One Piece Film: GOLD

A Japanese animated film from a long-running series. The narrative is set in a floating city. Gran Tesoro is an enormous ship with a casino inside it; no state can interfere, it has its own rules, and it is run by a man named Gild Tesoro. The crew goes there. They play, they win, and then the cheat comes out: the table was set from the start, and what is owed when they lose is not money. One of their friends is taken as security. From there the film becomes a heist. The crew targets the city's vault; a structure of many floors, security systems, and a plan that needs help from inside. The power of the man who runs the city rests on gold; he can shape it as he likes and coat anything he touches. What the narrative is interested in is not adventure but debt: most of the people in the city have to work there because they cannot win, and the system is built on that. The visual style is brighter than the series usually is; gold, light and crowded scenes come forward. It was made with the direct involvement of the series' creator, Eiichiro Oda. Hiroaki Miyamoto directed. Who it is for: anyone following the series and anyone who likes heist stories. Who it is not for: anyone who does not know it; the narrative introduces none of its crowded cast and never explains how the powers work.