If you are a “One Piece” fan, you do not want to miss one of the most memorable episodes of the “One Piece” series! Find out who lives and dies in “One Piece: Season Eight, Voyage Three, available now on DVD from FUNimation! Highly recommended!
Image courtesy of © 1999 Toei Animation Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: One Piece: Season Eight, Voyage Three
DURATION: Episodes 481-491 (Duration: 320 Minutes, 2 DVD’s)
DVD INFORMATION: 4:3, English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound, English and Japanese stereo
COMPANY: FUNimation
RATED: TV 14
Release Date: September 20, 2016
Originally created by Eiichiro Oda
Directed by Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Munehisa Sakai
Series Composition by Hirohiko Uesaka
Script by Hirohiko Uesaka, Hiroshi Hashimoto, Junki Takegami, Michiru Shimada, Naoki Koga, Ryota Yamaguchi, Suminori Takegami, Yoshiyuki Suga
Music by Kouhei Tanaka, Shiroh Hamaguchi
Character Design by Kazuya Hisada, Noboru Koizumi
Animation Production by Toei Animation
Featuring the following voice talent:
Mayumi Tanaka/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Monkey D. Luffy
Akemi Okamura/Luci Christian as Nami
Hiroaki Hirata/Eric Vale as Sanji
Ikue Ohtani/Brina Palencia as Tony Tony Chopper
Kappei Yamaguchi/Sonny Strait as Usopp
Yuriko Yamaguchi/Stephanie Young as Nico Robin
Kazuki Yao/Patrick Seitz as Franky
Ian Sinclair as Brook
Travis Willingham as Portgas D. Ace
Edward Newgate as Whitebeard
Will Whitebeard’s final stand usher in a new era? Ace is freed from his shackles but escaping Marineford isn’t going to be that easy. The Navy has their sights set on the two brothers as they make a mad dash towards freedom. Injured, but not down for the count Whitebeard rises to put a stop to his crew’s attack, giving them the order to escape to the New World and leave him for dead. Unwilling to let the man who raised him stand alone against his enemies, Ace turns back to lend a hand. Before he can reach his destination, Akainu appears to test the might of his magma against the flames of Fire Fist Ace. As their battle heats up, Luffy and the rest of the world can only watch as the legendary pirate Whitebeard strikes out with all his power and attempts to sink Marineford to the bottom of the sea.
In the long storyline of “One Piece”, there is one storyline that has struck a chord with fans, especially in Japan, as it mourns one of the popular characters of the manga/anime series.
In this latest volume of “One Piece” (Season Eight, Voyage Three), we have watched as Luffy and Whitebeard and fellow pirates have come to the aid to save Ace from execution.
But Akainu (one of three admirals of the Marines) is determined to make sure that they both are dead.
And as this volume features tragedy, the battle between the pirate and marines leads to the escape of Blackbeard and the Blackbeard Pirates. And for Whitebeard, his former teacher is now his greatest enemy. One will win, but the other will not survive.
Do not miss one of the most memorable episodes of the “One Piece” series! Find out who lives and dies in “One Piece: Season Eight, Voyage Three, available now on DVD from FUNimation!
What is “One Piece”?
“ONE PIECE” is a popular anime series based on the popular manga series serialized in Shonen Jump by Eiichiro Oda. Suffice to say, “ONE PIECE” is the highest selling manga for Weekly Shonen Jump and its popularity has extended to various anime (via the TV series, OVA and films) and video games in America and also worldwide.
The series is so popular, the episode count currently in Japan is in its 18th season and a total of 755 episodes have been aired in Japan.
Despite receiving a heavily edited version in North America via 4Kids Entertainment earlier on, FUNimation began releasing the original, uncut versions since May of 2008 and here we are in 2016, now with the DVD release of “One Piece: Season Eight, Voyage Three” (Episodes 481-491), available now, courtesy of FUNimation.
“ONE PIECE” is an adventure anime about a 17-year-old boy named Monkey D. Luffy who gained enormous strength (and stretching abilities) after eating a magical demon fruit. He eventually teams up with a group of pirates and have the name “The Straw Hats”. Luffy’s driven to one day obtain the most sought out treasure known as “One Piece” and eventually become the King of the Pirates.
The Straw Hat Pirates consists of:
Monkey D. Luffy – A 17-year-old guy who is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and dreams to be a pirate king by getting his hands on the “ONE PIECE” artifact. When he was young, he accidentally ate a devil fruit which made his body rubbery and can stretch and blow up. An airhead of sorts, loves to eat but always believes and fights for his friends.
Roronoa Zoro – A 19-year-old skilled swordsman. A skilled and very strong fighter. Wants to be the greatest swordsman in the world.
Nami – The navigator of the group. The main female crew member and really good at weapons.
Usopp – A 17-year-old marksman. A talented inventor and artistic. Known by his long nose, his marksmanship with slingshots and weapons are great. He quit the Straw Hat Pirates and took on a new identity.
Sanji – The chef of the crew. A skilled fighter that uses only kicks in battle and is passionate towards Nami.
