One Piece: Adventure of Nebulandia is a television special for the One Piece anime that aired on Japanese television on December 19, 2015.

One Piece: Adventure of Nebulandia
English Publisher: FUNimation Entertainment
Format: Blu-ray/DVD Combo
Release Date: June 18, 2019

This special tells a new story that features the return of the Foxy Pirates. The Straw Hats are tricked into going to Mushroom Island by the Foxy Pirates in order to challenge them to another Davy Back Fight. Luffy accepts the challenge.

However, two new members of Foxy’s crew turn out to be from the Navy and are using Foxy in order to pursue their plan to eliminate the Straw Hats. Sanji and Zoro, along with Porche and Hamburg from the Foxy Pirates, are captured and taken to Nebulandia. Foxy teams up with the Straw Hats in order to save his crewmates. Even though Nebulandia is an island with an environment that is unfriendly to those who possess Devil Fruit powers, it’s ultimately up to Luffy to save the day.

When I saw that this special featured Foxy and his pirates, I wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about watching it. To me, Foxy is one of the most annoying characters in One Piece, and up to this point, I hadn’t really liked any of the stories featuring him. When the special starts and we see the Davy Back Fight start, I thought it was going to be some of the “same old, same old” stuff that I’m used to from Foxy. But when it comes out that Foxy is being used by Komei (a strategist from the Navy) and two of his crewmates are taken away, I actually felt kind of sorry for Foxy. It was also interesting to see Foxy having to work with the Straw Hats, since they have a common goal.

If Foxy’s situation hadn’t been enough to make me tolerate him in this special, the fact that Komei was an even more annoying character made Foxy seem tame by comparison. Komei’s strategy names were a little amusing at first, but I thought the gag wore thin by the end of the special. Also, Komei’s character was so full of himself and just “over the top.”

The writing ended up being on the weaker side near the end of the special. The writer introduced inconsistencies, and it came across that the writer wrote themselves into a corner. Unfortunately, to get out of that corner, the writer had to include scenes that didn’t really make sense with what was established.

While I applaud One Piece: Adventure of Nebulandia for telling an original story instead of simply retelling stories that had already been seen previously in the anime, this story just wasn’t as strong as it could have been. While I wouldn’t say this story was bad, I can’t really say that it was good, either. To me, it just kind of “was.” If you’re a fan of Foxy and his pirates, though, you might enjoy One Piece: Adventure of Nebulandia because it tells a new story featuring these particular characters.

The Blu-ray included in this release has 1080p High Definition 16:9 (HD Native) video. The audio includes Dolby TrueHD: English 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD: Japanese 2.0. The DVD included in the release has two audio options: English 5.1 Surround and Japanese Stereo.

There is only one bonus feature in this release, and it is only on the Blu-ray Disc in this set. It’s Ian Sinclair (the English voice of Brook) interviewing Michael Johnson (the English voice of Komei). This runs for about 11 minutes, and they talk about their respective characters in the special, as well as their reactions to the special. This was a decent bonus feature, and I thought it was better than the “outtakes” that were included on the One Piece: Episode of Skypiea release.

This Blu-ray/DVD combo release is the only way to get One Piece: Adventure of Nebulandia in North America, and I would recommend it to fans who want to add this special to their anime home video library.

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