‘One Piece Fan Letter’ review: A quick burst of emotion

Megumi Ishitani directs a beautiful, affirming ode to the One Piece canon with One Piece Fan Letter. Responsible for some of the most gorgeous, single episodes of the 1000 + episode series, along with the most recent OP, Ishitani delivers a vivacious, vibrant special that beautifully honors the legacy of the anime. Instilling the feature with new life that takes a ground-level, human approach to perceiving these larger-than-life characters, it might be brief but it burns bright. The 25th-anniversary special honors the saga and journey the characters traverse while demonstrating Ishitani’s incredible capabilities. 

One Piece Fan Letter takes place as the Straw Hat Pirates reunite after two years apart on the Sabaody Archipelago. As our crew comes together, chaos occurs for the locals, whose lives are again disrupted by pirates arriving on their shores. Namely, there’s Girl (Kokoro Kikuchi) who is a fan of Nami. Styling herself in the image of her icon, Girl’s story itself would’ve been enough to garner tears from the most ardent of fans. But it’s how the story unravels that strikes major chords. It’s a story about how our love of something can have a profound, direct influence on our lives.

Stories ground us and allow us to see ourselves with limitless possibilities. But it’s also, poignantly, about perspective and how a quick shift of view can alter an entire story.  The special finds its spirit through Girl. But the soul grounds itself in the stories of two Marine brothers. 

The horrors of Marineford are never diminished in the original telling. However, the fight we initially witnessed was mainly in the hands of the immensely powerful. Even Luffy’s strength is insufficient in the grand scheme of this battle as he faces down beings of monumental might and brutality. If our protagonist, with his Devil Fruit and inhuman resilience, loses, what hope do those on the ground, looking up at these imposing figureheads with powers of the elements, have? This perspective changes as we pivot to the ground level, with Marine Older Brother (Yasuyuki Kase) trapped beneath one of Oars Jr.’s legs, which offers a new, tragic vantage point. 

The point of view shifts the sense of horror into something more palpable as Marine Older Brother and Marine Younger Brother (Hiroki Takahashi) fight against the elements. While the eldest lacks rank compared to his go-getter younger brother, they fall back into familiar roles during battle. The cry from the younger for his older brother devastates him, piercing through the carnage that surrounds them. The focus on the destruction, the smoke-filled air, and the blood seeping between the younger teeth only pushes us further into the visceral trauma of this battle. 

As the older brother later says, it’s because of Luffy that he found his younger brother and was able to save him. Yet Luffy lost his older brother that day. The will of fate runs rampant in One Piece, even here. The special reminds us of how our journeys are only possible through connections. This push into the horrors of that battle and the focus on the two marines achieves what characters like Koby, Tashigi, and even Garp are designed to do. This is the first time in the series that I care about a member of the Marines. The story earns their focus. It plants us firmly in the throes of wreckage rather than simply telling us of their just intentions. 

The story creates a masterfully symphonic narrative. It all culminates as the locals and members of the Marines racing towards the departing Thousand Sunny. As Girl desperately runs to give Nami her fan letter, the episode soars. She ends up taking a page out of her idol’s book to scrappily help the Straw Hats escape. In a world where power dictates everything, Nami inspires her. Nami, who demonstrates how grit and determination can set you free. 

Girl chases that sense of freedom too. As she lays above the waves, catching a glimpse of Nami setting sail on her next adventure, she achieves it. The animation and light, twinkling score captures the pure ecstasy she experiences. The minutia of her facial expressions are captured in wobbly, tear-filled eyes and an exuberant grin that transforms her face. The line where she says that she hopes Nami keeps having wonderful adventures is particularly poignant. Because who hasn’t felt that as a fan of any form of media? We want our favorite characters to continue their journeys so that we, too, can set sail with them. 

Tremendous, unassuming intimacy grounds the story through the narrative and visuals. There’s real humanity in the special, as we focus on ordinary people affected by the lives of pirates and otherwise powerful beings. We also see it in the setting, which both saw the Straw Hats crumble while offering them a new launching ground. 

And all of this palpable joy and passion for the characters finds a greater, escapist life in the familiar aesthetic of Ishitani. Her work masters fluidity, energetic both in terms of direction and in character designs and movement. As Girl strolls around town, we get an immediate sense of time and place. The intro offers fleeting snapshots of the power players at Marineford and establishes the scope and scale of the battle. And the perspective of the two brothers offers suggested, hinted at tragedy. There’s so much emphasis on how these characters move. We see it when the older brother rapidly steps backward while facing immediate danger, and earlier still when he wrenches his leg free in desperation. The tactility of the art direction and the artistry further energizes already lively animation. 

The euphoria characters express, the immediacy of war and the pain that follows, it’s all captured with signature softness. Softness of lines and colors that, crucially, never diminish the impact. Despite the elasticity of the animation, there’s a necessary weight. The emotions are so deeply felt because of how the animation hones in on expressions and body movement. By eschewing accuracy for impact and scale, they achieve crescendoing greatness. What better style of animation to convey characters destined for the whirling sea?

The color pallets sing with liveliness, perfectly befitting a story where the Straw Hats triumphantly reunite in the background. Heartfelt and imbued with an infectious passion for the story, One Piece Fan Letter soars. With playfully lively animation and a story that strikes at the hearts of fans, the joy and spirit of the series and those who share our love for it whisks us away into another unruly adventure. 

One Piece Fan Letter is out now on Crunchyroll. 

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Images courtesy of Crunchyroll and Toei Animation