One Piece Fan Letter

This is the best episode I've ever seen in my life. I don't think anything will ever top this, at least for a very long time. Everything about it was perfection and it perfectly captures the soul of what One Piece is. In a single 24 minute episode it made me care for characters I've never seen until today and these characters and their stories have completely changed my perspective on the series as a whole. We never think about the lives of the average citizen or marine while watching/reading One Piece, it really shows us that these characters have lives, family's, friends people theylove and care for too. The perspective of the Marine soldiers in war broke me into pieces. Don't want to say too much but this is a Masterpiece, and if you haven't seen One Piece I beg of you do to so, it will change your life.

This is simply one of the best anime works ever made and the director Megumi Ishitani is guilty of it. First of all, in order to fully understand this episode and being able to appreciate all its details, it is needed to watch/read until the "Return to Sabaody" arc (included), since the whole plot is set in this framework of events. All the stories that appear in the episode are told from the very own perspective of the characters that participate in it. All this characters are normal persons (at least they are far away from the usual extravagant characters that Eiichiro Oda has all of usaccustomed to) and all of them are fans of the Straw Hats. This is what it makes them feel really special and very close, they are truly in tune with the wonders and amazing things the Crew has accomplished and are also inspired by them, making Megumi Ishitani suceed in connecting with the spectator, almost to the point of feeling to be part of the story. Regarding the visual part, the animation is impeccable. The scenes are incredibly fluid and the drawing style is precious. But the best point of the visuals is the amazing visual language that Ishitani always brings into the episodes she directs, specially regarding the ilumination effects and light symbolisms full of meaningful messages without saying a single word. Here, we could talk about, for example: on how the girl is positioned in the dark when hope is fainting and how the light comes back when hope arises again; or how she is seen behind metal bars when she wants to be free and claiming liberty. Furthermore, there are tons of details to pay attention to, many of the main events of the episode are consequence of side and secondary actions of the crew members that one could not even imagine when seeing the original series for the first time. To state a few examples: the concert Brook gives in Sabaody originates huge crowds of people that make the little girl impossible to keep moving forward; the iconic scene of Rayleigh stoping the marines from pursuing Luffy is a big deal for the marines of this story; the enormous bugs and insects that Usopp bringed are incredible menaces for the protagonists; it also appears the comical scene of the World Government secret agents catching the fake Chopper, crashing with the girl and making her stumbling; and many more. In few words, this episode tells the stories of fans of the Straw Hats, that, as well as the spectator, admire the crew. The great amount of feelings and emotions this episode awakens is what it makes it a "must see" for every One Piece fan.

So much joy packed into 24 minutes. I was grinning ear to ear throughout. It shouldn't be hard to believe that One Piece can grace us with a one-off special that hits this hard, but it still blew me away. The fanservice was perfectly timed and didn't overstay its welcome, the perspective shifts were awesome and recontextualized a lot of what happened during two pivotal arcs without changing them, the new characters were a joy to watch, and yes, the animation was incredible (checks the team behind it... oh yeah, no wonder - same director behind Where the Wind Blows and instrumental in OP26). Other studiosand directors, take notes: this is how you do it.