One Piece Film: Strong World
Encyclopedia
or simply is a 2009 Japanese animated film directed by Munehisa Sakai. It is the tenth feature film based on the shonen manga series One Piece
One Piece
is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 64th volume released as...

by Eiichiro Oda
Eiichiro Oda
is a Japanese manga artist, best known as the creator of One Piece.-Early life:As a child, Oda was inspired by Akira Toriyama's works and aspired to become a manga artist. He recalls that his interest in pirates was probably sparked by the popular TV animation series titled Vicky the Viking...

. The film stars the regular television cast of Mayumi Tanaka
Mayumi Tanaka
is a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo currently affiliated with Aoni Production.She is best known for the roles of Ryuunosuke Fujinami in Urusei Yatsura, Pazu in Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece, Krillin, Yajirobe and Uranai Baba in Dragon Ball...

, Kazuya Nakai
Kazuya Nakai
is a Japanese voice actor who was born in Hyōgo-ku, Kobe. He is currently attached to Aoni Production.-Overview:Kazuya Nakai debuted in After War Gundam X as Witz Sou....

, Akemi Okamura
Akemi Okamura
is a Japanese voice actress and narrator from Tokyo who works for Mausu Promotion. She has had at least one song appear on the NHK program Minna no Uta. Okamura made her debut as Fio Piccolo in the 1992 film Porco Rosso.-Television Animation:...

, Kappei Yamaguchi
Kappei Yamaguchi
, better known by his stage name of , is a Japanese voice actor and actor from Fukuoka, affiliated with Gokū and 21st Century Fox.He is best known for the roles of Ranma Saotome , Jackson Neil , Tombo , Yattaro , InuYasha , Ryuichi Sakuma , L , Usopp...

, Hiroaki Hirata
Hiroaki Hirata
is a male seiyū from Tokyo. He stands at 175 centimeters , and is a member of Gekidan Subaru.He is most known for the roles of Sanji , Sha Gojyo , and the Narrator of Digimon Adventure...

, Ikue Otani
Ikue Otani
is a Japanese actress and voice actress from Tokyo, most famous as the voice of Pikachu in the Pokémon anime series and products and the voice of Tony Tony Chopper in the manga and anime series One Piece. She is currently attached to Mausu Promotion...

, Yuriko Yamaguchi
Yuriko Yamaguchi
Yuriko Yamaguchi is the name of:*Yuriko Yamaguchi , Japanese voice actor*Yuriko Yamaguchi , Japanese-American artist...

, Kazuki Yao
Kazuki Yao
is a veteran voice actor and actor currently represented by Mix Max.- Television animation :* Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple * Astro Boy * Beast Wars * Beast Wars Neo...

 and Chō
Cho
Cho or CHO can refer to several things:Cho can refer to the following people, real or fictional:-People:Given name* Cho Ramaswamy, an actor, columnist, and political commentator in Tamil Nadu, India* Cho U, a Chinese Go playerSurname...

. The film features Naoto Takenaka
Naoto Takenaka
is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi.-Director:*Munō no Hito *119...

 as Shiki, the evil captain of his crew who kidnaps Nami to force her to join his crew and intends to conquer the East Blue. Monkey D. Luffy and his crew must stop Shiki from carrying out his plans.

Plot

Shiki uses his Devil Fruit powers to destroy marine ships and warn Monkey D. Garp and Fleet Admiral Sengoku. On a floating island, Monkey D. Luffy
Monkey D. Luffy
, often addressed as , is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the One Piece franchise created by Eiichiro Oda. He is introduced as a boy who possesses elasticity powers from eating a devil fruit called the Gum-Gum Fruit and superhuman strength....

 is chased by a genetically-enhanced animal. The monster is overpowered by the other monsters before Luffy defeats the fourth monster. The Straw Hats have been separated into three groups: Sanji with Usopp, Roronoa Zoro with Tony Tony Chopper, and Nico Robin with Franky and Brook. Shiki tells Nami that she has been taken to the island against her will and a brief flashback is shown: several days earlier, the Straw Hats read news of an attack on East Blue. Luffy vows to protect the East Blue before witnessing Shiki's ship overhead. After escaping a storm, Shiki meets Nami and reveals his powers to make any inanimate object he touches float. After learning it was Nami that delivered the warning, Shiki offers to take them there before abducting Nami. The others try to rescue her, but Shiki makes the pirates scatter on the island.

