One Piece: Collection 37 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.5

One Piece: Collection 37 Blu-ray Movie Review

One Piece: Collection 37 is another exciting collection for fans of the anime series. Based on the beloved original manga by creator Eiichiro Oda, One Piece: Collection 37 continues the anime series with more robust animation production by Toei Animation (Dragon Ball Z, Digimon Adventure 02). One Piece: Collection 37 includes episodes 892-916.

Produced by Yoshihiro Suzuki (GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka, Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture). One Piece: Collection 37 certainly delivers more of what fans demand and want – exciting adventures with Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates. Released on Blu-ray and streaming by distributor Crunchyroll, One Piece: Collection 37 will reward longtime fans of the anime series. One Piece remains the most popular and longest running anime of all time.

The epic adventures of Luffy continue. Luffy is on one of his most daring missions to date. Luffy is working in overdrive to get Otama to a doctor. Set against the backdrop of Wando, Luffy has an enormous amount of energy on his latest quest.

Zoro manages to avoid execution and the Straw Hat Pirates battle it out against the Beast Pirate Basil Hawkins. Luffy also encounters a close call with Holdem. Luffy, Zoro, Law, and others end up fleeing from peril with a stolen food cart.

The entire group then heads to Oden Castle. New missions begin. Upon arrival at Oden Castle, the history of the country unfolds while Luffy has an epic showdown against Kaido.

The epic journey continues on with more missions with the Straw Hat Pirates. The epic quest is one that the Straw Hat Pirates embark on together. The characters set off on new journeys across the ocean waters and into new uncharted areas. The crew includes Monkey D. Luffy (Mayumi Tanaka), Nami (Akemi Okamura), Sanji (Hiroaki Hirata), Tony Tony Chopper (Ikue Ōtani), Usopp (Kappei Yamaguchi), Franky (Kazuki Yao), Roronoa Zoro (Kazuya Nakai), Brook (Yūichi Nagashima), and Nico Robin (Yuriko Yamaguchi). The heroes fight villains and more epic confrontations happen between both sides. The characters fight for a better tomorrow. The Straw Hat Pirates mission is never over and the characters have a lot left to do on their epic journey.

Luffy remains the lovable lead hero as the stretchable wonderkid – capable of stretching out his body and fighting villains with his incredible strength. Sanji is also along for the journey. Nami, meanwhile, remains a loyal friend and adventurer. Brook continues to use his muscle strength for a better and significantly more powerful tomorrow. Tony Tony Chopper remains one of the cutest and most fun, adorable, and charming characters on the series. At every turn, the Straw Hat Pirates continue to fight for the future.

The character designs are by Noboru Koizumi (One Piece Special: Adventure in the Ocean's Navel, One Piece: The Curse of the Sacred Sword). The designs are enormously well done and add to the series animation. The designs are true to the original manga. The character designs help to bring these fantastic characters to life. The designs certainly showcase the vision of the manga and its artist. Exploring the wide cast of characters, Koizumi handles the production well.

The animation is beautiful and robust throughout the series. One Piece features top-notch animation and production. The chief animation direction by Keiichi Ichikawa (One Piece: Episode of Sabo. One Piece: Heart of Gold) adds wonder to the series in spades. The animation is special and it also brings an enormous sense of magic to the series. One Piece is the biggest anime series of all time with good reason – the animation alone is a fantastic and is a showcase for the artistry of the series. The outstanding animation brings a sense of wonder to the series. The animators deliver in spades – providing lush animation and creativity for the anime classic.

The cinematography by Hirosato Ōnishi (Digimon Adventure, One Piece: The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventure in Alabasta) is one of the most beautiful and essential qualities of the anime. The series features outstanding visual sensibilities. The cinematography highlights all the different aspects of the animation. The results impress in spades.

