Fans of the widely popular Japanese animated series "One Piece" will be pleased to know that Toei Animation will be airing the 20th-anniversary episode simultaneously in Japan, the United States and Canada.
The special episode, titled "Episode of East Blue: Luffy and His 4 Crewmates' Big Adventure," will take fans on a nostalgic ride to where the main protagonist's journey to become the mighty Pirate King began.
Much has happened since then and the episode will probably commemorate the numerous notable encounters of Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates in a retelling of those stories. The episode is reported to have a 106-minute run time.
Luffy's story began when he was inspired by the red-haired pirate Shanks. Shanks is responsible for Luffy's ability to stretch his body parts to extreme lengths. After some time, Luffy acquires pirates to help him in his journey and adventures.
With hundreds and hundreds of episodes of "One Piece," Luffy and his crew have certainly been through a lot, which makes the anniversary episode special; for Luffy to go back to his roots as an ordinary pirate.
The first episode of the Japanese anime aired in 1999 and it is still garnering positive reviews from its legions of faithful fans. They have dubbed the series as an incredible and fun ride and a lot of people stated that it is the best Japanese anime they have ever come across.
Otakumode reported that artists collaborated and lent their talents to create a special animated experience for the magazine "Grand Jump" to commemorate the 20th anniversary of "One Piece".
Manga artists Komi Shinya and Sakamoto Shinichi started the piece, while "One Piece" illustrator Oda Eiichiro came up with his own. Both illustrations can be found in "Grand Jump" issue 18 which was released in Japan on Aug. 16.
The 20th-anniversary episode of "One Piece" will air on Monday, Aug. 28 at 3 a.m. EDT on FunimationNOW.