Tony Tony Chopper – A reindeer with a blue nose. Ate a devil fruit known as human-human fruit which makes him human in someways but keeping his reindeer look. Able to speak to humans, walk upright and also able to have transformations to become a huge beast. But his talent is his medical skills as he was trained by the Doctrine to become a doctor. Has very low self-confidence because he had been treated badly not only by his kind but also by humans and has not really had a friend but the Doctor and Doctrine.
Nico Robin – The former Vice President of Baroque Works who has become the newest member of the Straw Hat Pirates despite some of the crew not trusting her since she was a former enemy. Has the ability to use her body parts and project them elsewhere and other mysterious abilities not yet known.
Franky – A cyborg who can rebuild his body using pieces of metal and his dream is to build a ship and become its shipwright and sail to the end of the world.
Brook – A pirate from before the time of Roger, he was killed but because of the Paramecia-type-Revive-Revive Fruit, he rose again as a skeleton. An excellent musician, he becomes a member of the Straw Hat Pirates.
VIDEO :
For most television series, because they are created nearly before they are aired on television, unlike film and OVA’s, there typically is not much detail involved in a Japanese animated television series. “ONE PIECE” is probably one of those rare exceptions in that it has really cool character designs and very detailed artistic backgrounds. Of course, since it is on DVD, you will see some artifacting, combing and edge enhancement but it’s not so noticeable unless you are really looking for it.
The anime series is presented in standard 4:3 definition but for a television series, “ONE PIECE” sports cool and unique character designs and beautifully painted artistic backgrounds. Definitely one of the better looking anime series that has remained consistent and has not downgraded since it first aired on television. Character designer Kazuya Hisada (who worked on the “Dragon Ball” and “Dragon Ball GT” series) and Noboru Koizumi (who worked on “Giant Robo”, “Dragon Ball GT” and “Tenchi Universe”) have been very good of capturing “One Piece” creator Eiichiro Oda’s unique style.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
As for the audio, “One Piece” is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound, English Stereo and Japanese Stereo. Of course, the English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound is the better audio choice to listen to, although one who has a receiver that can set their audio to all channels can definitely enjoy the Japanese stereo track as well. But both audio tracks are done very well and I have to admit that “ONE PIECE” has one of the most solid English dub tracks for an anime TV series. Very well done on both audio tracks but again, have been very impressed by the voice talent for the series thus far.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“One Piece: Season Eight, Voyage Three” comes with the following special features:
DISC 1:
- EPISODE 482 Audio Commentary – Audio commentary by Joel McDonald (ADR Director), Colleen Clinkenbeard (voice of Luffy) and ason and production assistant, Katherine Salavarria.
- EPISODE 486 Audio Commentary – Audio commentary by Joel McDonald (ADR Director), Matt Thurston (voice of Shuryu) and Cole Brown (voice of Blackbeard).
DISC 2:
- Top 10 Moments – (18:13) Colleen Clinkenbeard, Mike McFarland, Brina Palencia, Joel McDonald, Godswill Ugwa and Katherine Salavarria discuss their top ten moments.
- Textless Opening Song – “One Day”
With the release of “One Piece: Season Eight, Voyage Three”, the episodes are from the Japanese 14th season (featuring episodes 481-491) as this volume features one of the most heartbreaking episodes ever featured on “One Piece”.
Major deaths take place in this volume and the plot revolves around Luffy and Whitebeard trying to save Ace from being executed by the Marines. And it’s not going to be an easy save, as the three powerful Admirals of the Marines are present and Akainu (one of three admirals of the Marines) is determined to make sure that both Luffy and Ace are dead.
Meanwhile, as the battles are taking place, destruction happens and Blackbeard and his pirates have been released and are now causing problems, which leads to another tragic death.
The volume also features the return of Trafalgar Law who comes to try to offer Luffy and Jimbei assistance. And we also see the return of Shanks and his crew!
This latest DVD volume is truly epic, heartbreaking and no doubt an emotional rollercoaster. If you haven’t read the manga series and are just watching the anime series, one can’t simply put into words of how these episodes will no doubt make you shed a tear if you are a “One Piece” fan. But it’s these episodes that takes the series and its character to a new direction.
This volume is purely all action, as we get to see Ace fight for his life, Whitebeard fighting against Akainu and Blackbeard, the return of characters and so much more! This is probably the biggest war between the pirates and the marines that we have seen thus far. And it was no doubt the bloodiest and tragic battle yet.
Needless to say, this volume has a tremendous amount of action and “One Piece” fans will not be disappointed!
As for the DVD, picture quality is very good on DVD, audio is also crystal clear with both voice acting soundtracks are well done, as “One Piece” is one of the best cast anime series, everyone is right for their role and considering that Toei was strict on the casting for the English dub, FUNimation did a fine job in their cast selection and I was pleased with both Japanese and English dub soundtracks. As for special features, you get two audio commentaries and a few cast and crew discussing their top 10.
Overall, “One Piece: Season Eight, Voyage Three” is an another action-packed volume as Luffy and Whitebeard and friends are now closer to Ace but as the Marines and Pacifistas try to undermine them from rescuing Ace, will they be able to make it happen?
If you are a “One Piece” fan, you do not want to miss one of the most memorable episodes of the “One Piece” series! Find out who lives and dies in “One Piece: Season Eight, Voyage Three, available now on DVD from FUNimation!
Highly recommended!
