One Piece

title_name=One Piece

Animation

As the popularity of One Piece swelled after its debut in Shonen Jump, it soon would reach an even larger audience through the medium of television, being adapted into an animated series. That television series (a largely faithful adaptation of the manga) debuted in 1999, but animated One Piece actually had its origins one year earlier.

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Early OVA

In 1998, OVAs for three manga serialized in Weekly Jump (including One Piece) were produced for the July "Jump Super Anime Tour". Called "Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack", this one-episode OVA featured an original villain designed by Eiichiro Oda (the titular Ganzack). Notably, the animation for the OVA was handled by the renowned Production I.G., and the voice cast was completely different from the later TV series, both of which lend a different feel to this production. Wataru Takagi (this OVA's Zolo) would later return to the Toei Animation-produced TV series to voice the pirate captain Bellamy the Hyena.

Related Topics:
OVA - Production I.G. - Wataru Takagi - Zolo - Toei Animation - Bellamy the Hyena

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This OVA was originally shown only at the 1998 Jump Super Anime Tour; however, there was a Jump-exlusive promotion in early 1999, where fans could send in special coupons from the magazine and redeem them for a VHS copy. http://www.apricot.com/~fuu/paradise3/anime/ova.html. Later, a novelization of the OVA, by Tatsuya Hamazaki, would be published under Shueisha's Jump jBooks imprint. http://www.apricot.com/~fuu/paradise3/novel/index.html.

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The TV Series

The One Piece anime, produced by Toei Animation, first aired on October 20, 1999, on Fuji TV. More than 240 episodes of the television series have aired as of August 2005. From episode 207 (aired October 31, 2004) onwards, One Piece has been simulcast in both HDTV and standard definition. The HDTV version is not simply a "letterboxed" version of the "normal" episode, but actually animated completely in the 16:9 aspect ratio, while the "standard" 4:3 version crops off the right and left sides of the frame.

Related Topics:
Toei Animation - October 20 - 1999 - Fuji TV - Episodes - October 31 - 2004 - Simulcast - HDTV - Standard definition - Aspect ratio

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Movies

Since the debut of the series on television, Toei Animation has also produced six One Piece feature films, released each spring since 2000. In typical fashion for movies based on serialized manga, the films feature self-contained, completely original plots, and animation of higher quality than what the weekly anime allows for. Additionally, three of these movies have had special featurettes, showcasing the characters engaged in various activities unrelated to the series (dancing, playing soccer, and playing baseball). These movies, and their attached featurettes (where applicable), are as follows:

Related Topics:
Toei Animation - 2000

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• One Piece: The Movie (ワンピース Wanp?su, 2000)
• Clockwork Island Adventure (ねじまき島の冒険 Nejimaki-Shima no Bōken, 2001)
• * Featurette: Django's Dance Carnival (ジャンゴのダンスカーニバル Jango no Dansu K?nibaru)
• Chopper's Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals (珍獣島のチョッパー王国 Chinj?-jima no Chopp?-?koku, 2002)
• * Featurette: Dream Soccer King! (夢のサッカー王! Yume no Sakk?-?!)
• Dead End Adventure (デッドエンドの冒険 Deddo Endo no Bōken, 2003)
• Curse of the Sacred Sword (呪われた聖剣 Norowareta Seiken, 2004)
• * Featurette: Take Aim! The Pirate Baseball King (めざせ! 海賊野球王 Mezase! Kaizoku Yaky?-?)
• Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island (オマツリ男爵と秘密の島 Omatsuri Danshaku to Himitsu no Shima, 2005)

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