Shiki asks Nami to become his navigator but she refuses. His henchman Dr. Indigo demonstrates an evolved bird called Billy, who can produce electricity, but Shiki rejects it after Dr. Indigo is electrocuted. He reveals that a plant, called IQ, can cause animals to evolve instantly and to increase strength along the way. Nami protects Billy, and the bird is left with her as Shiki and his men leave. Meanwhile, Sanji and Usopp battle various animals while Sanji searches for Robin and Nami. Meanwhile, Zoro and Chopper rescue a young girl, Xiao, and are lead to her village and are told about the large poisonous plants around the village. However, long term exposure to the plants is poisonous to humans, and the girl's grandmother has become ill by it. Xiao was looking for the cure which is the IQ plant, but Shiki has stolen the IQ plants for his experiments. Sanji and Usopp 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, before meeting up with Zoro and Chopper.

Nami flees with the help of Billy, and finds the Thousand Sunny along with Luffy. Robin's group discovers that Shiki is planning to release the animals on the island into East Blue to force the World Government's surrender and that he is planning a demonstration against a village on the floating island to show their power. The two join the others at the village, and they also learn of the plan from the village residents. Shiki confronts and defeats the Straw Hats and offers Nami to rejoin him on the condition that the Cocoyashi Village will be taken. Robin's group arrives and rejoin the rest of the crew. Xiao gives them a tone dial and they replay Nami's farewell message, to Luffy's anger.

Meanwhile, Nami attempts to destroy the plants protecting his palace, but gets poisoned herself. Shiki traps her near the plants and heads off to meet the pirate captains gathering. While greeting them, the Straw Hats launch a preemptive strike
Preemptive strike
A preemptive strike refers to a surprise attack launched with the stated intention of countering an anticipated enemy offensive.  Preemptive strike may also refer to:...

 against Shiki and his henchmen. The group manages to defeat them while Chopper and Usopp are ordered to search for Nami. Nami is found by Billy who helps destroy the plants just as Usopp and Chopper arrive. Chopper soon realizes the only way to save Nami is to find the IQ medicine, but Shiki attempts to stop them. Luffy engages Shiki in a duel. The two find the IQ plant, but find the medicine is being held by Dr. Indigo. Zoro manages to defeat Dr. Indigo and Nami recovers. Sanji and Brook, meanwhile, witness another of Shiki's henchmen, Scarlet, attempting to kiss Robin, but Sanji defeats Scarlet.

Nami, Usopp and Chopper trick Shiki into redirecting his ship to the island, forcing his crew to flee. The Straw Hats rig the palace with explosives. Shiki refocuses his attention on the Straw Hats, but Luffy uses an electric charge and knocks Shiki to the ground, leaving Luffy victorious. The other Straw Hats escape with the Thousand Sunny, 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 Marines capture the retreating pirates, including Shiki. As the Marines witness the islands crash into the sea, now free of Shiki's power, they spot the Thousand Sunny. However, the Straw Hats escape. Luffy later learns that Nami's message had ended with the crew being asked to save her.

Cast

  • Mayumi Tanaka
    Mayumi Tanaka
    is a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo currently affiliated with Aoni Production.She is best known for the roles of Ryuunosuke Fujinami in Urusei Yatsura, Pazu in Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece, Krillin, Yajirobe and Uranai Baba in Dragon Ball...

     as Monkey D. Luffy
    Monkey D. Luffy
    , often addressed as , is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the One Piece franchise created by Eiichiro Oda. He is introduced as a boy who possesses elasticity powers from eating a devil fruit called the Gum-Gum Fruit and superhuman strength....

  • Kazuya Nakai
    Kazuya Nakai
    is a Japanese voice actor who was born in Hyōgo-ku, Kobe. He is currently attached to Aoni Production.-Overview:Kazuya Nakai debuted in After War Gundam X as Witz Sou....

     as Roronoa Zoro
  • Akemi Okamura
    Akemi Okamura
    is a Japanese voice actress and narrator from Tokyo who works for Mausu Promotion. She has had at least one song appear on the NHK program Minna no Uta. Okamura made her debut as Fio Piccolo in the 1992 film Porco Rosso.-Television Animation:...

     as Nami
  • Kappei Yamaguchi
    Kappei Yamaguchi
    , better known by his stage name of , is a Japanese voice actor and actor from Fukuoka, affiliated with Gokū and 21st Century Fox.He is best known for the roles of Ranma Saotome , Jackson Neil , Tombo , Yattaro , InuYasha , Ryuichi Sakuma , L , Usopp...

     as Usopp
  • Hiroaki Hirata
    Hiroaki Hirata
    is a male seiyū from Tokyo. He stands at 175 centimeters , and is a member of Gekidan Subaru.He is most known for the roles of Sanji , Sha Gojyo , and the Narrator of Digimon Adventure...

