One Piece Film Z

The film opens on with a brief song before cutting to an island where the Marines are fighting Pirates. Only these aren't pirates, these are the New Navy, Z's fodder troops. Z himself shows up and with his two commanders they manage to steal some strange looking capsules holding large pink stones. Z himself then fights outside, utterly overwhelming the vanilla Marines. Then Kizaru shows up, addressing Z as sensei. Z is unconcerned, and scolds Kizaru for being over-reliant on his fruit, before they exchange blows again, this time Kizaru scolding Z for his speed; his huge mechanised arm means he simply cannot keep up with Kizaru. Z then crushes one of the capsules, exposing the "Dyna-stone" within to the air, telling Kizaru it will explode. Kizaru uses his logia power to dematerialise, but Z expertly throws the Dyna-Stone upwards, where a rematerializing Kizaru gets it in the face, looking genuinely frightened. The explosion causes a volcano to erupt, which destroys the island, and we see Kizaru rematerialize again, unharmed, commenting on Z's reappearance.

Elsewhere, the Straw Hats are taking some leisure time. Franky, in fetching pink afro and huge pink shoulder pads, is dancing whilst sakura blossom floats in the air. Zoro is drinking sake, Chopper - bless - is drinking milk. While dressed as a cow. Nami is relaxing in a bikini, cue obligatory fanservice bouncing breast shot, with Sanji waiting on her. Chopper comments his milk is poisoned and drops it, before Zoro says his drink also tastes odd. Or has it always tasted bad? Turns out Usopp has been spraying poison on his plants (the pop green he now uses as weapons) to kill any parasites. Nami asks Sanji for Dessert and he's only too happy to oblige, at least until everyone else repeats the request.

In the midst of an argument, a cloud looms overhead and it starts snowing. Only it isn't snow, it's volcanic ash. The crew are nearing the site where Z destroyed the island, and on cue, they see a figure in the water. Rushing to save him, they open one of Sunny's docking ports and Luffy reaches out to grab him, only he loses his strength the minute he grabs the huge mechanical arm, forcing the others to reel him in. Robin comments that the mechanical arm is made of seastone; it's a weapon designed to fight users of Devil Fruits. There's a brief discussion about whether or not to treat him or to leave him, but Chopper says he cannot leave an injured man.

Upon regaining consciousness, the man is grateful, saying his own crew will follow his vivre card and come for him. He comments he used to be a marine, and Luffy reveals that it would be a problem if the man were still a marine. The man, Z obviously, then questions this, and Luffy says they're pirates. Zoro and Sanji, aware of the awakening via haki, comment on how they've "caught a big fish", only for Luffy to come crashing through a wall. Z really doesn't like pirates, even if they saved him. Luffy, Zoro and Sanji fight Z to a standstill only for Z's crew to appear. Ain, the girl, and Bins, a typically bizarre looking man, jump aboard Sunny, Bins using his DF (control of plants) to incapacitate Frank, then doing the same to Usopp, Brooke and Chopper, before Ain and Nami fight. Bins is too quick for Robin to catch, and Ain uses her DF to make Nami vanish. Chopper, angered, uses Heavy Point to break free of Bins' trap, before he too is vanished. Robin catches Ain, before she too is affected by her strange power - Ain's DF basically takes regresses its target twelve years. Nami and Chopper are fine, they're just small, and had vanished inside their adult sized clothing. Nami is now a little girl, and Chopper is even more tiny, around five years old in body. Ain tells Robin that she is now back to around eighteen years old (though she looks much the same bar slightly smaller breasts and more pronounced eyelashes), and that if Ain touched her again, she'd regress another twelve years. One final touch would regress her to pre-birth, where she'd simply cease to exist entirely. Brooke is also attacked by Ain, but is unaffected. There's an explosion, in which Zoro and Sanji are sent flying onto deck (where Bins instantly traps them too) leaving Z holding Luffy in his mechanised arm, Luffy losing his strength. Z declares that all pirates are to be eliminated, and orders the destruction of Sunny.

