One Piece, Black Clover Celebrate with New Year Illustrations

One Piece and Black Cover released new pieces of art to celebrate the new year.

One Piece's official Twitter account shared an illustration drawn by Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, to celebrate the start of 2022. The illustration depicts main character Monkey D. Luffy smiling happily as he leans against an equally excited tiger curled around him. The tiger refers to the fact that 2022 is the Year of the Tiger as per the Chinese zodiac. The tweet accompanying the picture also highlights that the 25th anniversary of when the One Piece manga was first serialized and the release of the 15th One Piece anime film One Piece Film: Red will occur in 2022.

Similarly, Black Clover's official Twitter account acknowledged the new year by bringing attention to the fact that 2022 is the Year of the Tiger. The tweet also states that, despite it being the tiger's year, Black Clover will be "even more exciting like a 'Cow'," which is likely a reference to Black Clover's Black Bull squad renowned for their destructive and erratic behavior. The new illustration depicts main character Asta in traditional Japanese clothing as he bounds towards the screen, ready to take the new year by its horns.

Both Black Clover and One Piece have enjoyed immense popularity since their serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine began. One Piece is one of the best-selling manga series of all time, with over 490 million copies in circulation around the world, and its anime series has currently aired over 1000 episodes. One Piece follows Monkey D. Luffy as he ventures the Grand Line with his pirate crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, to find the eponymous 'One Piece,' a treasure that will bestow Luffy the title 'King of the Pirates.'

While not as popular as One Piece, Black Clover has achieved notable success as well, with its manga having over 16 million copies in circulation and its anime receiving consistently high viewership. The series tells the story of Asta, a young boy who is strangely born without magic powers n a world where everyone seems to possess them. Similar to Luffy, Asta aims to claim a title of his own by becoming the next Wizard King with the help of his friends from the Black Bulls squad.

One Piece Film: Red will be released on Aug. 6, with Oda serving as its general producer and supervisor. An anime film was also announced for Black Clover, although a release date has yet to be set. A new poster for the movie was released at Jump Festa, however, starring Yuno, Asta's rival.

Source: Twitter 1, 2