'One Piece' Introduces Charlotte Katakuri

The wait is over for One Piece fans. The 'Whole Cake Island' arc took over the anime awhile back, and it finally introduced fans to its next big baddie after a rather long wait. And, yes - the show gave the Sweet Commander the epic debut he deserved.

So, if you are ready to meet Charlotte Katakuri, then get ready. The anime is about to make audiences well acquainted with him.

In the latest episode of One Piece, fans watched as Sanji and Luffy reunited after their epic clash on Whole Cake Island. The moment was an angsty one, but fans found themselves forgetting all about the encounter once a foreboding cloaked figure was introduced at the episode's end.

As you can see above, One Piece showed a towering figure reach the Whole Cake Chateau by himself. The man, who was dressed in a dark fur-trimmed cloak, approached its massive doors to the shock of Big Mom's underlings. Katakuri simply said the doors would open for him and they did. The scene then cut away from the Charlotte villain after it gave a close-up of his shadowed face.

Of course, readers of the manga know just who this guy is. Charlotte Katakuri is the fan-favorite villain of the 'Whole Cake Island' arc so far. His ominous behavior and obscene bounty prove just how dangerous the Sweet Commander is. In the manga, Katakuri reached the Whole Cake Chateau with his sister Charlotte Smoothie, but the anime had him arrive at the castle much later. The delayed entrance gave Katakuri an epic introduction, and fans are excited for the over-powered pirate to meet Luffy face to face.

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has been collected into 87 volumes, with a few chapters yet to be included. It has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best selling manga series worldwide with 430 million copies sold worldwide.

What did you think of Katakuri's debut? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!