'One Piece' Stars Turn Their Characters Into Virtual Youtubers

The voices behind One Piece have given Luffy and Usopp a side job as YouTubers in a new virtual reality clip.

Mayumi Tanaka -- who plays Luffy -- and Kappei Yamaguchi -- who plays Usopp -- posted a video on Saturday, showing how the pirates would fair as virtual YouTubers. The motion capture trend is all the rage in Japan, and they showed that an old pirate can still learn new tricks.

The actors are able to manipulate the 3D animated versions of their characters with remarkable accuracy. They had some fun testing the limits of the technology, but there did not seem to be much that the cameras couldn't keep up with. They struck some familiar poses, played a game of rock-paper-scissors and pulled off some other slapstick antics. All the while, their virtual avatars hardly deviated from their own motions.

The actors were helping to promote One Piece's upcoming special, Episode of Sorajima -- or, One Piece: Episode of Skypeia. It is heading to Fuji TV on Aug. 25, and may be the first in a series. The special is about the length of a feature film, according to a report by Anime News Network, as it is set to air from 9 p.m. to 11:10 p.m.

The special is expected to update and build upon the existing Skypeia arc, putting it in the new animation style and making it self-contained and digestible for new fans. ANN reports that at least one major character will be present in the story who was not in Skypeia in the original anime version.

A trailer for Episode of Skypeia -- also being called Episode of Sky Island by some -- was released back in May. The 30 second teaser is available on YouTube, with the new take on an old story on full display.

Several more specials titled "Episode of" are reportedly on the way. The show has already made five of these specials, apparently hoping to make the series easier to dive into for prospective fans who see its daunting catalogue. They boil down story lines into movie-like pieces that can be shown to someone who has never seen the show and give them a chance of understanding.

Of course, many fans feel that these specials leave too much out or over-simplify the longer sagas they love so much in the anime. Still, for a series that has spanned multiple generations, it is a nice entry point to have for recruiting new viewers.

One Piece: Episode of Skypeia airs on Aug. 25 at 9 p.m. on Fuji TV.