'One Piece' Latest News: Shueisha Announces Plans for Series' 20th Anniversary Celebration
July marks the 20th anniversary of the popular manga series "One Piece," written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. In celebration of that milestone, Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump just announced that 10 big projects are already in the works.
There is no word yet about the said 10 big projects, but Weekly Shonen Jump is expected to announce more details on July 15, Saturday. In the following week, Shueisha will release a commemorative issue of Weekly Shonen Jump to mark "One Piece's" 20th anniversary, Comic Book Anime reported.
Also, "One Piece" will debut a two-hour anime special on Aug. 26 at 9:00 p.m. Titled "One Piece Episode of East Blue: Luffy to 4-nin no Nakama no Daibōken (Luffy and His 4 Crewmates' Big Adventure)," the said special follows Monkey D. Luffy (voiced by Mayumi Tanaka) as he reflects on how his four main crewmates — Roronoa Zoro (voiced by Kazuya Nakai), Vinsmoke Sanji (voiced by Hiroaki Hirata), "Cat Burglar" Nami (voiced by Akemi Okamura) and "God" Usopp (voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi) — came to join the Straw Hat Pirates. It will also feature reanimated scenes from the beginning of the series through when the crew enters the Grand Line.
In addition to that, a three-part special manga titled "Luff" will also be released. The said spin-off will reveal what would have happened if Portgas D. Ace (voiced by Toshio Furukawa) was still alive.
On Twitter, user @YonkouProds shared one of the special's first spreads, which shows the Revolutionary Army's chief of staff, Sabo (voiced by Toru Furuya), rushing to save Ace and Luffy before the current Marine admiral, Sakazuki (commonly known by his alias Akainu), can skewer either of them with his fiery fist. Sabo, the pair's other adopted brother, seems relieved to have saved his family, while "Fire Fist" Ace looks like he cannot believe what just happened.
