'One Piece' Unites World Cup Rivals In A Now-Viral Video

With the World Cup raging forward, tension between fans are higher than ever. Still, there are [...]

By Megan Peters

With the World Cup raging forward, tension between fans are higher than ever. Still, there are things in this world able to step over such animosity, and anime is right up there. After all, it is thanks to One Piece that the sports world just became a little bit closer.

Over on Twitter, a now-viral video documents the moment anime overcame any sports hearsay. When Japan took on Senegal during the FIFA World Cup, fans left the match breathless as the two teams tied. With no love lost, hyped fans exited the stadium, and it was there Senegal and Japan fans came together to celebrate.

How? Well, by singing one of One Piece's famous theme songs.

John Sulo shared the joyful video on Twitter, and he was happy to show off his new friends. The actor may have supported Senegal during the game, but he came together with strangers supporting Japan to sing "We Are!" from One Piece. And, as you can see above, Sulo ends the clip by thanking his newfound friends in Japanese.

Talk about some serious nakama! You know Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat gang would be cooing over this exchange.

So far, the video has amassed over 5 million views with fans praising the group's ability to bond despite their different jerseys. Sure, Senegal and Japan are rivals for the World Cup, but anime can bring almost anything into perspective. All it takes is a chance meeting in Russia for fans from opposites ends of the world to connect, and these guys were able to bond over their shared love of all things One Piece.

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.

Did this viral video put a smile on your face? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

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