The original score composed by Kōhei Tanaka (Galaxy Express 999: Eternal Fantasy, Project A-ko: Uncivil Wars) and Shiroh Hamaguchi (The Princess and the Pilot, One Piece Special – Adventure of Nebulandia) impresses in spades. The music is terrific and one of the most memorable qualities of the series. The themes are perfect accompaniments to the action-adventure. The score swells with lushly beautiful music. The composers add so much charm and heart to the filmmaking. Plenty to love and appreciate.

From writer Shoji Yonemura (Pokémon Journeys: The Series, Digimon Fusion), One Piece: Collection 37 continues the epic journey of the anime series. The character writing is well done throughout and the dialogue is excellent. An outstanding effort and the scripting works perfectly at highlighting the various intricacies of the adventure.

Directed by Toshinori Fukazawa (Toriko, Digimon: Data Squad), One Piece: Collection 37 delivers more of the genre goods in spades. One Piece: Collection 37 features more top-notch direction, adventure, and wonder. The manga is well adapted for the anime and the creativity of the filmmakers allows for the production to succeed. The adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates and Luffy continue to impress.

One Piece: Collection 37 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Crunchyroll, One Piece: Collection 37 is 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The transfer is remarkably crisp and vibrant. The highly detailed and robust animation looks wonderful.

An outstanding native high-definition presentation and one with considerable presentation gains over earlier standard definition seasons. The beautiful animation highlights the line artwork, background animation, and more. The colors are robust and engaging throughout the production.

One Piece: Collection 37 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles). There is a lot to appreciate about the lossless audio encoding. The English dub audio is crisp, clear, and engaging. The original Japanese language audio is robust throughout the audio presentation. Dialogue is well reproduced. The score is crystal clear sounding and works wonders during the audio presentation.

One of the best qualities of the audio presentation is the lossless encoding. Streaming video services are limited to lossy (non-lossless) audio encoding. For home theater enthusiasts and audiophiles seeking the best possible audio presentation available, the lossless audio provides a more robust and engaging audio soundstage. The bit-rates are higher and the audio is crisper and more detailed.

One Piece: Collection 37 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc 2 –

Textless Opening Song "Over the Top" (HD, 2:02)

Disc 4 –

Textless Opening Song "Over the Top" (HD, 2:02)

The box set comes packaged in a standard clear DVD case. The oversized clamshell case holds both the Blu-ray and DVD discs in the combo pack box set. The set is designed to fit alongside the other sets in the collection line.

The box set would have looked a bit nicer in either a standard Blu-ray case or in a steelbook package design. A steelbook edition would have been the top preference. Steelbooks for One Piece (or some other fancy collectors edition) would be wonderful to see in the future. Even so, at least Crunchyroll has kept the packaging consistent with other sets so the box sets look uniform on the shelf.

Alas, the set has a somewhat sparse and underwhelming supplemental package. The set could have used some additional bonus features – from audio commentaries, to making of documentaries, to featurettes, cast/crew interviews, art galleries, photo galleries, and more. Crunchyroll should be interested in expanding on supplements so that the releases are more robust – the offerings are somewhat slim and in an era of streaming as an option, some fans opt for a one time stream over purchasing something in part because of a lackluster extras package.

One Piece: Collection 37 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One Piece: Collection 37 offers up more entertaining action-adventure and high-sails sea-faring fun for fans of the epic action anime. The anime series remains the longest running and most popular anime ever produced. The worldwide sensation continues to top the charts globally. There is so much to appreciate about the fan-favorite anime gem. It is no surprise fans cherish the anime so much.

The Blu-ray release provides a wonderful high-definition presentation and lossless audio encoding. The extras on the set are sparse and are underwhelming. The release comes with a nicely designed o-card slipcover.

The set is packaged in a standard clear clamshell style DVD case designed to hold both the Blu-ray discs alongside the DVD discs. Fans of the anime will want to consider a potential purchase. The release could have used more deluxe packaging (such as steelbook packaging or deluxe packaging). However, the set earns considerable merit for remaining consistent with other sets in the same line. The release looks nice next to the other collection sets available from Crunchyroll. Recommended.