Funimation will stream One Piece's 1000th episode on Nov. 20.
The anime distributor and streaming company confirmed the highly anticipated episode's premiere date in a new announcement, which also revealed that the streamer and One Piece's animation studio, Toei Animation, will celebrate the event with a special livestream that will be hosted across both companies' official YouTube channels, as well as on the official FaceBook page for One Piece. The livestream will be hosted by YouTuber RogersBase, and will feature a free broadcast of episodes 998 and 999 of the series, as well as fan videos and prize giveaways. The livestream will begin on Nov. 20 at 3:00P.M.
"The 1000th episode of ‘One Piece’ is truly a history-making moment not only for the franchise, but also for the millions of fans around the world that have supported the series over the last 22 years," said Masayuki Endo, President and CEO of Toei Animation Inc. "We’re excited to mark this major milestone for ‘One Piece’ and look forward to celebrating it together with fans at our special global livestream event on November 20."
"It isn’t every day you get to celebrate such a respected series hit such a grand milestone like this," said Asa Suehira, Chief Content Officer of Funimation Global Group. "One Piece’ has been a huge part of the Funimation family over time and we’re so proud to be a part of the ongoing journey Toei Animation continues to produce."
Toei Animation has been teasing the premiere of the 1000th episode for several weeks now. The company previously released new art that shows Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates, as well as Yamato, charging into battle against the the governor-general Kaidou and his Beast Pirates. The two competing bands of pirates will clash in the epic battle of Onigashima, which will be the focus of the anime series' current arc.
One Piece was created by Eiichiro Oda in 1997 and despite now being over 24 years old, still continues to dominate the best-selling manga charts. The series is the best selling manga series of all time, with almost half-a-billion copies in circulation worldwide. The anime series originally debuted in 1999 and continues to be one of the top-rated anime programs in Japan. The long-running and beloved series may soon be nearing its end, however, as advertisements for the manga's 100th volume recently claimed that Oda's decades long epic has already entered its "final stage." A live-action adaptation of the series, which is being executive produced by Oda himself, is currently in production at Netflix.
Source: Funimation
