One Piece Film Gold is the 12th theatrical film and was first announced following the Episode of Sabo special. As with One Piece Film Z, Eiichiro Oda is the executive producer of the film. It is directed by Hiroaki Miyamoto, who previously served as assistant director on Movie 6 and anime episodes 352-679. The script was written by Tsutomu Kuroiwa.
Contents
Storyline
The Straw Hat Pirates arrives on the Thousand Sunny at a huge golden ship, the entertainment paradise Gran Tesoro. Completely impressed, they jump inside with a coup de burst, but are immediately attacked by the Long Long Pirates, who have gambled away their money and now want to steal the Straw Hats’ treasures. However, much to the amusement of the cheering crowd, the Straw Hats make short work of them. They are then welcomed by Baccarat and driven by her to the visually stunning center as VIP guests.
On the way they are informed about Gild Tesoro, the head of Gran Tesoro, and they are also introduced to the surveillance system. They change their outfits and jump into the fray.
Meanwhile, Gild Tesoro, Carina and Tanaka are talking about the new special guests, however one of the guests acts contrary to Tesoro’s mood and is killed by him. They plan to double-cross the Straw Hats!
Casino: Baccarat loans the Straw Hats 20 million , after which Chopper, Usopp and Luffy enter the so-called “Turtle Car Race”. Despite many difficulties, they are able to win, and also subsequently only book winnings in the casino, so that their fortune increases greatly. They are then invited by Baccarat to the VIP lounge, where the stakes are much higher.
VIP Lounge: Gild Tesoro introduces himself personally to the Straw Hats and challenges them to a game. Ultimately, they lose and it turns out that Baccarat has eaten of the lucky fruit and can affect the luck of others if it has touched them. The Straw Hats have been framed and not only them, all the employees are slaves who are heavily in debt to him. Zoro is then tied up with gold and the pirates are given an ultimatum: If they cannot pay their debts by tomorrow, Zoro will be publicly executed!
Nami meets Carina, an old acquaintance. Although they don’t have the best common past, they decide to steal the Tesoro fortune, 500 billion , and free Zoro.
Meanwhile, Spandam, a member of CP0, is bribed by Gild Tesoro and learns from Tanaka that the Straw Hat Pirates are also on the ship. Tesoro uses his power to request a more capable agent and 10 Navy warships. Lucci personally requests this from Sakazuki. Meanwhile, Sabo and Koala are also on the scene and know about the guests.
Flashback: Carina abandons Nami, leaving her to her fate in captivity at Mad Treasure. After the flashback, Nami threatens Carina that she should not abandon her again. The group then discusses the plan, which involves disabling the central Den-den Mushi so that they can reach the dome where the vault is located.
Despite unexpected difficulties, everything goes according to plan at first, but Luffy is eventually discovered and he has to retreat with Franky. Gild Tesoro stops the escape and shows them a transmission of the tied-up Zoro. In the ensuing fight, the Straw Hat is defeated by the Gold Man, after which Luffy and Franky fall into a hole created by Tanaka. This is broadcast live and takes away the slaves’ courage to stand up to Tesoro. The rest of the group also see this and seek their salvation in escape, but World Nobles appear.
Underground Prison: Luffy and Franky are below the city and encounter prisoners begging for water. Raise Max, a legendary player, is also trapped there. There is no exit in sight. They learn that the only way to neutralize the gold in their bodies, which Tesoro can control, is with seawater. The problem is that there is no sea water on Gran Tesoro. The only way to get seawater onto the ship is through the pump room, but it is heavily secured. Luffy decides to head there and Franky accompanies him.
Zoro is sought out by Gild Tesoro, but he has not yet been broken and has faith in his friends.
Disguised as World Nobles, Nami and Usopp’s group infiltrate the vault while Luffy, Franky and other prisoners fight their way to the pump room. Eventually, they make it to their destination thanks to Raise Max’s help, and the other group reaches the vault as well. However, the vault door led to the sky stage where Zoro’s execution was to take place. Apparently, Carina was just setting up the Straw Hats. The pump room also turns out to be a planned trap by Tesoro.
