Reception
In its first week of showing, the film entered the Japanese weekend box office on place two. In its second and third week, it placed fourth and ninth, respectively, before falling out of the Top 10 the week after. In its fifth week of showing, the film re-entered the Top 10 for a final ninth place. In the Japanese market, the film's gross revenue summed up to $7,075,924. Including non-North American, foreign markets, the film made at total of $7,084,304 and after Funimation Entertainment's limited showing in the US, the figure rose to a worldwide total of $7,090,891.
Funimation Entertainment's DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film were also the subject of several reviews by a number of publications for films and anime. Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network described the film as "a feature-length recap with slightly revised editing and a heavy layer of theatrical gloss" that is "Squeezing an enormous plot into a teeny little film like a man in mid-life crisis trying to squeeze into high-school jeans", but noted that "The soundtrack is a joy to listen to, rousing and fun". Bamboo Dong, another reviewer of Anime News Network, said that the film's pace is "anything but smooth" and that the battles are "cobbled together". They commented that the film is "syrupy good fun" for those who are fans of the series, but noted that for non-fans it will hold only "limited appeal". Although Todd Douglass Jr. of DVD talk said that "you really have to be affirmed in One Piece lore in order to full appreciate " and commented that it felt "incomplete and unbalanced", he still recommended the film, stating that it is "short on story but ... a lot of fun." In regard to Funimation Entertainment's adaptation, he said that " team does a great job of capturing the spirit and personalities of the show's characters."
Bryce Coulter of Mania Entertainment said that the film "cannot be recommended for someone who is not familiar with the series" but otherwise recommends it, cautiously, while commenting that it gives "a neat perspective" on its source material, but ultimately does not do it "any justice". In reference to the English adaptation he said that "the ... voice actors ... did a great job of portraying the Japanese cast." Davey C. Jones of Active Anime said that he liked the animation, in particular the backgrounds, and commented that the film "takes the character designs right out of the manga and TV show and ups them with theatrical quality shine." N.S. Davidson of IGN rated the film with 7 out of 10, stating that the animation is only "Slightly more sophisticated ... than in the television series" and that the film itself is "most likely ... for One Piece fans only." Dustin Somner of Blu-ray.com agreed on the film being primarily for fans, stating that the film's lack of context makes it "frustrating (with a capital 'F')" for those unfamiliar with the series.
Read more about this topic: One Piece Movie: The Desert Princess And The Pirates: Adventures In Alabasta
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
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“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)