In the most recent One Piece SBS (Shitsumon o Boshū Suru or "I'm Taking Questions") column, series creator Eiichiro Oda finally revealed the official names of several members of the Red-Haired Pirates, and they are predictably comedic.A picture of the column was posted to Twitter by user @newworldartur. Like everything else in Oda's iconic pirate series, the names are wacky, ranging from Limejuice to Howling Gab. Reaction to the names, especially Bonk Punch, have been positive, and speculation about what the names imply about each character and their fighting styles has already begun.
Oda's ongoing manga series was first published in Shueisha's Weekly ShÅnen Jump on July 22, 1997, and has produced 101 volumes worth of content so far. Toei Animation's anime adaptation premiered on Oct. 20, 1999, and has continued for more than 20 years, with the series's landmark 1,000th episode airing earlier this year on Nov. 20. One Piece follows Monkey D. Luffy, a young pirate with a rubber body and a dream to become the next King of the Pirates, as he and his wacky crew adventure across the Grand Line in search of the titular treasure.
The franchise has experienced profound success, becoming a cornerstone of the anime/manga industry and a Japanese pop culture icon. In addition to inspiring a plethora of video games, light novels and clothing collaborations, One Piece has sold more than 490 million copies of the manga globally and is on track to outsell both the Harry Potter book and Batman comics.
Oda's reveal of the official names of the Red-Haired Pirates isn't the only recent development that has One Piece fans excited and delighted. The first teaser trailer of the upcoming movie, One Piece Film: Red, is now available online. The new movie will focus on the captain of Red-Haired Pirates and Luffy's inspiration, Shanks, alongside a brand new female character. Netflix also recently confirmed the cast members for its live-action adaptation of One Piece, which includes Iñaki Godoy as Luffy, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp and Taz Skylar as Sanji.
The One Piece anime series is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Funimation. Oda's original manga is available in English from VIZ Media.
Source: Twitter