     as Sanji
  • Ikue Ohtani as Tony Tony Chopper
  • Yuriko Yamaguchi
    Yuriko Yamaguchi
    Yuriko Yamaguchi is the name of:*Yuriko Yamaguchi , Japanese voice actor*Yuriko Yamaguchi , Japanese-American artist...

     as Nico Robin
  • Kazuki Yao
    Kazuki Yao
    is a veteran voice actor and actor currently represented by Mix Max.- Television animation :* Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple * Astro Boy * Beast Wars * Beast Wars Neo...

     as Franky
  • Chō
    Cho
    Cho or CHO can refer to several things:Cho can refer to the following people, real or fictional:-People:Given name* Cho Ramaswamy, an actor, columnist, and political commentator in Tamil Nadu, India* Cho U, a Chinese Go playerSurname...

     as Brook
  • Hiroshi Naka
    Hiroshi Naka
    is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Production Baobab. He is originally from Ōita Prefecture.- TV anime :*Baki the Grappler *Clannad *Comic Party Revolution *Cowboy Bebop...

     as Monkey D. Garp
  • Takkou Ishimori as Sengoku
  • Naoto Takenaka
    Naoto Takenaka
    is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi.-Director:*Munō no Hito *119...

     as Shiki the Golden Lion
  • Ryusei Nakao
    Ryusei Nakao
    , known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor, singer, and voice actor from Tōkyō Metropolis, Japan. He is attached to 81 Produce. He has also worked under the name of ....

     as Dr. Indigo
  • Kōsuke Kitajima
    Kosuke Kitajima
    is a Japanese multiple Olympic gold medalist breaststroke swimmer. He won gold medals for the men's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke at both the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympics.-Major achievements:...

     as Kitajima
  • Aiko Kaitō as Eva
  • Banjou Ginga as Scarlet
  • Wasabi Mizuta
    Wasabi Mizuta
    is a Japanese voice actress. She currently resides in Iga, Mie and is represented by Kenji Utsumi's Ken Production.As of April 2005, she is the voice of the title character in the long running Doraemon anime...

     as Xiao
  • Mika Doi
    Mika Doi
    , née is a veteran voice actress who was born in Sendai.-Anime:* Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple * Air Master * Aura Battler Dunbine * Canvas 2 ~Niji Iro no Sketch~...

     as Xiao's mother
  • Hisako Kyoda
    Hisako Kyoda
    is a Japanese voice actor from Tokyo who, among other roles, voiced Slappy Squirrel in the Japanese dub of Animaniacs. She is most known for the roles of Genkai , Omusubiman , and Yukari Godai...

     as Xiao's grandmother
  • Wakana Yamazaki
    Wakana Yamazaki
    is a Japanese voice actress who works for Aoni Production.-Television animation:* Air Gear * All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku * Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo * Captain Tsubasa * Dai no Daibouken...

     as Nojiko

Production

Oda personally supervised the production of Strong World, created the film's original story and over 120 pages of rough drawings. Furthermore, he placed his own name on the film's credits to indicate his desire for a film that is different from its nine predecessors. The actual director of the film is Munehisa Sakai, who is also a former director of the One Piece anime television series. The Japanese rock band Mr. Children
Mr. Children
, commonly called , is a Japanese rock band formed in 1988 by Kazutoshi Sakurai, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki. As a group, they are one of the most successful Japanese rock artists, having sold over 50 million records and creating the in the mid 1990s in Japan...

 performed the film's theme song, "Fanfare". Oda had personally offered them the opportunity.

Promotion

An English-language teaser trailer of 45 seconds length was shown on the Tokyo International Anime Fair
Tokyo International Anime Fair
The Tokyo International Anime Fair also known as Tokyo International Animation Fair is one of the largest anime trade fairs in the world, held annually in Japan. The first event was held in 2002 as "Tokyo International Anime Fair 21". The event is held at Tokyo Big Sight, a convention and...

 in March 2009 and later placed on the official website of the One Piece franchise's anime films, when it was relaunched around July 2009. The website began streaming a 96 seconds long trailer on August 8, 2009. Yet more footage from the film was shown on the 2009 Jump Super Anime Tour and later posted on the website of Weekly Shōnen Jump.

In the 49th issue of Shueisha
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...

's Weekly Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...

, the manga anthology that has been publishing One Piece ever since the series' premiere, the magazine announced that it would publish the prequel to the film's story, depicting a confrontation between the Pirate King Gol D. Roger and Shiki the Golden Lion, which the first 1.5 million Japanese moviegoers where promised to receive in form of a One Piece manga "Volume 0", in its 53rd issue and that it will eventually be animated. The One Piece television anime series' episodes 426 through 429 formed a sub-series of special episodes depicting a prelude to the events in the film.

