selfish, arrogant, and angry whenever he is called "a crab". Nami says she is fine with him now, because he is "loaded". Ganzack urges Luffy to give up while he's still alive, but he refuses. Ganzack charges toward him, using his crab arms (on his shoulders) as weapons. Luffy is then swallowed by the sea monster, but pushes its mouth open and gets out. Then, Ganzack slams him into a rock, but he's unaffected, yet when he prepares his attack, Ganzack shoots some pink substance on him, which immediately immobilizes him.

Meanwhile, the pirates are demanding Zoro to urge Luffy to give up, or they will kill the village people. Medaka's father sees this and says that they will stand up against Ganzack.

At a banquet, Zoro, Luffy, and Medaka are in chains. Ganzack makes guesses on their price, and after hearing this Nami waits in great anticipiation of the auction that is to come. Ganzack insults Luffy and mocks him by stepping on his hat. Luffy demands Ganzack to return the hat, it being a gift of Shanks.

An explosion then takes place. The people from the village run out and start throwing dynamite, which they were forced to transport against the pirates. While the islanders and pirates fight, Nami goes and unlocks Medaka. Before Nami can unlock Luffy or Zoro, Medaka runs away with the keys, saying "I hate pirates".

In the meantime, Ganzack defeats the rebellion and shoots at Medaka's father, saying he has "no need for wild livestock", but the bullet bounces from Medaka's helmet, as she jumps in. Ganzack prepares to kill her and her father, but then jumps aside from Luffy's rubber punch. He then shouts and presents his armored battle ship. The islanders are stunned as to what they have been making. The ship then fires the cannon and destroys part of the island. Luffy and Zoro decide to go to the ship and fight. Medaka wants to come too, but her father does not allow it. Despite this, she still jumps on as Luffy pulls himself and Zoro to the ship. While fighting with Luffy, Ganzack's armor deploys various projectiles, yet does not hit him. He proceeds to get angry and fire a chain toward Luffy, tying him up. He prepares to cut his head off, but Medaka jumps in the way and shields him (in her armor).



Her helmet flies off as she falls to the ground. Luffy, shocked, grows so angry that he breaks free of his chains. He then grabs Ganzack, spins him around and slams him to the ground. After Ganzack's down, Medaka gets up and shows Luffy that she is okay. Meanwhile, Zoro fights down the pirates and moves to the sea monster, but is beaten to it by the dynamite-throwing islanders.

Ganzack gets to his feet, refusing to recognize defeat. He announces that he is going to be the Pirate King, yet Luffy beats him away and he crashes with the projectile he fired at the island.

Luffy, Nami, and Zoro are seen in a small boat, Nami disappointed that Ganzack did not have any treasure, while Luffy enjoys the heavy stock of food. Medaka, without armor, then runs to the boat (without it, Luffy did not recognize her at first) and gives Luffy a life preserver, saying that now he will be okay, even if he cannot swim. Medaka then calls him a hammer, while Luffy struggles unsuccessfully to get the life-preserver off. While he does so, the life wheel is presented to our view from another side, showing the Japanese words for "Thank you" on the bottom of the wheel.

So they depart, Luffy with wheel and all, while shouting that they will venture to the Grand Line. Medaka runs after them and encourages Luffy to become a great pirate.

Differences from the Later Anime

 * Luffy's attacks sound rubber-like, unlike the following series.
 * While both the Grand Line and Shanks were mentioned, no mention at all was made about Devil Fruits, nor that Luffy is a Devil Fruit user.
 * In the manga, Luffy and his group had, by this time, two ships, while in this movie they had only one.

Similarities

 * It can be pointed out that the story holds some similarity to the Romance Dawn Arc.

Novel Adaptation


Tatsuya Hamazaki wrote a novel version of the story.

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One Piece - Победить Пирата Ганзака!