One Piece Collection 7 DVD Release Review

5 stars of laugh out loud funny Pirate action.

The usual spoilers apply here. Collection 7, as you might imagine, carries on directly from the events of Collection 6, so you will probably want to catch that one first!

This collection comprises episodes 157 to 182 and takes place during the Skypiea Arc. We join our happy band of pirates just after they have defeated the White Berets and become 2nd degree criminals.

It is decided that they must face God’s Challenge, as decreed by Great God Eneru. They are told to travel to the Upper Yard, where they will fight the Four Priests of Eneru, who will each pose a different ordeal.

It soon becomes apparent that they have been betrayed by Conis, who has tricked half the crew into taking the Going Merry into a current where they can be abducted by the White Sea Super Express Lobster and taken directly to the sacrificial alter. Nami, Robin and Zoro escape from the alter into the forest, leaving Chopper to look after the ship.

In the meantime, Luffy, Sanji and Usopp head for the Upper Yard in a borrowed ship called The Crow, to try to take on the priests and rescue their ship and crew.

In the middle of all this excitement, the Shandarians, the original inhabitants of Upper Yard, are trying to reclaim their territory from Eneru, using the presence of the Straw Hats as a diversion.

What follows is a classic One Piece style romp, with Monkey D. Luffy, the ever exuberant captain, constantly in search of adventure and the rest of the crew trying to mop up the aftermath. The fights with the Priests, Sky Punk Gedatsu, Sky Breeder Ohm, Sky Rider Shura and Sky Priest Satori, are all inventive and exciting and as ever it is great to see how the crew, despite their differences, always manage to pull together when necessary.

All leading up to a thrilling and very amusing final encounter, this is more classic One Piece, a must see for fans. It is as beautifully animated as ever, seemingly simple but very effective and the array of characters created by Eiichiro Oda is bewildering but fantastically colourful.

Another triumph and something that would grace any anime collection.

“Don’t be stupid, not even I can eat with my eyes! Well, I did kind of eat with my nose once…”