To celebrate the release of One Piece's 1000th manga chapters and 1000th anime episode in 2021, Eiichiro Oda and Toei Animation announce the new One Piece movie titled One Piece Film: Red. It is scheduled to be released in August 2022. There's not much information about this particular movie for now other than the fact that it will feature Shanks, one of the Emperors of The Sea.
However, there are several things that fans of the franchise can expect from this movie, which are a zany adventure, quirky characters, hilarious moments, and of course, exciting action sequences. After all, those are the DNA of every One Piece story, be it the original manga, anime, or even the films.
That being said, One Piece is not one to stay away from heavy subjects, particularly in its films. For example, there's the threat of terrorism in One Piece Film: Z, or the gruesome slavery underneath the glitz in One Piece Film: Gold. But out of the fourteen One Piece films that have been released thus far, one particular movie stands out from the rest as one of the darkest movies ever made for the series. It's called Baron Omatsuri and The Secret Island.
Spoiled ahead for One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and The Secret island
One Piece: Baron Omatsuri And The Secret Island
Baron Omatsuri and The Secret Island was released in 2005, and it is the sixth One Piece film. This film was directed by Mamoru Hosoda, the man behind anime movies such as Wolf Children, Summer Wars, the Academy Award nominated movie Mirai, the 2021 fantasy flick Belle, and so many other iconic anime movies.
Even more so than other directors that had the chance to helm a One Piece movie, Mamoru Hosoda was extremely hands-on with this project. His signature style appeared all over the story and the animation. Just like other Hosoda's movies, Baron Omatsuri deals with grief, the loss of loved ones, and the struggle to get back on one's feet.
Unlike other One Piece anime adaptations, Baron Omatsuri was animated in Hosoda's distinct style. Fans of the series will undoubtedly notice the difference the moment the first scene pops up on screen. That is what makes this movie so unique compared to the rest.
The Story of Baron Omatsuri And The Secret Island
In this movie, the Straw Hat pirates received news about a resort island that promises to provide non-stop feasts, luxurious facilities, and various entertainment venues where you can mingle with world-class beauties. Needless to say, they wasted no time visiting the Paradise Island.
When they finally get there, a man named Baron Omatsuri and hundreds of his employees welcome them to the resort. However, before they can enjoy the festivities, the Straw Hats have to compete in a series of challenges first. As someone who is always interested in trying something new, Luffy immediately agrees. Unbeknownst to them, this is the moment where the nightmare actually begins.
The challenges and even the venues themselves were designed to divide the crew and pit them against each other. Without anyone realizing it, the tension between the Straw Hats begins to grow. They always get on each other's nerves, particularly Sanji and Zoro, but this time it's different. There's the unmistakable air of distrust and discomfort in the air and the Baron is the one that orchestrated the whole thing.
Elements Of The Film's Darkness - The Visuals
As mentioned before, Baron Omatsuri utilized Hosoda's distinct animation style, and it is most noticeable in each character's animations. However, the one that makes it so dark is actually Hosoda's visual direction.
Mamoru Hosoda is a master in creating atmospheric tension through the visuals alone. As a shounen series, One Piece usually uses bright tones and color palettes on screen, but that is not the case at all with this movie. For the majority of the film, everything happens in a rather dimly lit environment with objects that are painted in muted colors.
To add another layer of eeriness to the story, there are multiple scenes where the characters are alone with no other character in sight. Chopper walks alone amidst empty streets and desolate buildings, or Robin stands on a hill looking over countless wreckage of pirates' ships with the sunset on her back. There's an unmistakable atmosphere of sadness and isolation here, particularly in the second half of the movie.
Elements Of The Film's Darkness - The Story
Baron Omatsuri was a pirate captain who lost all of his crew in a terrible storm. He is stranded on the island by himself, and can't handle the crushing pressure of grief and loneliness. Hope comes in the form of a magical plant called the Lily Carnation. It can bring his crews back to life in exchange for a constant supply of human life. So the Baron creates the resort as a way to lure in unsuspecting pirates.
However, capturing and killing pirates alone is not enough for him. He wants them to feel his pain. He wants the captain to feel the confusion of a crew that is falling apart and the immense grief of losing them without the ability to do anything about it. So he devised a plan to slowly but surely break the heart of every pirate who is unlucky enough to step onto his island. And that's what he tries to do with the Straw Hat crew.
What makes Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island so great is its tightly woven story that depicts the Straw Hats in a situation that is unfamiliar to them. Not many fans like or even watch this movie, but the testament of its quality is the fact that Eiichiro Oda will use the core idea of this film years later in one of the best story arcs in One Piece, the Sabaody Archipelago Arc.