The anime of ‘One Piece’ is already a constant on the Japanese television grid, since it has more than 1,000 episodes and has been broadcast since 1999.
Of course, there’s also been a flurry of movies and video games to further expand on Eiichiro Oda’s universe, but before the big anime came along, ‘One Piece’ already had a first animated adaptation that not many fans know.
Before Toei entered the scene
On July 22 and 23, 2022, the One Piece Day, with which the 25th anniversary of the manga has been commemorated in style. During the event, details about the manga and anime and the future of the story have been given, but a very important part of the history of ‘One Piece’ has also been shared.
Toei Animation is in charge of the anime series, but in 1998 an OVA (direct-to-video episode) animated by Production I.G. which showed an original adventure of Luffy, Zoro and Nami. ‘One Piece: I Will Defeat You! Pirate Ganzack’ was directed by Goro Taniguchi and featured character designs from Hisashi Kagawa.
At the time it was shown in theaters in Japan and during the Jump Super Anime Tour event in 1998, so only a few were able to see it at the time. On the occasion of the anniversary, it has been shared on the One Piece channel on YouTube, where can be seen in the One Piece Day streaming from minute 1:51:45.
The first ‘One Piece’ OVA It was planned to serve as an introduction to the characters to test the waters for a full anime series, so the voice actors are different from those we already know. The bad thing is that it is only available in Japanese, but it is a perfect opportunity to see this unique piece and reach all the fans of ‘One Piece’.