One Piece Uncut Collection 2
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 12
Running Time: 293 Mins
Audio: English & Japanese DD 5.1
Release Date: 1/7/2013
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes

In this second series, Luffy and his crew find themselves bumping into the dastardly and dangerous Don Krieg, but it's not all bad as master chef Sanji decides to join them even if Arlong betrays Nami the Navigator. As you can imagine it isn't all plain sailing as Luffy and Zoro come across some bad ass marines who decide to tustle with them, making the two of them the high seas most wanted!

Stretchy hero, Luffy has a lot of convincing to do in the first episode. His confrontation with Ghin and Sanji is a reminder of the way Ichigo tried to convince Renji to rescue Rukia from certain death in Bleach. Luffy has similar persuasive powers as well as bendy arms and legs. Krieg gets mad when one of his trustee men doesn't take action against him, and it's up to Luffy to fight him one on one - not that it's going to be a fair fight.

You might not think scenes of emotion would feature in an anime like this, but there are a few where the men are pushed to the very limit of their tolerance. Each fight makes them question their actions toward others who might have saved them before and offered kindness when they didn't have to. Luffy shows how powerful he is when he fights Don Krieg, pulling metal spikes out of his body. Unlike most pirates, he does act fair. He isn't cruel or heartless, he wants new men to join his crew, and goes about it the right way...sometimes. During the fight, he amazes Krieg's men who constantly watch him take a fall, but as we have come to notice before, Luffy has already eaten the Devil's Fruit that gives him extra powers with which to defend himself and his crew, so maybe he can hold his own against him during
this fight.

There is a price to pay for eating the Devil's Fruit though, and Luffy finds it out when it's near the end of the fight - he can't go into any body of water, so the sea is out of the question, as the sea, we discover hates those who have eaten the fruit and he might drown unless anyone has the guts to save him.

Viewers can see why this series is so appealing to young adults as there are the characters to take into account, they are larger than life, as well as funny in some sequences. The stories are fun and flesh out some of the more minor characters, telling us their back stories, and the animation is up to the task of giving the manga an extra dimension through colour and movement. Luffy is impressive as the lead character, and Sanji has to prove himself to him in many ways through the first few episodes, while Don Krieg acts the perfect pirate villain who is out to get all he wants and gives nothing back!

Bonus Material: Staff Commentaries, Text less Opening Song, Text less Closing Song, and Trailers for other anime series in the Manga Entertainment range.

Verdict: It is easy to see why One Piece is such a great anime series - it's the characters that make it so good!