One Piece Film: Strong World

Strong World is the 10th One Piece film of the series. It was written by manga creator Eiichiro Oda himself and is believed by many to be canonical, yet this is not confirmed.

News of the movie first appeared during a showing of the Episode of the Island of Perpetual Winter, during of which a teaser for the tenth movie was revealed. The movie was originally meant for a spring release in 2009. But complications with the script pushed the release date back. Eventually the movie premiered on December 12th, 2009.

As stated, the film is an original story written by Eiichiro Oda himself in honor of One Piece's Tenth Anniversary. In previous films Oda only supplied character designs and approved story ideas. For this one Toei personally asked if he would write the script. The movie is set between the Thriller Bark Arc and the Sabaody Archipelago Arc, as Brook is shown alongside the other Straw Hats (making this his first movie appearance), and Sengoku and Garp are still in their positions in the Marines.

As a promotion for the movie, the first 1.5 million Japanese moviegoers who went to see One Piece: Strong World received Volume 0 of the manga. The "0th Volume" bonus gift depicts the world of One Piece 20 years ago, and is directly linked to the movie — in particular, it depicts the war between the "Pirate King" Gol D. Roger and the legendary pirate "Golden Lion" Shiki.

Synopsis
East Blue in crisis? The news hits the Straw Hat crew along their journey. With their hometowns facing a pinch, Luffy and his friends put their adventures on hold and decide to head back to East Blue, when suddenly a mysterious flying pirate ship appears out of the sky. The man heading that ship is none other than the infamous Devil Fruit user, Golden Lion Shiki, the same legendary pirate who managed to escape the great undersea prison Impel Down, and stood among such infamous pirates as the "Pirate King" Gol D. Roger and Whitebeard. After abducting Nami for her intuitive navigational skills, Shiki sends Luffy and his crew hurdling down to his own personal floating islands. Separated, the crew finds themselves placed in a battle of survival with terrifying beasts in mysterious surroudings.

What happens to the Straw Hat pirates? What is Shiki after? An adventure where the Straw Hats place their very lives on the line begins now!

Plot


The story begins at Marine HQ where Vice Admiral Garp and Fleet Admiral Sengoku witness Shiki's ship floating in the sky overhead. Shiki uses a power to lift all the marine vessels into the sky, then drops them before departing, saying that this is a warning. Next, Luffy is seen, currently on an island floating in the sky, and being chased by a crocodile like monster.

This monster is overcome by another, which in turn battles another several times while Luffy watches until he finally briefly battles and defeats the final victor, a bear like creature, using his Gear 3rd. It is revealed that the various members of the Straw hat crew are separated around the floating island, Sanji with Usopp, Zoro with Chopper, and finally Robin, Franky, and Brook together who are all encountering similar monstrous animals.



Nami, meanwhile, is first shown swimming in a large swimming pool. Shiki and his henchmen enter, where it is revealed that she has been taken to this place against her will and the scene flashes back to a week earlier. On board Sunny Go, the Straw Hats read news of attacks on East Blue. Luffy says they will return to East Blue to protect it when Shiki's ship appears overhead. Nami feels the weather changing and warns of a coming storm. Luffy calls out to Shiki ship, attempting to warn them, gaining Shiki's attention. Shiki sends down a tone dial to record the warning. His own navigators initially disagree that a storm is approaching, but it does indeed appear and with Nami's direction, both ships successfully escape it.

Afterwards, Shiki shoots his navigator, and comes down to the Sunny Go to meet Nami. There he reveals he has a Devil Fruit power to make any inanimate object he touches ignore gravity and float. After learning it was Nami that delivered the warning, and that they are headed to East Blue, Shiki offers to take them there and uses his power on Sunny Go. Together the two ships travel to the floating island seen before where Shiki suddenly kidnaps Nami. The others try to rescue her, but by controlling the Sunny Go using his power he escapes them, as well as scattering them among the fragments of the island.



Back in the present, Shiki asks Nami to become his navigator but she refuses. Dr. Indigo appears with an 'evolved' bird, called Billy, that can use electricity, demonstrating it to Shiki, but after being shocked by it, Shiki tosses it aside. It is explained that a plant here, called IQ, can cause animals to evolve very rabidly, making them very strong. Dr. Indigo reveal he enhanced the drug dubbing it SIQ which Shiki has used on the island's animals causing them to mutated to large proportions as well as increasing their intellect and aggression. Nami protects Billy, and the bird is left with her as Shiki and his men leave.

