Save One Piece: Season Two, Fourth Voyage

"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 over 400 episodes and despite receiving a heavily edited version in North America via 4Kids Entertainment earlier on, FUNimation Entertainment began releasing the original, uncut versions since the May of 2008 with a total of 13 episodes per volume.

"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.

In "One Piece - Season Two: Fourth Voyage", the group finally arrives at the country of Alabasta, a desert that has its fair share of trouble. But the Straw Hat Pirates are determined to bring Vivi back home and help her take on Baroque Works which is led by Crocodile. With Crocodile planning to overthrow the Alabasta government, Luffy reunites with his older brother Ace who joins the gang during the trip through Alabasta. Vivi quickly learns that things have changed so much in her country that the villages affected by the drought are hurting and people are starving for food.

The "ONE PIECE - Season Two: Fourth Voyage" comes with episodes 92-103 on two DVD discs.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

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.

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.

As for the audio, the series 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 Two: Fourth Voyage" comes with the following special features:

DISC 2:

* Audio Commentary for 103 - Spiders Cafe at 8 O' Clock! The Enemy Leaders Gather! - Featuring audio commentary with director Scott Sager and voice talents Barry Andell (Mr. 2), Leah Clark (Miss Doublefinger).
* Textless Songs - Textless Songs for the opening song "Believe" by folder5 and the closing song "Fish" by Kaleidoscope.
* Trailers - FUNimation Entertainment trailers

JUDGMENT CALL:

I absolutely love "ONE PIECE". The characters, the action, the involving and well-written storylines and of course, the wonderful voice work via Japanese and also the English dub tracks and the refreshing and unique artwork.

With the release of "One Piece - Season Two: Fourth Voyage", finally the group arrives in Alabasta and for those who watched the eighth "One Piece" film, this is the volume that kicks off the storyline with the full episodes and the traveling and dangers the gang faces around the desert.

Although not as battle intensive as the previous two volumes, this latest volume focuses more on Princess Vivi and what her country has endured but also we see a little of her past. Also, we are introduced to Luffy's brother Ace (who is one of the most popular anime characters in Japan according to a Shonen Jump poll) There are a good number of hijinks with these episodes as the group are in a hot desert and are lacking food/drink supplies but for the most part, what I found enjoyable are the number of Baroque Works top members being introduced and needless to say, you can tell that this is setting up for a major battle between them and the Straw Hat Pirates (which I am definitely looking forward to).

As for the DVD release, you get the uncut and unedited videos featuring "marathon play" (watching all episodes seamed together without the credits) and an audio commentary for one of the episodes plus clean opening and ending themes.

For "ONE PIECE" fans, this saga is definitely an entertaining saga and the Alabasta arc is definitely one of the more exciting storylines of the series, so although this volume doesn't have as many action sequences as the previous two voyages, the episodes are more character driven and we get to learn more about those characters, especially Vivi. Some viewers may find the filler episodes of the gang traversing into towns a bit too repetitive but the writers made these storylines a bit more intriguing and fun and not boring at all. But definitely, this volume is definitely setting the viewers up for a possible major battle with Baroque Works (which I definitely look forward to).

Overall, "ONE PIECE" continues to be a fantastic anime series that has a great combination of humor, action, artwork, great voice acting and cool animation. Highly recommended!Get more detail about One Piece: Season Two, Fourth Voyage.