One Piece Hindi Dub had Indian fans losing their minds

On Friday, April 19, 2024, Cartoon Network India made an official announcement about producing and broadcasting a One Piece Hindi dub in addition to languages in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. The commercial announcing the broadcast claims the dub’s airing will start on Sunday, May 5, 2024, at 1 p.m. India Standard Time and will continue airing in this time slot every Sunday onwards.

The One Piece Hindi dub's trailer also confirmed that the story will kick off from the Land of Wano arc rather than any earlier point in the series, such as from the beginning or the start of the New World saga. Additionally, fans’ excitement is being somewhat cautioned by this choice, with many concerned that the dub will flop, considering how late into the overall series it’s starting.

That being said, fans are largely excited for and optimistic about the One Piece Hindi dub’s success, even with this confusing choice of starting point considered. The aforementioned caution is merely fans preparing for the worst but hoping that the series finds success and continues indefinitely beyond the Wano arc.

One Piece Hindi dub premiering on Luffy’s birthday already earns praise from fans

The One Piece Hindi dub trailer also has fans excited for its bold claims about the series in this initial trailer, calling the television anime adaptation of creator Eiichiro Oda’s original manga “the greatest anime of all time.” Many fans agree with this claim and have likewise been further endeared to the Hindi dub’s premiere as a result.

However, fans are nevertheless questioning the One Piece Hindi dub's choice to start from the Wano arc, mainly due to the concern that the series is flopping simply by starting too late. While certainly difficult to justify starting from the beginning of the series overall, many are pointing to the post-time-skip point as a viable compromise in terms of an acceptable starting point.

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That being said, Cartoon Network India likely has focus group and market research data to emphasize why starting with the Wano arc is the right play for the dub. Although fans’ concerns are nevertheless valid, the choice is likely one that at least makes sense from a business standpoint for Cartoon Network India and the dub’s production.

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Many fans are also pointing out that the series previously aired in India in the 2000s but was canceled because of a flop, helping to explain fans’ concern with the choice to start with Wano.

This could also be influencing Cartoon Network India’s decision to start from Wano, viewing earlier starting points as not viable given the franchise’s Indian broadcast history. However, this is all speculative as of this article’s writing.

Eiichiro Oda’s original manga series first premiered in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump manga publication magazine in July 1997, where it is still ongoing and regularly serialized today. However, the series is in its Final Saga according to recent comments from Oda himself. The television anime adaptation of the original manga first began in October 1999 and is still ongoing today, with Toei Animation animating the series.