‘One Piece’ Animation Director Reveals Real Reason Behind the Wano Arc's "Problems"

‘One Piece’ Animation Director Reveals Real Reason Behind the Wano Arc's "Problems" The Straw Hat crew standing together, dressed fancy in a casino in One Piece Film: GOLDImage via Toei Animation By  Makuochi Echebiri Published 45 minutes ago Makuochi Echebiri is a News Writer for Collider.  He has been interested in creative writing from as far back as high school, and he would consume pretty much anything that’s film or TV. However, his truest love lies in the presence of historical epics and thrillers. Lured by the brilliance of Middle Earth from an early age both in print and on screen, his palate has since expanded to other realms including Westeros, Kattegat among others. He also possesses a great appetite for the stories that emanate from the vastness of space. Even though he is no Avenger. Obsessed with storytelling and having works of his own that have yet to make it to print, he is content to use that ability to communicate to as many as are reachable. In his spare time, he looks out for avenues where he can aid people aside from his plans to reign over this earthly realm. Yes…you heard that first here. Sign in to your Collider account follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

It might have taken some time, but Netflix has finally announced the release date for the eagerly anticipated second season of it's live-action One Piece series. However, before the live-action made a name for itself, the animated series had long built for itself a formidable fanbase of its own. As we know, One Piece is a record-breaking Japanese anime franchise created by Eiichiro Oda, which has since gone beyond the bounds of anime alone. Beginning in 1999 and now with well over 1,000 episodes, the anime follows Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates as they sail across the Grand Line in pursuit of their dreams, and in a quest to find the legendary One Piece treasure that once belonged to Gol D. Roger.

Such a franchise requires several hands to see it deliver consistently, and One Piece's current chief animation director, Keiichi Ichikawa, had previously discussed the issues that arise from hiring foreign animators to help with the workload in an interview with Fullfrontal. Ichikawa's first contribution to One Piece came during the Whole Cake Island arc, before he stepped in with major contributions during the Wano arc. Speaking during an interview at the Japan Expo shared by Fullfrontal, Ichikawa discussed how bringing on foreign animators caused a new slew of problems for the animated series. He stated:

"It’s not all bad, but each country has its own culture, and foreign animators don’t always know how to match the Japanese style, so compensating for that is also causing some problems."

Ichikawa's main distress is the new animators' lack of understanding of second key animation. This looks like a problem set to be exacerbated by the Japanese animation studio, Toei Animation’s previously announced ten-year plan. Toei Animation is the animation studio behind One Piece and, in light of recent successes, is poised to expand across Asia in the coming decade. This will likely involve the hiring of hundreds of new staff members, including animators, as part of the upcoming expansion. On the issue of possible solutions, Ichikawa insists that there is no decent system that would help guide foreign animators to do the second key animation. The director highlighted time and budgetary constraints as being significant factors, saying:

"We don’t really have a system to do that. If we think someone is good, we entrust work to him. And if they do it, everybody will be grateful. It causes us trouble, but we can’t really do anything about it."

The 'One Piece' Franchise Continues To Endure

The anime industry has become a global phenomenon, captivating audiences around the globe with its artistic uniqueness and brilliant storytelling. It has put significant pressure on the likes of Oda to consistently deliver elite animation. However, with other projects such as Netflix's live-action series, fans can take a break from the animation and enjoy the story from the start once more. Season 2 of Netflix's One Piece, subtitled Into the Grand Line,will premiere on March 10. Casting for other fan-favorite characters to be featured in the show's third run has already begun. Ian Stokes and Joe Tracz serve as co-showrunners and executive producers of the Netflix adaptation. Eiichiro Oda, Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, Tetsu Fujimura, Chris Symes, Christoph Schrewe, and Steven Maeda also executive produce.

One Piece Season 2 arrives on Netflix in 2026.

One Piece

Like Follow Followed TV-14 Comedy Action Adventure Anime Fantasy Release Date October 20, 1999 Network Fuji TV Directors Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou Writers Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda Franchise(s) One Piece 9 Images One-Piece-Episode-1136-Straw-Hats-FlashbackOne-Piece-Episode-1136-Bonney-PirateOne-Piece-Episode-1131-Revolutionary-ArmyOne-Piece-Sanji-Nosebleed-DeathOne-Piece-Opening-28-Vegapunk-SpeechOne-Piece-Episode-1142-Luffy-Kizaru-SaturnOne-Piece-Episode-1141-CaribouOne-Piece-Opening-28-Zoro-LucciLuffy getting ready to fight Babanuki in One Piece episode #947.Close

Cast

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• Mayumi Tanaka Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
• Kazuya Nakai Roronoa Zoro (voice)

Genres Comedy, Action, Adventure, Anime, Fantasy Creator(s) Eiichiro Oda Powered by Expand Collapse

• TV Features
• One Piece
• Netflix

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