One Piece’s Egghead Arc is back with a brand new opening and plenty to look forward to as the series finally returns to exciting main storyline at Future Island and the deadlock between the Straw Hats and the World Government. As exciting and chaotic as things are at present, the upcoming episodes are going to continue taking it up a notch, and it is safe to say that fans are in for one hell of a rollercoaster ride. Besides the highly awaited rematch between Kizaru and Luffy, fans may also need to steel themselves for a major flashback as One Piece’s new opening theme teases that fans are finally going to get Kuma’s tragic backstory and more.
Videos by ComicBook.com
One Piece‘s new opening and ending themes heavily features Bonney, Ginny, and Kuma giving them the spotlight as the upcoming episodes of the Egghead Arc are expected to finally reveal Kuma’s backstory in full. So far, Bonney, as well as viewers, have only gotten a small glimpse of Kuma’s backstory when Bonney happened to stumble upon a mysterious paw shaped bubble containing Kuma’s memories, and soon enough, One Piece‘s anime will finally do away with the mystery. Having said that, one particular still of the opening theme that stands out as quite intriguing features a young version of Kuma with a menacing shot of Saint Saturn as well as a younger version of St. Figarland Garling in the background.
[RELATED: One Piece Fans Have One Complaint About Anime’s Return]
One Piece’s New Opening Teases the Upcoming God Valley Flashback
Though she is yet to be officially introduced in the anime, the other figure in the center of the above still from the opening theme is Ginny, while the character to the right, as hinted by his signature purple afro, is a young version of Ivankov who, without spoiling too much will also play a major role in Kuma’s backstory along with Ginny. So far, the only link between Kuma and Ivankov has been the Revolutionary Army, making Ivankov’s appearance in Kuma’s backstory quite unexpected, though fans are sure to get plenty of new, never-before-seen insight into their relationship as a result.
Warning: Minor Manga Spoilers for One Piece Below.
The other most intriguing part of the still is the inclusion of St. Garling. The new opening marks the first-ever anime appearance of young Figarland Garling, who is the spitting image of Shanks, save for his peculiar hairdo. So far, the only thing One Piece’s anime has revealed about Garling is the fact that he was declared the “champion” at God Valley and is thus somehow closely involved with the elusive God Valley Incident that took place 38 years ago.
Fortunately for anime-only fans, their curiosity about God Valley is finally going to be quenched by the Egghead Arc, at least by a bit. As for how Garling and the God Valley Incident factor into Kuma’s backstory, if at all, fans will simply have to see for themselves, as One Piece has quite a treat in store.
One Piece is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
