'One Piece' Confirms New Special Release Date

One Piece occasionally rewards anime fans with specials that relive some of the series' most [...]

By Nick Valdez

One Piece occasionally rewards anime fans with specials that relive some of the series' most famous moments through a new lens, and now one of the most highly regarded arcs by fans will be getting the same treatment as well.

Fans will now soon be able to relive the greatness of the series' Skypiea arc (such as Luffy's fight with Enel) as the series is soon set to release a new special based on the arc.

One Piece will be releasing "Episode of Skypiea" on August 25 in Japan. Directed by Koonosuke Uda, this is a TV special covering the Skypiea arc featuring a character not seen in the original Skypiea arc of the anime series. This is also the first in the "Episode of" specials to cover the Skypiea arc of the series.

While Crunchyroll and Funimation currently offer streaming releases of previous specials "Episode of Sabo" and "Episode of East Blue," there are three other specials focusing on Luffy, Nami, and the Going Merry respectively.

The new special is a great way of reliving of the past, as it shows just how much the character design in the anime has developed since that arc. The improvements are already apparent.

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.

Eiichiro Oda also revealed some upcoming news for One Piece's future at Jump Festa 2018. Not only will the manga see Wano sooner rather than later, the next villain of the series is "one of the legends which lurks in the One Pieceworld. The greatest enemy ever for Straw Hats will hinder their way...Can you believe Marineford Summit War will look 'cute' compared to that?

The new live-action One Piece series also got some new information as it was revealed that the series will portray the Straw Hats' adventures from the very beginning, and will take place in the East Blue. One Piece's anime series is currently in the middle of the "Whole Cake Island" arc and is now streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.

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