Monkey D. Luffy’s birthday just happened on May 5, and Monkey D. Luffy himself celebrated it. And by that I mean his actor in the highly successful live-action Netflix adaptation of One Piece, Iñaki Godoy, celebrated the birthday. And, wait, is that a teaser? Check out the birthday video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeHP9jhjZXg&t “We’re going to celebrate today with this,” Godoy says, pointing to a cake. “Luffy, thank you so much for everything that you have done for me and many others around the world. You make us happy, you aspire us to follow our dreams and you’re just the coo ..read more

Gold House, which describes itself as “a cultural ecosystem that unites, invests in, and champions Asian Pacific leaders to power tomorrow for all” has released the names for its 2024 Most Impactful Asians A100 list. Included are some people definitely of interest to otaku. Writer and director Hayao Miyazaki, who also recently made the Time 100 list, is among those being honored as most impactful. His latest movie, The Boy and the Heron, won an Academy Award, among many other awards. There’s also some One Piece love going on! Not only was creator Eiichiro Oda spotlighted, but so were Mackenyu ..read more

There are lots of polls in Japan asking people about their favorite things in regards to anime, like favorite characters or theme songs. TV Asahi decided to do something a little different, and asked 1,740 individuals outside of Japan what their favorite anime theme songs are. Then TV Asahi played a special over the weekend about foreigners’ taste in anime music. They also unveiled the top 20 anime theme songs according to this poll. Think about your favorite anime theme songs, and then let’s move on and see who made the list! 20th, 19th and 18th place all went to Attack on Titan songs: “Gure ..read more

We’ve talked in the past about fun anime crossovers, from Cyborg 009 vs. Devilman to that dual birthday celebration for Gundam and Hello Kitty. Since then, even more have come out… and one, Baki Hanma VS Kengan Ashura, is coming to Netflix this summer! So it’s the perfect time to have at some more crossovers, both old and new. While you wait for this epic showdown to premiere, take a look back at some other well-matched crossovers in the anime world. And place your bets—who do you think will reign supreme this summer?   ISEKAI QUARTET Baki Hanma VS Kengan Ashura feels lik ..read more

The One Piece manga has really been hitting some high notes lately in the Egghead Arc, but fans will have a bit of a wait ahead after the next chapter. The series’ official account shared a note from author Eiichiro Oda announcing a three-week break, which will start with this year’s 18th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump that’s due out on April 1. The One Piece manga will make its final appearance for a few weeks in the 17th issue that arrives on Monday, March 25 (Sunday over here). After that, it won’t be appearing again until the 21st issue on April 22. Oda shared a full message so as not to wor ..read more

Fans around the world are expressing sadness and shock at the unexpected passing of Dragon Ball Z creator Akira Toriyama. Toriyama was a major influence on manga, and some other big-name manga authors have taken to the internet to pay homage to him. One Piece mangaka Eiichiro Oda was one of them. “It’s too soon. The void left behind is too large,” Oda wrote. “The sadness overwhelms me when I realize I’ll never meet you again. From my childhood, I’ve admired you. I remember the day I was first called by name, on the way home after the day you used the word ‘friends’ for us, I remember the joyo ..read more

Yesterday two men in Japan were arrested because police believe they committed copyright infringement by stealing pages from Weekly Shonen Jump and posting them online before the chapters were scheduled to come out. The men, whose names were not listed in the report, are not Japanese but are currently both living in Japan. They are listed as being 34 and 36-years-old. The 36-year-old owns a company of some sort, and that company is likewise being referred to prosecution for copyright infringement. Authorities alleged that the men used a smartphone on January 31 to get photos of an upcoming ch ..read more

Back in 2021, One Piece inspired a Heroines novel that focused on Nami. Now the series is getting ready to return with another set of stories, this time centering on Hancock, Tashigi, Reiju, Uta, Nami and Robin. The new ONE PIECE novel HEROINES [Colorful] book is written by June Esaka and illustrated by Sayaka Suwa. The collection is set to make its way to stores in Japan on March 4, 2024. Each episode centers on one of the aforementioned women of One Piece, including a story about Boa Hancock that finds one of her subordinates returning from a long jaunt out to sea to tell her love story, ju ..read more

GLAY is a major Japanese rock band, and 2024 marks a major milestone for them: 30 years since their major debut in 1994. As a result, GLAY is offering its GLAY EXPO this year. A big event like this needs a visual image to go with it, so GLAY went with a major manga talent: none other than One Piece’s Eiichiro Oda, creator of the bestselling manga series of all time. GLAY shared the image online with the note: GLAY 30th Anniversary Year!! Key visual released! ! The key visual for “GLAY EXPO” was created by Eiichiro Oda, the author of “ONE PIECE”! ! With this visual that is appropriate for the ..read more

The One Piece anime has adapted the Shonen Jump manga from Eiichiro Oda in over 1,000 episodes and counting, but it’s never too late to start fresh, right? That’s the plan for THE ONE PIECE, which was revealed during Jump Festa 2024 as a remake of the series from WIT Studio. The new anime will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the anime series by starting over with the East Blue arc with a completely new animation team. Check out the teaser and full visual below. There isn’t much more in the way of info, but Netflix will stream THE ONE PIECE when it’s ready for the world.  New episodes ..read more