One-Punch Man Artist Shares Hot New Take on One Piece’s Luffy

It’s no secret that countless manga artists are big fans of some of their “competitors” in the manga game, often praising old and new series circulating worldwide. There can even be friendly rivalries as Bleach’s Tite Kubo has had a friendly fued with none other than One Piece’s Eiichiro Oda during their friendship’s history. In a new released piece of art, Eiichiro Oda’s Monkey D. Luffy once again takes center stage as the artist responsible for One Punch-Man’s manga, Yusuke Murata, takes a crack at the Straw Hat Pirates’ captain via some unofficial art.

So how did this anime crossover come about? Recently, Oda had shared a new take on a classic anime villain from the series, Eyeshield 21. If you’re unfamiliar with Eyeshield 21, it’s a sports anime that focuses on North American football, a sport that isn’t as well covered as many others in the anime world such as soccer, basketball, volleyball, and boxing. Long before Saitama hit the ground floor running, Murata was the artist on Eyeshield 21’s manga that ran from 2002 to 2009. Thanks to the popularity of the original story, the series would receive an anime adaptation from Studio Gallup.

One Piece Man

Alongside Monkey D. Luffy stands the star of Eyeshield 21, Sena Kobayakawa, as Yusuke decided to bring them together for a rare crossover. While Luffy has met the Z-Fighter during a wild anime crossover event, he has yet to come face-to-face with the “hero for fun” himself. Considering how popular both One Piece and One-Punch Man remain, it is a possibility that the two might one day join forces or even engage in a fight for the ages.

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If you want to check out Eyeshield 21, the series is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll. Here’s how the streaming service describes the sports anime that you might not have heard of, “Since he was a child, Sena had been bullied into running errands which has given him superb speed which the American football team captain wants as part of “Eye Shield 21…Lightning Speed”.

Want to see what other surprising anime collaborations are in store in the future? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest updates on the anime world and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.