Japan is currently being flooded with animated films featuring some favorite characters of Japanese children

©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation
©“2009 One Piece” production committee

When it comes to animated films (known as ‘animé movies’), Japan is one of the world’s great powerhouses. And currently that powerhouse is releasing a number of major new feature length animé movies for children. Three of them are attracting particular attention.

The first is ‘One Piece Film Strong World,’ the latest feature film based on Japan’s best-selling One Piece manga (comic book) series. One Piece is an adventure series in which a boy named Luffy sets out to become the Pirate King in the company of a troop of companions he meets along the way. Total sales of manga in the series, which currently extends from volume 1 to 56, have reached over 176 million copies. And the series continues to break all-time records for Japanese manga sales.

A TV series of animated One Piece manga introduced in 1999 has recently celebrated its 10th anniversary on the air. And the new feature film will be the 10th one made. To commemorate these two milestones, One Piece’s creator Eiichiro Oda wrote an original script for the movie and took charge of directing the entire production. Further excitement has been stirred up among fans by the promise that theatergoers will receive, as long as they last, a special limited edition of the never-before-published ‘Volume Zero’ of the series. The film is expected to set a new Japanese box-office record.

In this latest feature film, Luffy and his companions engage ‘Golden Lion Shiki,’ the Devil’s Fruit eater and world’s strongest man, in mortal combat on a grand scale. The film has attracted special attention by casting Kosuke Kitajima, the two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist (in two consecutive games), in his first role as a voice actor— playing the role of the Fishman Pirate Kitajima.

©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation
©“2009 One Piece” production committee