Commemorating the release of the 56th volume of One Piece, on November 4, 2009, almost within a week to Strong Worlds premiere, the Friday morning issue of the major Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...

contained nine full-page spreads, showing One Piece characters and advertisements for Weekly Shōnen Jump. On December 10, 2009, only two days before the film's premiere, Shueisha's fashion magazine Men's Non-No released its January issue, its cover adorned by an Oda-drawn Luffy in a look by stylist Shinichi "Miter" Mita, which not only marked the first time that Oda drew the cover for a non-manga magazine, but also the first time that a manga character has been on the cover in the magazine's 24-year history. The first eight pages of the issue are occupied by photographs of models, resembling Luffy, Robin, Nami, Zoro, and Sanji, dressed in sea and pirates themed clothes. Furthermore, the issue contains interviews with Oda and Kōsuke Kitajima.

The promotions surrounding
Strong World boosted the sales of the One Piece manga during the week of December 7 through 13, causing all 56 then published volumes to be listed in Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

's Top 200 chart of weekly Japanese
manga sales.

Release

On December 12, 2009,
Strong World opened on 188 screens throughout Japan. For comparison, Ponyo set the record of screens for a domestic film to 481 in July 2008 and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth and penultimate novel in the Harry Potter series by British author J. K. Rowling...

premiered in Japan in July 2009 on 844 screens.

The first 1.5 million moviegoers received the "0th volume" of the
One Piece manga series, containing a prequel story that depicts events from 20 years into the past of the One Piece world, as well as the materials Oda created for Strong Worlds production. After the film's success on its first weekend of showing, Toei decided to extend the offer by another million copies of the manga.

The DVD and Blu-Ray release of the film was released on August 27, 2010.

Related media

Hamazaki Tatsuya adapted the film's story into a 208 pages light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...

, released on December 14, 2009. An art book to the film of 120 A4 pages, published on December 18, 2009, entered to weekly Japanese comic sales ranking on place 21 with 42,076 copies sold.

Box office

On its first weekend of showing, Strong World was seen 820,000 times on 188 screens throughout Japan, 103 of which had sold out over the entire weekend, resulting in a per-screen average of 5,520,000 Japanese yen (approx. 62,200 United States dollars), which is the record for a nationwide-released film in Japan, and a gross revenue of ¥1,038,000,000 (approx. $11.7 million), ¥553,000,000 (approx. $6.24 million) on the first and ¥485,000,000 (approx. $5.47M) on the second day, thus topping both Ponyo, which took in ¥1,025,000,000 (approx. $11.55 M), and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth and penultimate novel in the Harry Potter series by British author J. K. Rowling...

, which made ¥990,000,000 (approx. $11.2 M), on their first weekends of showing, as well as earning more than the ¥920,000,000 (approx. $11 M) its predecessor, One Piece: Episode of Chopper + Fuyu ni Saku, Kiseki no Sakura, made in its whole time of showing. Anime News Network
Anime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...

 attributes part of this success, which includes a 1st place on the Japanese and a fourth place on the international box office over the time frame December 11 through 14, to Toei's giving-away of the "One Piece Volume 0" manga.

Over the weekend of December 19 and 20, Strong World topped the Japanese box office for a second time in a row and, with $22,500,000 earned in its first eight days of showing, set a new company record for Toei, beating Aibo, the record holder from 2008, which needed two more days to reach the same amount and eventually finished with a total gross revenue of $50,000,000, a sum Toei expects Strong World to exceed by $7,000,000.

In its third week, Strong World fell to the 3rd place on Kogyo Tsushinsha's Japanese box office chart and to the 4th place on the charts of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

and Rentrak Theatrical. Shown on 193 screens, it increased its total gross revenue by $2,576,258 to a new total of $32,238,129. In its fourth week, it fell to fourth place. Shown on 194 screens, it grossed another $2,611,102, creating a new total of
$39,439,879. The film remained in fourth place during its fifth week, earning another $1,753,517 on 194 screens to a new total of $44,506,849. Falling to the 6th place on its sixth weekend, Strong World still grossed an additional $1,063,584 on 193 screens, increasing its total to $47,918,186, before falling off the Top 10 in the following week.

Awards and nominations

It won the award for Excellent Animation of the Year at the 34th Japan Academy Prize and is nominated for Animation of the Year.

External links

  • Official website of Toei Animation
    Toei Animation
    Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...

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