Toei’s hit One Piece anime, which tells the story of Monkey D. Luffy’s journey to be King of the Pirates, is going on hiatus after this week’s episode 1122. The series was in the middle of adapting the Egghead arc, which has recently finished in the manga. 37 manga chapters of this arc remain to be adapted by the anime, which will return in April.
Next week, a special called One Piece Fan Letter will be airing on October 20 to celebrate the anime’s 25th anniversary. This special is based on a 2017 novel called One Piece: Straw Hat Stories. The story will focus on ordinary people impacted by the Straw Hat Pirates, including a girl who idolizes Nami. The special will be set just after the 2 year timeskip, when the Straw Hats reunited at Sabaody Archipelago.
Following this special, the anime will be replaced by a redone version of the Fishman Island arc. This arc was originally 51 episodes, but will be reduced by 30 episodes to a 21 episode special cut. The original anime version of the arc is known for being one of the less popular One Piece arcs due to pacing issues, including an 8 episode flashback sequence.
When One Piece first began airing in 1999, it adapted as many as five chapters per episode. After the anime caught up to the manga, which had a two year head start and began in 1997, the number of chapters per episode was reduced drastically. Later arcs of One Piece were able to adapt only one chapter or less of manga per episode. Early in the series, original stories for the anime such as Rainbow Mist were created to allow the manga to get ahead, but Toei has largely discontinued the production of these types of stories. Since the Wano arc, recap episodes have been airing every month or two. Creator Eiichiro Oda usually skips at least one chapter per month, making weekly chapter adaptations impossible.
The early post timeskip episodes have also been criticized for their animation quality. Toei’s new version of the Fishman Island arc promises to add additional detail to the series, incorporating some of the advances in animation technique that have occurred in recent arcs. A new animation of One Piece produced by Studio WIT, known for animating Attack on Titan, will also be airing on Netflix. This series promises to reanimate the early arcs of One Piece with high quality animation.
The American TV airings should be unaffected by the hiatus, as Toonami is a decade behind Japanese TV airings. Toonami will not be airing One Piece on October 19 or 26, but the series is expected to return in November. The English dub is 26 episodes behind on digital platforms like Crunchyroll. This five month hiatus will likely provide the dub time to catch up to the Japanese airings, allowing One Piece to have a simuldub for the first time. With many new ways to enjoy the One Piece anime, fans of the Straw Hat pirates will be in for a busy 25th anniversary.
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The post One Piece Anime Goes On Hiatus; 25th Anniversary Special To Air, Followed By Remastered “Fishman Island” Arc appeared first on Anime Superhero News.
