If you’re a fan of One Piece, whether you read it religiously on a regular basis in the Shonen Jump manga, follow Toei Animation’s anime, or have recently been hooked on the Netflix live action series, you’ll know that it is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary. And in such a long-running series, fans around the world have recognised young director Megumi Ishitani as one of the key drivers of the anime’s renewed success.
Ishitani has only directed 3 of the series’ 1,100+ anime episodes, but her contributions in the Wano Island Arc have been enough to earn the respect and adoration of all fans, showcasing a new, much more agile and fresh animation style for the series that follows Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat crew on their way to becoming the King of Pirates by finding the world’s most famous treasure, the One Piece.
Now Toei has announced that Megumi Ishitani, whose last job was the final episode of Dragon Ball Super, will return to One Piece to direct a new original episode to cap off the 25th anniversary celebrations. It is not yet known if this will be an anime-only OVA-style episode, or if it will continue the ongoing Egghead Island Arc.
Megumi Ishitani’s involvement is just one of the announcements to celebrate One Piece’s 25th anniversary, and a new movie is also scheduled to be announced, presumably sometime next week.