One Piece (Uncut) Collection 17 brings together episodes 397-421, and combines them with a handful of extra features, mainly compromised of episode commentaries.
This collection begins rather awkwardly. The first episode included starts in the middle of where the previous episode left off. There is an episode catch up segment to bring viewers up to speed on what is happening, but it isn’t a natural place to being. Similarly, the collection’s ending is just as awkward. It just sort of runs out of episodes.
This is a problem that doesn’t affect the main run of episodes present, however. Once it gets going the mixture of genuine drama and goofy anime hijinks is on full display in this collection. The fight against Bartholomew Kuma is incredibly tense.
Luffy’s adventures on Amazon Lily showcase a little of everything that One Piece does well, and the adventures of individual crew members take place on multiple, distinct locals. There is even another Buss Luffy episode. The one major down point is the island on which Sanji finds himself. The theme of the island is that all of its inhabitants are trans women, which might have been an interesting idea were it not used for cheap laughs about how unappealing Sanji finds them, with all of the trans women deliberately drawn as grotesque caricatures.
Marathon play is on offer, and it is the best way to watch this collection for anyone who is seeking to binge through it. Doing so will avoid having to watch the opening titles quite so much, though for some reason part of the title sequence, and the episode catch up segments, are still present. The former is somewhat understandable as a way to help viewers keep track of where they are, but the inclusion of the latter in a marathon mode is pointless.
Most of the special features on hand are episode commentaries. The cast who take part don’t spend a lot of time focusing on the specifics of the episode they are watching but they do offer some insights into their thoughts on their characters, and what it’s like to work as a voice actor in anime. The highlights here are ‘One Piece in the Booth with Sonny Straight’ and ‘A day in the life of ZZZZoro’, which both serve to look at the production of the show through a humorous lens.
The run of episodes to hand offer a good sample of the show’s quality, and there are some noteworthy moments along with a notable plot reveal, combined with the collection’s extras the result is something worth checking out.
Special Features: Episode commentary for episodes 398, 405, 412, 417 / Trailers / Two different textless openings with the song ‘Share the World’ / One Piece in the Booth with Sonny Strait / A day in the life of ZZZZoro
ONE PIECE (UNCUT) COLLECTION 17 / CERT: 12 / DIRECTORS: VARIOUS / WRITERS: VARIOUS / STARRING: COLLEEN CLINKENBEARD, CHRISTOPHER R. SABAT, LUCI CHRISTIAN, SONNY STRAIT, ERIC VAILE, BRINA PALENCIA, STEPHANIE YOUNG, PATRICK SEITZ / RELEASE DATE: 25TH JUNE 2018
