One Piece Just Revealed Its First Look at Joyboy (And Fans May Have Missed It)

After wringing every last tear from fans through Kuma and Bonney’s backstory over the last few months, One Piece’s Egghead Arc has finally kicked off the second half of its story, setting the stage for the arc’s big climax with the initiation of the dreaded Buster Call. The anime has also marked this shift in the story with a brand new opening theme full of easter eggs and spoilers of what’s to come, including the introduction of One Piece’s biggest enigma, Joyboy.

From finally seeing the Five Elders in action to all the revelations that Vegapunk’s worldwide broadcast has in store, there’s plenty to look forward to in the Egghead Arc for the next few months. Even so, easily the biggest upcoming moment in the arc is the flashback containing Joyboy’s first-ever appearance in the series. While Joyboy has been mentioned multiple times over the course of the series, fans still know frustratingly little about this mysterious figure from the Void Century. Luckily, the Egghead Arc is finally set to change this, not only revealing more about Joyboy but also giving fans their first-ever look at him, albeit in silhouette form. That said, One Piece’s new opening theme may have already revealed Joyboy, but it was so quick that fans may have completely missed it.

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One Piece Gives Fans a First Taste of the Anime’s New Opening

One Piece’s New Opening Already Revealed Joyboy

During the title card sequence in One Piece’s new opening theme for the Egghead Arc, a nondescript figure in a straw hat makes an appearance in the background for just a split second. The straw hat is then seen flying across the blue sky to the Iron Giant, who is revealed to be named Emet later in the Egghead Arc. At first glance, the obvious answer seems like this figure in the straw hat must be Luffy. However, the figure in the straw hat does not appear to possess Luffy’s distinct spiky hair. Were it to be this as the only clue, though, the glimpse being that of Joyboy in the new One Piece opening would be dismissed pretty easily.

However, when the opening theme pans across to Emet, he seems to be missing any of the rust and moss that is seen on him in the present day. More importantly, Emet is pictured with both of his horns intact, which is easily the biggest giveaway that this scene in the opening is taken from a flashback, as the Iron Giant has been missing his left horn ever since his introduction on Egghead. All of these pieces of evidence point to the figure in the straw hat in the new opening being Joyboy rather than Luffy, Shanks, or even Roger.

Lastly, the plain blue sky with fluffy white clouds in the background confirms that this scene is indeed adapting Emet’s flashback from Chapter 1122, which reveals Joyboy’s silhouette. Of course, the best part has yet to come as the big reveal in the anime will surely be much more exciting. It will also be interesting to see who ends up being cast to voice Joyboy and what he will end up sounding like in the anime, though until then, One Piece’s Egghead Arc definitely has plenty of thrilling developments in store.

One Piece can be streamed on Crunchyroll and Netflix.