One Piece Film: Strong World

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One Piece Film: Strong World is a 2009 Japanese animated fantasy action-adventure movie. It’s the tenth feature film based on Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece manga. The film was directed by Munehisa Sakai, written by Hirohiko Kamisaka, with a story by Eiichiro Oda, who also supervised the project.

In the story, Shiki the Golden Lion, a former pirate, kidnaps Nami to recruit her for his plan to conquer East Blue. Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat crew chase him. The action takes place on a floating island, where Shiki uses his powers to make himself and objects float, and he uses a plant called IQ to make animals evolve and become stronger. The crew is split into teams as they try to rescue Nami, stop Shiki, and defeat his forces. After several battles, Luffy defeats Shiki, Nami is rescued, and the Marines capture Shiki and his men as the island sinks.

Oda personally supervised the film and contributed the original story, aiming for something different from the previous films. The theme song is Fanfare by Mr. Children. It opened in Japan on December 12, 2009, and did very well at the box office. The movie later reached international audiences, including a North American release by Funimation in 2013. To promote Strong World, early moviegoers received a bonus prequel manga Volume 0, and a related light novel and art book were published afterward.

Critics generally liked Strong World for its fast-paced action, polished animation, and Oda’s involvement. It earned about $61 million worldwide and won the Excellent Animation of the Year award at the 34th Japan Academy Prize, with a nomination for Animation of the Year.