One Piece Announces First Foreign Director

One Piece’s anime is delivering viewers with some of the best battles in the shonen franchise’s history. With battles such as Luffy barreling into Kaido, Zoro slashing the Beast Pirate Lieutenant King, and various other confrontations supplying some of the best-animated segments from Toei Animation, the anime adaptation is planning to have its first foreign director join the War For Wano. With the latest announcement, an animator that has worked on the Straw Hat Pirates, along with several other anime franchises, is getting quite a promotion.

The War For Wano has only been heating up with its latest episodes, as Luffy and Kaido’s fight remains the pinnacle confrontation of the One Piece arc. The Beast Pirate Captain was recently able to increase his power by downing a serious amount of alcohol, though fans that have followed the manga know that Luffy is about to get a power-up of his own. With this summer seeing the arrival of One Piece Day in Japan, Toei Animation is looking to introduce new details about the anime’s future that will surely have the new foreign director busy when it comes to the continuing confrontations of the Wano Arc.

One Piece’s New Foreign Director

Henry Thurlow has made his name by working on quite a few different anime series in the past as a “Key Animator”. For One Piece specifically, he has acted as a key animator for both the television series, along with the latest movie in the franchise, One Piece Film: Red. On top of working on the Straw Hat Pirates, Thurlow has worked on series such as Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Pokemon, Haikyu, Overlord, and Tokyo Ghoul to name a few. Now, Thurlow will be the first foreign director for One Piece as the War For Wano continues.

Reported in Newtype:
I, Henry Thurlow, am the episode director of One Piece 1066 airing this month.
As far as I can tell (& as far as the production staff knew when I asked) there has never been a non-Japanese ep director for OP, or possibly any Toei Animation TV series… ever. pic.twitter.com/y99tVE6U2l

— Henry Thurlow (@henry_thurlow) June 9, 2023

In One Piece’s manga, the final saga is currently underway that will bring the story of the Straw Hat Pirates to an end. Following the results of the War For Wano, Luffy and his friends have run into the mysterious Dr. Vegapunk, while learning more about the Devil Fruit as a result. With Luffy’s brother Sabo diving into how King Cobra actually died, Thurlow might have his work cut out for him if he is to create these scenes.

What do you think of One Piece’s first foreign director? Do you foresee Toei Animation nailing the look of Gear Fifth? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Grand Line.