One Piece is in the middle of celebrating its milestone 25th anniversary, and fans will get to see the anime branch out in a whole new project with the first look trailer for One Piece Fan Letter. One Piece has been branching out in all sorts of ways ever since it kicked off its 25th anniversary. This has branched out in a new Luffy parade balloon, taking over the Las Vegas Sphere, and even a full remake anime being announced to be in the works. That’s far from the end of all the new projects we’ll get to see either as some of them are actually big surprises.
One Piece Fan Letter was first announced to be in the works earlier this month, and will be adapting elements from the One Piece Novel: Straw Hat Stories spinoff novel. Airing on October 20th in Japan, the anime special will be airing in place of One Piece‘s usual anime time slot instead of resulting in a new episode. You can check out the first look at what to expect from this new special below with the trailer for One Piece Fan Letter released by Toei Animation.
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What Is One Piece Fan Letter?
Directed by Megumi Ishitani, who has been at the helm behind some of the best received One Piece episodes in recent memory, One Piece Fan Letter adapts material from the One Piece Novel: Straw Hat Stories spinoff novel written by Tomohito Ohsaki. These stories showcase what other people in the seas feel about the Straw Hats, and showcases how each of the pirates has impacted people around the world through the eyes of people seeing all of their accomplishments. It’s going to be the same length as a standard episode, but will likely take from a little of each of the stories in that original novel.
Premiering on Saturday, October 20th in Japan, it seems that the stories we will see adapted in the new special revolve around Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Franky. Here’s how the original novel teases each of the segments we could be seeing in the coming anime special:
- Nami: “A young shut-in from Sabaody with an obsession for female pirates falls in love with her idol, Nami. When she hears of the Straw Hats returning at the Archipelago after 2 years, she hopes to catch a glimpse of the woman that changed her life.”
- Luffy: “During the battle of Marineford, a Marine witnesses Luffy rescuing Ace. Witnessing the bond between the two brothers makes him question his relationship with his own brother, who is also fighting in the war.”
- Zoro: “In a bar at Dress Rosa, a drunk Zoro enters a powerscaling debate with a bunch of Marines about who the strongest swordsman in the world is: Mihawk, Shanks, Vista, Ryuma, or Zoro; without any of the Marines realizing who he really is.”
- Franky: “A young girl moves to Water 7 from another island and takes the job of managing a bookstore. There she hears stories about Franky from different familiar faces, as she grows accustomed to her new life in the Water Capital.”
What’s Next for One Piece’s 25th Anniversary?
One Piece still has plenty in store for the anime’s 25th anniversary. The biggest project is undoubtedly the new remake series now in the works. Developed by WIT Studio and produced by Netflix, Shueisha, Fuji Television, and Toei Animation, The One Piece will be a brand new anime adapting Eiichiro Oda’s manga from the very beginning. This new series has yet to announce a release window or date as of the time of this publication.
Masashi Koizuka will be directing The One Piece for WIT Studio with Hideaki Abe serving as assistant director. Taku Kishimoto will be handling series composition, Kyoji Asano and Takatoshi Honda will be providing character designs and serving as chief animation director, Yasuhiro Kajino will be handling creature design, Eri Taguchi serves as prop designer, Ken Imaizumi and Shuhei Fukuda will be action directors, and Tomomori Kuroda will be serving as art director.