The anime adaptation of the Whole Cake Island arc is around the corner!

The latest edition of Newtype magazine has confirmed that the One Piece anime will enter the Whole Cake Island arc on April 9, 2017. Furthermore, Sanji’s Japanese voice actor Hiroaki Hirata tweeted about his character’s return to the anime in the 783rd episode. The anime already covered the arc’s first and most of the second chapter following the Zou finale.

Unlike the events of the manga, in the anime the Straw Hat Pirates made an additional stop before entering Big Mom’s territory. The recently announced ‘Navy Rookies’ filler arc will start on March 19 and conclude with on April 2. Whether this arc will bring a new opening theme with it or not is yet to be seen. Please keep checking back to The One Piece Podcast throughout the coming weeks, and we will provide an update as soon as we receive one.

Our editorial writer Chao has translated the episode titles and staff info for the upcoming anime episodes, which are as follows:

March 12: Anime will be on a hiatus due to Nagoya Women’s Marathon 2017.

March 19:

One Piece episode 780: 「空腹戦線 ルフィと海軍超新星！」

“A Hungry Front! Luffy and the Navy Rookies!”

Screenplay: 「上坂浩彦」 Hirohiko Uesaka

Episode director: 「伊藤聡伺」 Satoshi Itō

Storyboard: 「伊藤聡伺」 Satoshi Itō

Animation director: 「横山健次」 Kenji Yokoyama

March 26:

One Piece episode 781: 「執念の３人 麦わら一味大追撃戦！」

“The Persistent Trio – The Great Pursuit for the Straw Hats!”

Screenplay: 「中山智博」 Tomohiro Nakayama

Episode director: 「上田芳裕」 Yoshihiro Ueda

Storyboard: 「上田芳裕」 Yoshihiro Ueda

Animation director: 「松田翠」 Midori Matsuda

April 2:

One Piece episode 782: 「悪魔の拳 決戦！ルフィVSグラント」

“Fist of the Devil – Showdown! Luffy VS Grant”

Screenplay: 「田中仁」 Hitoshi Tanaka

Episode director: 「伊藤聡伺」 Satoshi Itō

Storyboard: 「伊藤聡伺」 Satoshi Itō, 「えんどうてつや」 Tetsuya Endō

Animation director: 「多嘉良敢」 Isamu Takara

April 9: (Whole Cake Island arc’s first episode)

One Piece episode 783: 「サンジ 帰郷 ビッグ・マムの海域へ！」

“Sanji Returns Home – To Big Mom’s Territory!”

Summary: “While the Straw Hats are struggling with their food rations, Sanji is with Baron Tamago on Big Mom’s ship. At the sight of looking at a photograph of his soon-to-be fiancée – Charlotte Pudding, Sanji falls madly in love with this great beauty.”

You can support One Piece by supporting its official releases. The official simulcasts for the weekly anime episodes are available on Crunchyroll and Funimation. The anime fans can purchase Funimation’s Collection Treasure Chests, containing episodes 1-299.

The 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th One Piece collection sets come with episodes from 300 to 468. Furthermore, the remaining dubbed episodes up to episode 516 are available on voyage sets with both the English and Japanese audio tracks.

The manga fans can buy VIZ’s One Piece Box Set: East Blue and Baroque Works (volumes 1-23), One Piece Box Set 2: Skypiea and Water Seven (volumes 24-46), and One Piece Box Set 3: Thriller Bark to New World (volumes 47-70).

You can also listen to new episodes of The One Piece Podcast right here every Monday, where we review and recap the latest One Piece episodes!

SOURCE: Newtype magazine