‘One Piece’ Preview Teases Heartbreaking Ace Flashback

One Piece‘s Reverie arc is underway, and the anime series has been spending some of its time revisiting the past just to see how far Luffy has come over his journey. It’s a perfect situation for the series celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year, and fans have been enjoying the many flashbacks to the favorite characters and moments. But it seems the series is going to explore one of the most heartbreaking moments of the entire series.

In the preview for Episode 881 of the series, not only will fans be reintroduced to Sakazuki of the Marines, but it seems there will be a heartbreaking re-exploration of the Marineford arc and, of course, Ace’s tragic death.

Episode 881 of the series is titled “Going into Action! The Implacable New Admiral of the Fleet – Sakazuki!” and teases much of the changes the Marines have been through as well. Not only is Sakazuki the new Admiral of the Marines, but it seems that his actions during the Battle of Marineford have helped him get the promotion.

As teased in previous episodes, not everyone is happy with Luffy’s big moves during the Whole Cake Island arc. Now that he’s been named the Fifth Emperor of the Sea, he’s now gotten under the skin of Akainu — who goes by Sakazuki now. During the battle of Marineford, Luffy managed to get away from Akainu thanks to Ace’s save. Ace lost his life in the process, and Luffy has never been the same.

But neither has Akainu it seems. Even though he’s managed to be promoted through the Marines, his “loss” to Luffy and Ace must still feel fresh in his mind as it’s one of the few moments the Admiral has been humbled by others. It cost Ace his life, and fans should be ready to experience that again through a flashback, but now Luffy’s on a bigger path.

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 80 volumes, and 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 over 430 million copies sold. The series still ranked number one in manga sales in 2018, which surprised fans of major new entries.

—–

Have you subscribed to ComicBook Nation, the official Podcast of ComicBook.com yet? Check it out by clicking here or listen below.

In this latest episode, we cover the possible new Hawkeye series coming to Disney +, argue if Batman casting fatigue is setting in, we grade WWE Wrestlemania, and so much more! Make sure to subscribe now and never miss an episode!