Episode of Arabasta: The Desert Princess and the Pirates

Debuting in March 2007 as the franchise's eighth theatrical outing, this 90-minute picture stands as a self-contained retelling of the Arabasta Arc, built with new animation and a fresh recording of the voice cast. It carries the Straw Hats into the desert realm governed by Vivi's father, King Cobra. There a figure hailed as a national hero, Crocodile, has quietly turned his Baroque Works network against the throne. To set things right the crew must cross the sands, disarm concealed bombs, and bring down Crocodile, a man who holds a seat among the Sea's Seven Warlords. The film's showing encouraged Toei to produce more Episode of adaptations covering other arcs.

Vivi's determination to unmask Crocodile drives the whole trek. The crew hauls up the okama Bon Kurei, able to mimic any face he has touched, Cobra's included, which leads them to ink concealed X marks on their wrists as proof of identity. They discover that the country's drought and the framing of Cobra with rain-forcing Dance Powder have pushed the populace toward an uprising headed by Vivi's boyhood friend Koza. Passing through the ruined settlements, the party arrives at Yuba and meets the elderly Toto, while Crocodile commands his operatives to drive the kingdom into open war.

An ambush by Crocodile snares Vivi with his sand abilities until Pell steps in, and Luffy lingers behind to take him on. Because Crocodile's Logia form makes Luffy's strikes worthless, the Warlord impales him and abandons him for dead, though Robin covertly helps him recover. Dashing toward the capital of Alubarna, the crew scatters as decoys while confronting Baroque Works' officer agents. Zoro finally understands how to slice steel and beats Mr. 1, Nami fells Miss Doublefinger with her new Clima-Tact, Sanji finds a way past Mr. 2, and Usopp with Chopper get the better of Mr. 4's trio.

Vivi fights to end the clash as Crocodile seizes Cobra, hunting the ancient weapon Pluton within the kingdom's Poneglyph. Revived thanks to Robin, Luffy squares off with Crocodile once more and is struck by his poisoned hook. With under a minute remaining, the crew flings Vivi to the bomb in the clock tower, but it cannot be shut off. Pell shifts into a falcon and bears it high above Alubarna to burst harmlessly, apparently giving his life. Luffy then breaks through with Gomu Gomu no Storm, hurling Crocodile into the square, and at last the rain comes as both sides drop their weapons. Days on, Vivi elects to stay and govern, parting from the crew in a tearful, unspoken farewell as they all display the matching marks on their arms.

Upon release the film landed in second at the Japanese box office and closed the year ranked 25th overall. It is the last movie to include the Going Merry and represents Funimation's earliest dub of the Arabasta material, arriving before their dub of that same arc within the anime. The adaptation trims events aggressively, cutting figures like Ace, the Marines, and Mr. 3 while condensing or reshuffling the officer-agent duels. During 2023 it was posted for a limited spell to the franchise's official YouTube channel, timed to mark Film: Red returning to theaters in Japan.