As Z and his crew leave, Sunny takes heavy damage from his fleet, before Luffy frees Franky and they manage a Coup de Burst to escape.

We see the new Marine HQ, where new Fleet Admiral Akainu is talking about this new enemy and how he must be stopped. There are lots of big shots gathered, Kizaru, various Vice-Admirals, Smoker and Tashigi, Captain Hina and so on.

Strangely absent, Garp is talking to Sengoku (having left their posts following the Whitebeard War arc pre-TS), and some other marines, Copy and Helmeppo included, about how much Z hates them, though things are left vague here. Oddly, Garp is still addressed as Vice Admiral.

Meanwhile, the Straw Hats are recovering on a nearby island, where an old man who has also encountered Z tells them that this is an area where pirates frequently fall foul of Z; he crushes their ships utterly, therefore crushing their dreams of life on the sea. Undeterred - indeed, this only spurs Luffy on - the Straw Hats (Save for Franky, who stays behind to guard and repair the badly damaged Sunny) decide to go after Z anyway, to get Ain to return Nami, Chopper, Robin and Brook to their normal (Brook insisting his hair feels softer, though Usopp tells him to stop being stupid). First though, thanks to Z their wardrobes have been destroyed and they need clothes, except this island doesn't have any. They are informed a nearby island, accesable by sea train, will be more accommodating.

Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Brook are designated to go and relax in the famous hot springs and not cause trouble. Chopper, Usopp, Nami and Robin go into town in a bid to drum up information; Nami posing as a child waitress, Robin as an exotic dancer, Usopp as her manager and Chopper... well, he's a shoe shine. The hot springs seem like a great place to rest, except that Luffy and Brooke are feeling the effect of water on them, Luffy visibly weakened again, when they're surprised by the presence of Aokiji. Yes, that one. Everyone immediately assumes the worst, but Aokiji informs them he's not longer an admiral and besides... if he wanted to fight, the hot springs would not be ideal for him as he can't use his ice powers. He rises from the spring, shocking the others by growing an ice leg as he does so, before sitting down and chatting with them. His injuries - presumably those inflicted by Akainu on Punk Hazard - are grave, he's lost his left leg below the knee and has huge scars on one side of his body. But he won't talk about it, despite Luffy's best efforts.

Nami, meanwhile, has used her childlike appearance to convince a drunk group of Marines to talk about Z; he's on the island, and everyone is looking for him. A ranking officer overhears this, scolds his men for drinking too much, then asks Nami what she's up to. In true fashion, she immediately fingers Usopp and Chopper, both in the crowd watching Robin dance, before the Marine tries to take Nami to ask her some questions. As Usopp and Chopper flee the marines Nami has now set on them, Robin is forced to use her DF to free Nami from the grip of the Marine and in so doing, reveals her identity. They all exit sharpish.

Luffy's group are now having Z's history explained to them by Kuzan. (Aokiji is just his nickname, Kuzan is real name). Z was formerly a Marine Admiral himself, hence his power, and was a master of haki, earning himself the nickname Black Arm Zephyr. Zephyr's wife and son were killed by a pirate, yet Zephyr realised his duty and carried on as an Admiral, training almost every high ranking officer of the marines, Akainu and Kizaru included, hence why Kizaru referred to him as sensei in the opening fight. However, when the World Government extended an offer into the Shichibukai to the man who had killed Zephyr's family, he was enraged. Feeling that Marine justice wasn't enough, he renounced his past and his own name, adopting the moniker of "Z" (he's called Z in the sub, though everyone refers to him as zetto, which I assume is Japanese for Z). Kuzan leaves.

The bar group arrive, Usopp slowing down some pursuers with his pop greens, before they finally reunite with Luffy and the others. Upon seeing the Marines in pursuit of Nami's group, Zoro cautions Luffy to leave some of the Marines alone to get info out of. Luffy uses his Conqueror's Haki to knock them all out save the one that tried to grab Nami in the bar, and asks him for Z's whereabouts.

According to the Captain, Z is near the volcano that forms the centre of the island and that a squad of marines has already been despatched to deal with him. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Usopp go after Z whilst the others head for the sea train, fearing the worst.