Elsewhere, Sanji and Usopp fight off various animals while Sanji searches for Robin and Nami, eventually falling from one island fragment to another before ending up in a lake just next to a village. Meanwhile Zoro and Chopper rescue a young girl, Xiao, and are lead to her village. Along the way they learn the large poisonous plants, called Dact Green, around the village emit a stink so powerful that the animals stay away. However, long term exposure to the plants is poisonous to humans, and Xiao's grandmother has become ill by it. Xiao was outside looking for the cure which is the IQ plant and managed to find one, but Shiki has taken all the IQ plant for his experiments. Sanji and Usopp, also at the same village, where everyone appears to have small wings on their arms, learn that Shiki also takes all the men and young women to his royal palace, leaving the village with only the very young and old with strict monitoring around the clock. They soon after meet up with Zoro and Chopper.



Nami manages to escape her captivity with the help of Billy, and finds the Sunny Go. Only moments later, Luffy, being chased by several giant scorpions, arrives. Billy defeats the scorpions using electricity, and Nami and Luffy talk about what has happened. They soon after decide to search for the others, using Billy to fly. Robin's group, meanwhile, find a large building where many pirates are gathering, similarly protected by poison plants. They learn there that Shiki is planning to let loose the animals on the island into East Blue in a gambit to force the surrender of the World Government. They also learn that to prove the power of the animals he is planning a demonstration using a village on the floating island.



Luffy and Nami join the others at the village, and they too learn of the plan from the village residents, who, not knowing where the Straw Hats originate, are relieved to be rid of the monsters. Nami is seen by a den den mushi camera, and Shiki decides to personally head over to retrieve her. He arrives sometime later and confronts the Straw Hats who are there. Despite some initial success in fending him off, the Straw Hats are defeated, and Nami is coerced into rejoining Shiki by him agreeing to leave them, and her home town be. Usopp, the only remaining crew member conscious tries to stop her, but Shiki knocks him out.

Nami records a message, using the tone dial, which is supposed to be a farewell message. After leaving it, Shiki's men remove the poisonous plants around the village, and cause the animals to destroy it. Xiao and the other villagers took shelter in an underground bunker. Nami watches this from Shiki's palace, apparently uncaring. Robin's group arrives shortly after, revive, and rejoin the rest of the crew. Xiao reappears and gives them the dial. Her mother, who earlier had expressed relief about the animals being sent to East Blue, apologizes for saying how happy she was for Shiki leaving for East Blue. They then play the message, and after hearing only the first bit of it, Luffy is angered to the point that he won't listen to the rest (the rest of the crew does, however).



Back at Shiki's place, Nami is found to have in fact been attempting to blow up the plants protecting his palace, but was overcome by the poison. Shiki traps her near the plants and heads off to meet the pirate captains gathering. While preparing a toast to the commencment of the operation, the Straw Hats burst into the palace using Sunny Go, then march into the main meeting room brandishing various firearms. After a short confrontation, where Shiki calls them simply a suicide squad, and reveals hundreds of men around them. Luffy says that Nami was simply the vanguard and that they are the main force. They unload their firearms in the room, defeating most those gathered, then split up to defeat the rest.



Luffy chases after Shiki, telling Chopper and Usopp to find Nami. Nami is found by Billy who helps her ignite the explosives just as Chopper and Usopp find her. While all escape harm from the explosion, animals from outside storm the palace adding to the chaos within. Chopper realizes the only way to save Nami is to find the IQ medicine, but Shiki attempts to stop them. However, Luffy appears, in Gear 2nd, and starts fighting him, with the help of Billy.

Usopp and Chopper find the IQ plant, but find the medicine is being held by Dr. Indigo. Zoro fights him, and using Asura defeats him and retrieves the medicine. Sanji and Brook, meanwhile, witness another of Shiki's henchmen, Scarlet, an ape man, attempting to kiss an earlier incapacitated Robin. Sanji quickly defeats him using Diable Jambe, but Brook ends up receiving Robin's thanks when he catches her. Nami also recovers, and feeling a storm approaching has an idea.



Luffy, still battling Shiki, is overcome when Shiki surrounds him with water. Shiki then receives a den den mushi call warning of the storm and asking him to redirect the island which he does. Unknown to him, the call was in fact coerced by Usopp and Chopper, and that Nami has lead them directly into the storm. The various remaining pirates realize this and retreat, while the Straw Hats rig the palace with explosives. Shiki returns to the palace and confronts them, but Luffy also reappears, having recovered.

Once more using Gear 3rd, he places his giant foot into the clouds, gaining an electric charge and uses this to enhance his giant axe. Shiki at first thinks the lighting will kill Luffy, not realizing Luffy's rubber state will protect him. By the time Shiki realizes his mistake, Luffy hits him with the attack, both smashing and electrifying him to the ground, defeating him. The other Straw Hats escape using Sunny Go, using Shiki's pirate sail as a parachute. Luffy is recovered by Billy while the villagers are shown flying away using the wings on their arms.



