General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

One Piece Film: Z (ONE PIECE FILM Z)

One Piece Film: Z (ONE PIECE FILM Z, ワンピースフィルムゼット) is a 2012 Japanese animated theatrical film, the twelfth feature film in the One Piece franchise, directed by Tatsuya Nagamine and released in Japan on December 15, 2012.¹ It was the first film in the series set after the series' time skip, and it was made with the close involvement of the manga's creator, Eiichiro Oda, who served as executive producer (総合プロデューサー).¹^•² The film earned 6.87 billion yen at the Japanese box office.³

Key fact	Detail
Release	December 15, 2012, Japan; distributed by Toei¹
Position in series	12th One Piece theatrical film; first set after the time skip¹^•²
Director / writer	Tatsuya Nagamine; screenplay by Osamu Suzuki¹
Oda's role	Executive producer (総合プロデューサー), credited with the original work¹
Runtime	107 minutes¹
Box office	6.87 billion yen³
Villain	Z (Zephyr), a former Marine admiral leading the Neo Navy, voiced by Hōchū Ōtsuka¹

Spoilers

Story

The story centers on Z, a scarred former Marine admiral who leads the Neo Navy (NEO海軍) and declares his intention to eradicate all pirates.¹^•⁴ He steals the Dyna Stones, weapons holding energy comparable to the series' ancient weapons, from the Marines.¹ According to the film's synopsis, Z intends to use them to destroy the New World, which would also destroy the One Piece treasure that motivates most pirates, even though it would kill the civilians living there.⁶

The Straw Hat Pirates, sailing the New World on the Thousand Sunny, rescue a stranded old man adrift at sea who turns out to be Z; when he learns they are pirates, he attacks them and defeats Luffy's crew.⁶^•⁷ Z's subordinate Ain uses a Devil Fruit ability to make Nami, Chopper, Robin, and Brook twelve years younger (with no effect on Brook), and the crew sets out to restore their de-aged shipmates and take revenge on Z.⁶^•⁷ The Marines pursue both Z and Luffy, and the film builds to a direct fight between the old admiral and the young pirate, each fighting for his own conviction and pride.⁴

Cast and characters

The Straw Hat crew kept their television voice cast: Mayumi Tanaka as Luffy, Kazuya Nakai as Zoro, Akemi Okamura as Nami, Kappei Yamaguchi as Usopp, Hiroaki Hirata as Sanji, Ikue Ōtani as Chopper, Yuriko Yamaguchi as Robin, Kazuki Yao as Franky, and Chō as Brook.¹ Hōchū Ōtsuka voiced the antagonist Z.¹

Production

The film was produced by Toei Animation and the 2012 "One Piece" Production Committee, with Toei as domestic distributor.¹ Osamu Suzuki, a broadcast writer who has described himself as a fan of the original manga, wrote the screenplay, and the music was composed by Kohei Tanaka and Shirō Hamaguchi.¹ Masahiro Satō was chief animation director.¹ The official One Piece site promoted the film with the tagline "Justice vs. Conviction! A head-on battle between an old soldier and a rising star!", framing the conflict between the Straw Hat Pirates and the old soldier Z as a clash of beliefs.⁴

Oda's involvement followed the precedent of the tenth film, One Piece Film: Strong World (2009), for which he had served as executive producer; Film Z is one of the few entries in the franchise credited to him in that role.⁵

Place in the series

Film Z is the first theatrical One Piece film set after the two-year time skip in the story.² Like every One Piece theatrical film, its plot is non-canon to the manga, but it sits in the series' timeline between the Fish-Man Island and Punk Hazard arcs; viewing guides place it after episode 573 of the anime.⁸^•⁹ The film also contains character details that later appeared in the manga itself: it shows the former admiral Aokiji (Kuzan) carrying injuries from his Punk Hazard duel with Akainu, and fans note that his prosthetic ice leg appeared in the film years before its debut in the manga.⁸

Commentators have noted that the film reflects its era of the series: set in the New World after the time skip, it carries a heavier Marine presence and a more political tone than the adventure films that preceded it.⁷

Reception and commercial performance

Film Z earned 6.87 billion yen at the Japanese box office, an improvement on the 4.8 billion yen of Strong World three years earlier.³ It remained the most recent film for three years and seven months, until One Piece Film: Gold opened in July 2016, the longest gap between films in the series to that point.¹⁰ On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 79% audience score on the Popcornmeter, and it streams on Netflix with rental and purchase options on Fandango.¹¹ Viewer reviews frequently single out the villain Zephyr and the ideological clash between the Navy's past and the new pirate era as the film's strongest elements.¹¹

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026