Z single-handedly defeats the Marine squad sent after him, once again triggering the Dyna Stones in the nearby volcano, Luffy's arriving too late to stop this. Zoro and Sanji go to fight Ain and Bins respectively, whilst Luffy insists he will fight Z alone. Zoro and Sanji hold their own, but Luffy's opponent is of a higher calibre, and Z schools Luffy; whilst Luffy tries to avoid Z's mechanical arm for fear of it weakening him again, he will not be able to mount an attack strong enough to hurt Z, even using Gear Second. They exchange blows, though neither is hurt, before Z shoots at Luffy with his arm. Luffy takes the hit, explaining bullets are useless, whereby Z pulls out a pistol and with expert aim, shoots Luffy in the shoulder. This is a seastone bullet though, and Luffy is rendered powerless as Z now reaches out and crushes him with his hand, again playing teacher; he tells Luffy it if foolish to rely on your powers too much because there's always a work around. As a final middle finger, Z takes Luffy's hat, recognising it as that of Roger and Shanks and a symbol of piracy. As Z takes his leave, Zoro and Sanji's opponents use smoke to conceal their own escape, and the two of them free Usopp from the fall out of the fight, before seeing to a badly hurt Luffy. The island is now breaking down under the volcano's force, magma being thrown into the town itself, and thick plumes of smoke blinding everyone. Kuzan makes a brief appearance to save a wheelchair bound lady from some incoming magma by freezing into simply rock. Hey, at least we now know his powers would have worked against Akainu, right?

Zoro and Sanji are carrying Luffy, whilst Usopp runs ahead, but the group realise they cannot escape on foot and after Usopp unsuccessfully tries to navigate the collapsing town via boat, the four are saved by Kuzan, who freezes part of the town and allows them time to escape. They reach the sea train and flee, the island exploding spectacularly moments later.

Luffy is clearly hurting after his defeat, and things look bleak. Kuzan approaches, and Nami and Robin both freak out, before Luffy tells them it's ok and that Kuzan is not an enemy at present. Nami asks Kuzan if what she had heard in the bar was true; do the End Points exist? Contrary to the official statement, Kuzan confirms that they do and the World Government only declared otherwise to keep such dangerous knowledge from being used as a threat. After all, only the Marine higher ups knew other wise, Zephyr included. The End Points? Essentially three massive volcanoes in the New World are linked, and by destroying all three, Z hopes to unleash a magma hell that would utterly eradicate the New World, taking the fabled One Piece with it and thus ending the Great Pirate Era. Of course, he'd kill thousands, if not millions, of innocent civilians as well, but he doesn't care. Z really hates pirates.

Thing is, Z has already destroyed two of the three End Points, one being the island at the start, the second being the island they just escaped from. With only one more remaining, the Marines are throwing everything they've got at Z now, yet Luffy vows to find Z and stop him, though his reasoning his typically arse-about-face. He doesn't seem to care that many lives are at stake, he just wants his Hat back so he can keep his promise to Shanks. He doesn't even comment on the end of the Era meaning the end of his adventure, he just wants his damn Straw Hat back.

Sunny is now fully repaired, and Kuzan then presents the Straw Hats with an eternal log pose to the island upon which the final End Point rests, before spelling things out for the crew; if they go to fight Z and lose, they'll die. If they go to fight Z and win, the Navy - who'll be there in full force - will still kill them. They're going to die either way. No one cares much; they'll follow their Captain to whatever end. First though they restock; the man who first told them of Z's attacks in this area and of the pirates who had been crushed hadn't been idle; he had stored as much as he could have their remaining items, and he wishes the Straw Hats to carry these into battle with them, in the hope of gaining some kind of closure for the pirates who's dreams had died at Z's hands. Tooled up, and Luffy with huge ham on his back, the Straw Hats head out.

