The 1,000th episode of One Piece finally aired to the delight of fans and the impressive milestone came with a very special opening.
The new opening pays homage to the anime's original opening sequence, including iconic moments like Luffy spinning his straw hat on his finger and the sketches of Gol D. Roger's execution, while updating the visuals and characters to reflect the many changes that have occurred since the Straw Hat Pirates left the East Blue and began their journey on the Grand Line. It is of course set to One Piece's first theme song, "We Are!" by Hiroshi Kitadani.
There were several special events leading up to One Piece's 1,000th episode, which included the series asking fans to share their favorite moments from the anime. Along with that, the official franchise website also uploaded a teaser visual of the episode's epic battle between the Straw Hat Pirates and the Beasts Pirates, and Crunchyroll released a special AR filter allowing users to join Luffy's crew and create their own wanted poster.
Moreover, Crunchyroll, Midtown Comics, Anime NYC and Colossal Media created a giant One Piece mural on the corner of Kent Ave and Grant St. in Brooklyn, NY as part of an ongoing photo contest to celebrate the landmark episode. To enter the contest, fans need to take a photo of themselves in front of the mural and post it to either Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #OnePiece1000Mural. The photo contest is open until Dec. 5 and the randomly selected winner will receive a one-year subscription to Crunchyroll, weekend passes to Anime NYC 2022 and a $100 giftcard to Midtown Comics.
Created by Eiichiro Oda, the ongoing One Piece manga made its debut in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump on July 22, 1997, and the first anime episode premiered in Japan two years later on Oct. 20. The series continues to be an overwhelming success with more than 490 million copies of the manga sold worldwide and the anime netting $817.87 million in earnings as of September 2020. One Piece also spawned a plethora of adaptations including light novels, music, tie-in films, a live-action television series and even a kabuki play.
The One Piece anime series is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
Source: YouTube