Tesoro catches Nami’s group with his gold, and presents the Death Candidate to the cheering crowd, igniting a Gold Splash in victory. However, once again a turn of events: Suddenly, instead of gold, only seawater shoots out of the fountains, neutralizing the gold in the bodies. Carina was on the side of the Straw Hats after all. They gather in front of the execution site and explain to Gild Tesoro Ocean’s Eleven that everything was planned from the start, only Luffy wasn’t involved. Zoro has also been freed in the meantime.
Flashback: Tesoro recalls his bad childhood and his former girlfriend Stella, who was bought by a world aristocrat. Tesoro was once a slave himself.
Tesoro then goes berserk, destroying the sky stage and gilding the audience; the Straw Hats just manage to escape. Tesoro creates a gold giant and pursues them in it. The Straw Hats get ready to fight, and it turns out that many slaves are now ready and motivated to fight as well. Luffy then knocks out Spandam, while Zoro has to face off with Dice. The rest of the Straw Hats also have to face opponents and finally it comes to a showdown between Luffy and Gild Tesoro!
Before Gran Tesoro: The Navy has arrived to evacuate the World Nobles, however Lucci gives the order to finish off Gild Tesoro at the expense of innocents. However, Sabo confronts this one and prevents them from attacking Gran Tesoro. Sabo doesn’t want Luffy’s fight to be interrupted.
The fight against Tesoro seems lost, but the Straw Hats gather their strength again and Luffy switches to Gear 4. With a Gomu Gomu no Kong Gun he can finally force the gold giant to the ground and the remaining fights are also won by the Straw Hats, but Tesoro is not beaten yet. While his friends are threatening to sink into the gold, Luffy finally finishes him off. Gild Tesoro is captured by the navy and the island’s self-destruct mechanism activates.
Thousand Sunny: The Straw Hats manage to escape, but Carina stays behind to sacrifice herself and buy them more time. However, it turns out the self-destruct was just a feint by Carina, who now drives off alone with the Gran Tesoro and its treasures. Instead of explosions, only fireworks start at 0 seconds.
Miscellaneous
- Spandam and Lucci of the Cipher Pol, Donquixote Doflamingo, and Sabo and Koala of the Revolutionary Army make an appearance.
- On July 16, 2016, a TV special called Heart of Gold was aired on Fuji TV, the content of which is linked to the film. Gild Tesoro also made an appearance there. The Silver Mine Arc also makes reference to the film.
- The first five million moviegoers received a special volume called Volume 777, which highlights Gild Tesoro’s past.
- The first 100,000 moviegoers who pre-ordered tickets for the film starting May 21, 2016 received one of ten possible Casino token with motifs of the straw hats. The tenth token features Sabo.
- The theme song is by the Japanese band GLIM SPANKY and is called “Ikari o Kure Yo”.
- From July 23 to August 05, 2016, the film was shown in six Japanese theaters with Chinese and English subtitles.
- The film was shown in 3D, 4DX, and MX4D, among others. With 4DX and MX4D, special effects, for example movements of the seats, wind or smells, are used synchronously with the film in the cinema hall to make the film more realistic for the audience.
- The film was shown in a total of 743 theaters in Japan, something no other Japanese film has managed to do.
- From July 02 to August 31, Japanese people could watch a special called Episode 0: 711 ver. on their smartphones when they buy two donuts at a 7-Eleven. It’s similar to the Glorious Island special and lasts about 10 minutes. Usopp suggests the gang make money for gambling on Gran Tesoro with a show. Luffy is to fight various animals in a Kintaro outfit, including Franky in a bear costume. At the end, Nami is seen holding a Vivre Card from Tesoro. After that, you can already see Gran Tesoro in the distance.
- In Japan, a newspaper called “One Piece Great Newspaper” was released on June 24, 2016. It is available in select movie theaters, train stations, and Convenience store. The first issue contained some info about One Piece Film Gold. A second issue of the newspaper was released on July 20, 2016.
- On July 23, 2016, the film’s official guidebook called “Back Stage Pass” was released. It is said to include an interview with Oda.
- The film features cameo appearances by Heracles, Bug, Absalom, Gedatsu, Pappag, and Pandaman.
- During the OVER 100 Miracle Talk interview, which was co-hosted by Detective Conan mangaka Gosho Aoyama and Eiichiro Oda, Aoyama stated that he likes Gold the most out of all the One Piece movies.