Kuzan arrives at the final island before the Straw Hats. Indeed, he arrives before Z, greeting his former mentor by singing to him (It was apparently Kuzan singing during the opening moments of the film), before saying he actually dislikes the song. He presents Z with a bottle of wine, saying he recalls it was Zephyr's favourite. Z says he will not change his mind, he will see this course through and that Kuzan had best step aside or be killed. Kuzan repeats the sentiment, before changing his own mind and walking away, leaving Z to do what he feels he must.

So the Sunny arrives, and the Straw Hats are ready to fight. They decimate the fodder easily, (Chopper's use of Guard Point is actually very funny), before the Monster trio once again face off against their respective opponents, leaving Usopp, Robin, Chopper and Nami facing off against the new model Pacifista. They're bigger and more silver, but appear functionally the same. Oh, and they are no match for Franky in his Iron Shogun. He decimates them, confirming what, yes, Franky is actually still really, really strong in his own right.

Zoro takes on Ain, who shows that her power works on the landscape as well, trying to set up traps for Zoro by turning rock into magma. Zoro doesn't much care, and says he'll fight all out. Ain acknowledges she likely can't win but she'll buy Z as much time as she can. Which isn't much. Zoro is simply way too much for her, and after avoiding all her attempted feints and traps, takes her down without breaking sweat, which returns Nami, Chopper and Robin to normal. Oh, and Brooke as well. Not that anyone other than Brooke noticed.

Sanii fights Bins, using his speed to avoid the flower traps, and using Sky Walk to flank his opponent before defeating him with Diable Jambe - his whole body on fire because he wants his "sexy" Nami back, not the little girl. Despite his earlier lusting that he'd be able to watch the young Nami mature over the years, it turns out he justs wants to see those boobs now.

The Main event; Luffy vs Z. Luffy appears to be struggling, Z repelling him easily, despite Luffy's best efforts, and it's only after one particularly savage Gear Third / Gear Second attack that Luffy's strategy is revealed; much like he did against Don Krieg (and Arlong to a lesser extent), Luffy's aim was to break Z's weapon. He succeeds, the weapon finally breaking after countless shattering blows, forcing Z to revert to his more traditional fighting style. Kuzan, watching from afar, comments on the return of Black Arm Zephyr, even as Luffy too turns his own arms black with haki, before the two engage in a slobber knocker, trading heavy blows. Z eventually gets the upper hand, but Luffy is resolute, earning Z's respect for his courage, and won't go down. he gets a few heavy blows of his own in, and both he and Z collapse, exhausted. Z comments that he's getting old, "only this much, and already my body won't move?", implying he'd have destroyed Luffy were he still in his prime.

Luffy retrieves his Straw Hat, and tells Z that he won't kill him, Z is free to do whatever he chooses. The other Straw Hats arrive and everyone is happy that Luffy won. However, Kuzan's words prove true and the remaining Navy forces get ready to descend on them, headed by Kizaru who comments that both Z and Luffy are almost totally spent. Z smiles, forcing himself to his feet. He tells Luffy to flee, before charging at the marines on his own. As Ain and Bins try to stop him, Kuzan erects a huge wall of ice in their path, separating Z from his commanders yet also allowing the Straw Hats to escape unharmed. As they take the opportunity to do so, we see Z's last stand; he fights ferociously, swatting the Marine's aside like nothing, before Kizaru again intervenes, piercing him with many attacks. As Z falters, one of the Vice Admirals sheds a tear for him, before Z tells them he has one final thing to teach them all and charges forward.

There's a cutaway to Z's grave; Ain and Bins are weeping openly at the site, Z's mechanised arm hanging over the makeshift cross where Z and Kuzan stood during their earlier exchange. Kuzan reappears, still carrying a bottle of Z's favourite wine, and telling the other two not to be sad; Z died on his own terms, a fitting end for a great man. As the credits roll, we see a young boy fighting off bullies, a branch attached ot his arm, mimicking Z's mechanised one. The kid gives his name as the super-hero, Z.

Kid versions of many characters, current and former Schichibukai, Admirals and Supernovae among them, are show as well.

Why is it so bad for Robin to be regressed in age? She hasn't changed at all.

Also didn't Garp resign at the end of the war?