One Piece Producer Details the Biggest Issue with Wano’s Anime Schedule

It is hard to believe how long One Piece has been working through its Wano arc. With more than 1,000 episodes under its belt, the shonen series has focused nearly 200 of them on Wano to date. Ever since episode 890 went live, Luffy and the gang have been tackling Wano and its messy rule. And for the team behind the scenes, One Piece’s production schedule had one big impact on the Wano act.

During a recent chat with ComicBook, production coordinator Tetsuji Akahori opened up about the biggest issue his team has faced while working on the Wano act. It was there he said nothing about Wano particularly took him by surprise, but the anime’s intense schedule kept Akahori’s team from doing certain things.

“It is hard to recall anything in particular, but I can say there were many things we could not accomplish. One Piece releases 50 episodes per year, so there is no time off and no vacations. There are also so many big battles [in Wano]. There were some elements we could not visualize [due to] a lack of time,” he shared.

For fans of One Piece, it is hard to imagine what the anime team missed out on. The animation through the Wano act has been nothing short of impressive. Since day one, the team at Toei Animation has poured itself into the ongoing One Piece arc, and its animation has only benefitted. In fact, some fans have gone as far as to say this act has the anime’s best art. So of course, we can only imagine what things the team wanted to do animation-wise that Akahori said wasn’t possible.

If you have not watched One Piece for yourself, you can always catch up. Crunchyroll and Hulu are streaming the series right now. So for more details on One Piece, you can read its official synopsis below:

“As a child, Monkey D. Luffy was inspired to become a pirate by listening to the tales of the buccaneer “Red-Haired” Shanks. But Luffy’s life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit and gained the power to stretch like rubber…at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, still vowing to become the king of the pirates, Luffy sets out on his adventure…one guy alone in a rowboat, in search of the legendary “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…”

What do you think about One Piece’s take on Wano? Do you believe the anime has done the act justice? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!