The story ends with the marines gathering below to capture the fleeing pirates, including Shiki, and witnessing the islands crash into the sea, now free of Shiki's power. The Sunny Go is seen in the sky and they prepare to attack it. Back at Marine HQ, Sengoku comments that the Straw Hats were the ones to deal with this, and the marines did nothing.

Later, it shown the Straw Hats managed to evade the marines and continue on with their adventure. Luffy confronts Nami about the message she left on the tone dial, angry that she didn't have faith in them. When the others revealed he didn't hear the whole message, Nami tries to stop Luffy from playing it, feeling embarrassed of its content. She, Luffy, and Usopp wrestle over the dial (Luffy wanting to hear the message, Nami trying to prevent him and throw the dial overboard and Usopp wanting to keep the dial since it valuable). As the tone dial is knocked off the ship, it is revealed that on the other half of the message Nami indeed asked them to save her.

Episode 0
3 Years before the Great Age of Pirates...

In Marineford, Marine Headquarters gets word that Gol D. Roger and Gold Lion Shiki are having a confrontation. Hearing this, Vice-Admiral Garp walks out on the current Fleet Admiral, Kong, and forces his way onto Admiral Sengoku's ship, much to Sengoku's annoyance.

In the New World, at some place in the sea called Edd War, Buggy freaks out at the potential conflict between the infamous pirates, and asks Crocus if Roger is well enough to fight. Crocus 'assures' him that Roger is perfectly okay. Meanwhile, Shiki asks Roger to join him, hoping to use Roger's information on the Ancient Weapons to rule the world. Roger refuses, not wanting to give up the freedom he has. A battle between the two crews ensues, and a change in the weather allows the Roger Pirates to sink half of Shiki's ships. A side-effect of the battle causes half of a steering wheel to become implanted into Shiki's head.

Pre Movie Arc: Little East Blue
A special anime-only arc (consisting of four episodes, 426 - 429) was made as a lead up to the movie.

Wardrobe
One of the the things the movie is known for is several of the Straw Hat's costume changes throughout the film.

Strong World Books
Three books related to the movie were published during December of 2009. December 14th, Shueisha published the film novel One Piece Film: Strong World written by Tatsuya Hamasaki and on December 18th publish the One Piece Film 「STRONG　WORLD」 Eichiro Oda Artbook. Also on December 4th Toei Animation publish the One Piece Pia Mook, a movie guidebook with additional information about the series.

Box Office

 * One Piece Film Strong World, the 10th One Piece anime film, opened with 1.038 billion yen (about US$11.7 million) this past weekend. By comparison, Ponyo took in 1.025 billion yen (US$11.55 million) during its opening weekend last year. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opened on 844 screens in Japan this past July with 990 million yen (US$11.2 million). Last year's One Piece film, Episode of Chopper Plus:Bloom in Winter, Miracle Sakura, earned only 920 million yen (US$11 million) during its entire run less than the 10th film earned in just two days.
 * One Piece Film Strong World opened on 188 screens throughout Japan. 103 of those screens had sold-out showings throughout the weekend. The film's per-screen average was 5.52 million yen (US$62,200) — the record for a nationwide release in Japan.
 * On the first day, the film made 553 million yen (US$6.24 million), and it made 485 million yen (US$5.47 million) on the second day. In all, the film was seen 820,000 times.
 * Part of the reason for the huge audiences was the One Piece Volume 0 manga that was given to the first attendees. Toei has decided to add another printing of 1 million copies for the manga. Unlike previous One Piece films, Oda had personally overseen the new film's production.

Trivia

 * Oda had designed the Straw Hats' costumes. So far, they have been seen with three designs: formal suits, adventure suits and onboard suits.
 * This is the first One Piece movie to be written by Oda himself.
 * This movie's promotion led to a significant increase of sold volumes: All 56 volumes of the manga that had been published prior to the movie's release ranked within the Top 200 Oricon selling charts in the week of December 7th to 13th, 2009. Shueisha already had announced before the movie's premiere that Volume 56 was being published with 2.85 million copies in its first print.
 * This is the first and, so far, only movie that features Brook.
 * The Straw Hats are seen using guns, something that they have never used in the main series.
 * Strong World was on the official selection of the 50th Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June 2010. This was announced in the Jump cover of Chapter 587.
 * One Piece Strong World DVD/BD version will have added new scenes requested by Oda
 * In an earlier trailer, Shanks and Whitebeard appeared in the movie talking about Shiki. This was a reference to the fact Oda orginally wanted to mention Shiki within the storyline during their meeting.
 * Though it is relatively easy to place where the storyline of the past takes place, it has yet to be confirmed when Strong World took place.
 * In the movie, Robin's eyes have their original brown color, as opposed to her blue eyes in the anime and the other movies.
 * The bartender from Dead End Adventure appears again as a bartender in Shiki's palace.

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