A new clothing line featuring characters and iconography from the long-running shonen anime and manga One Piece will be released at the upcoming New York Comic-Con.
The new collection was produced as a collaboration between Toei Animation, the company that produces the anime adaptation of Eiichiro Oda's long-running Shonen Jump manga, and Atsuko, a lifestyle brand that specializes in anime apparel and accessories. The new line of hoodies, t-shirts, button-downs, hats, accessories and more will launch on Oct. 7 at Atsuko's Comic-Con booth, and will also be available online through the clothing company's website. The new clothes feature Monkey D. Luffy, the series' stretchy protagonist, and are decorated with the emblems and crests of the various pirate groups and other major organizations that exist within the world of One Piece.
“Since we started Atsuko, our community has asked us time and again, ‘When are you going to partner with One Piece?’” said Preston Deanda, Atsuko's Brand Manager. “The people have spoken, and we heard them loud and clear. It’s an honor to work with Toei Animation to bring one of the most genre-defining titles to the fans through this exclusive collaboration.”
The new collaboration is the latest partnership for Atsuko, who has previously produced apparel for other big anime franchises such as Dragon Ball, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Neon Genesis Evangelion and more.
One Piece, meanwhile, continues to celebrate a year of meaningful milestones for the franchise: the 1000th chapter of the manga was published earlier in 2021, while the series' 100th collected volume was recently released in Japan and sold over a million copies within a week. The 1000th episode of the anime is also currently scheduled to air sometime before the end of the year. Series creator Eiichiro Oda and Weekly Shonen Jump publisher Shueisha have celebrated these events through the release of special illustrations, a dramatized video series and the release of special "cover chapters," which are key chapters from One Piece's past that have been redrawn by other famous manga creators.
The original One Piece manga originally premiered 24 years ago but still continues to top the best-selling manga charts, while the anime adaptation is still regularly one of the highest rated shows in Japan. Despite the series' on-going success, series creator Eiichiro Oda has hinted that the long-running story may finally being nearing its end, with an advertisement for the 100th volume stating that Oda's epic has already entered its "final stage." One Piece's will soon be adapted into a live-action TV series by Netflix and Tomorrow Pictures, the studio that is also behind the upcoming live-action Cowboy Bebop remake. The new series will be executive produced by Oda himself.
Source: Atsuko
