One Piece anime set to debut a brand new ending

According to the popular Twitter account @oecuf0, which shares reliable leaks and spoilers about the most famed anime series, there's some big news concerning One Piece. After 17 years, the animated adaptation of Eiichiro Oda's masterwork is finally going to receive a new ending theme.

Complete details about the new ending will be revealed tomorrow, July 22, 2023, during ONE PIECE DAY, a major annual event. Held at the convention center Tokyo Big Sight, the event is also set to be broadcast live worldwide.

The report of a new ending has surprised One Piece fans, who can't wait to see the songs and visual sequences that will accompany them into the conclusive part of the Wano Arc.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the One Piece manga for anime-only viewers.

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After 17 years, the One Piece anime will feature ending themes again

Initially, Toei Animation's adaptation of One Piece featured an opening theme and an ending theme for each episode. With the combination of music and visuals, some themes, such as We Are! and Memories, became truly iconic as they started symbolizing the start of the Straw Hat Pirates' adventure.

Both openings and endings used to last about a minute and a half. At one point, the show started featuring two-and-a-half minute-long opening themes while the ending themes were removed. The last ending shown in the One Piece anime was Adventure World, which aired in 2006 with episodes 264 to 278.

After so many years and several hundred episodes, the series will feature an ending theme once again. While an exciting development, however, this may cause the actual number of story events recounted in each episode to be slightly reduced.

The duration of each episode will not change, regardless of whether an ending theme is featured or not. Every installment of the anime is set to last for 30 minutes, including 22–23 minutes for the episode and the remaining time for the commercial breaks.

This timeframe can't change because of the broadcasting channel Fuji TV's schedule. Conversely, the episode's content may shift. With the return of the ending themes, the time for the actual plot will necessarily decrease, although it will be just a very slight reduction, which should not impact in any meaningful way.

Thus, fans can rest assured that the storytelling won't slow down too much. It's even possible that to make room for the ending theme, the pace will even speed up. Toei Animation, which was making significant use of anime-original filler scenes, could decide to cut them and strictly adhere to the manga.

Lastly, there's the remote possibility that the rumored ending won't be permanently established in the series but will only consist of a one-time thing that will only complement a single episode to celebrate a particular moment.

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The One Piece anime will be on fire in the upcoming weeks

Just as with the upcoming new opening theme, an exact date or episode number for the debut of the new ending has not yet been revealed. However, given the One Piece anime schedule, the new themes should be released around episodes 1071 and 1072, which should air in the first half of August 2023.

The episodes will mark an especially relevant moment for the series, as the main character Monkey D. Luffy's new Gear 5 form, which appeared for the first time in chapter 1044 of the One Piece manga, will finally debut in the anime. Finally awakening the real nature of his Devil Fruit as a Mythical Zoan, Luffy will unleash the item's true powers, obtaining the so-called Gear 5 form.

With this transformation, Luffy becomes an incarnation of Nika, the Sun God. Hailed as the "Warrior of Liberation", this legendary figure used to bring joy to those around him. Fans can't wait to see how Luffy's new abilities, which allow him to fight freely, literally following his imagination, will look in the anime adaptation.