A few years ago it was very rare to see a non-Japanese name in the credits of our favorite anime. From time to time we would see a small list with Korean or Chinese animators, but finding a western animator was a very rare exception.
Things have been changing in the industry, and with the huge number of anime produced each year, studios have been looking for talent outside their borders more and more often. In ‘One Piece’ we have already had several westerners working on some of the most iconic chapters of the series, but for the first time a non-japanese animator He has sat in the director’s chair.
A small milestone for the series
henry thurlow He’s been working in the anime industry for a few years now, and he’s done it all. From ‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’ to ‘Yona of the Dawn’ through ‘Pokémon’ and ‘Naruto: Shippuden’.
Thurlow has worked from time to time in ‘One Piece’ since 2019, and a few weeks ago he announced on his Twitter account that he was going to work full-time for the Toei anime. But the point is that he not only came to animate some of the most anticipated scenes, he also directed episode 1066 of the series.
So Thurlow has become the first non-Japanese director of the ‘One Piece’ anime , because no one in the entire team or the studio remembers that this glass ceiling was broken by someone else. The anime industry is slowly changing with all the foreign talent, and it’s great news that a series as big as ‘One Piece’ opens the door like this for animators from outside of Japan.
Chapter 1066 has already gone down in the history of’one piece‘ directed by Thurlow, although it also promises to be important in its own right with the fight between Eustass Kid and Trafalgar Law against Big Mom. No pressure for Thurlow’s first chapter as a director, huh.
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