On September 28, the official One Piece website released an interview with the One Piece anime production staff in which they discussed the all-new Zou arc. Kappei Yamaguchi (VA of Usopp) conducted the interview, and the staff who joined for the discussion are Toshinori Fukazawa (series director), Ryūji Yoshiike (art director), and Kazuya Hisada (character designer).

Kappei: The One Piece anime entered the Zou arc on July 31. Both the atmosphere and characters changed drastically from those of Dressrosa, so I’m hoping to ask some questions regarding these points with the anime staff today! To start things off, would each of you please introduce yourselves?

Fukazawa: I’m Fukazawa, the series director.

Yoshiike: I’m Yoshiike, and I’m in charge of art direction.

Hisada: I’m Hisada, the character designer for the series.

Kappei: It’s a pleasure to have you all today!

Fukazawa/Yoshiike/Hisada: Thank you for having us!

Kappei: So, let’s cut to the chase. Please tell us your honest thoughts and feelings on entering the Zou arc.

Fukazawa: Cutting right to the chase indeed. (laughs) While One Piece has an overarching plot that encompasses everything into a single story, we have subplots and characters that change with each new location we visit, so it’s a refreshing feeling. And despite being called the Zou arc, it serves as a prologue to the extraordinary story that follows, so I believe it’s an important arc in One Piece.

Kappei: Yeah, this arc is packed with hints, I can only imagine the fans experiencing jolts with each namedrop. How do you feel about this arc, Mr. Yoshiike?

Yoshiike: You can subtly sense the deep foreshadowing that will become pertinent to the overall plot throughout the arc, so I personally feel it to be more of a transition than an arc per se.

Kappei: While this isn’t foreshadowing, I really love the whale tree in the Zou arc. In both the manga and the anime, I’d say the most striking scene upon first arriving at Zou is this scene. Wouldn’t you agree? I’m always left feeling impressed each time I look at it.

Yoshiike: Since we only had line drawings as reference, we had no idea why Oda decided to draw it the way he did. Did he think it was interesting? Did he think it was mysterious? So I asked him, “What is this tree?” At first, I speculated that maybe it’s a fossil and had some ancient and grand backstory, to which he replied with a simple “it’s a tree.” (laughs)

Kappei: If it were a real whale though, you can run your imagination wild thinking about how it arrived on Zou and became a fossil and such. How about you, Mr. Hisada? Is there anything you’re especially particular about when you bring Oda’s drawings to life for animation?

Hisada: I exercise caution in not undermining the original art. Oversimplifying the lines can change an image completely.

Kappei: A character design is like a blueprint that animators use in order to move the character. But I see that the process of drawing one is more complicated than just simplifying the characters. And conveying everything through these character designs must be a lot of hard work.

Hisada: It sure is.

Kappei: We have a lot of characters who are personified animals this time around. Is there any character in particular that you find fun or difficult to draw?

Hisada: Hmm, not personified characters, but women are hard to draw.

Kappei: Oh! I understand completely! I have a hard time when I draw them on the whiteboard too. (laughs) Between Duke Dog Storm and Master Cat Viper, is one easier to draw than the other?

Hisada: Cat Viper is more fun to draw with his abundance of facial expressions.

Kappei: The Zou arc is mostly told through flashbacks, so there aren’t many events in the present to move things forward. Are there any challenges you face in that regard?

Fukazawa: Let’s see. We strive to reveal the events told through the flashbacks as surprisingly and shockingly as possible. Also, the Dog Storm Musketeers don’t fight much in the manga, but we want to display their strength and how cool they really are, so we asked for Oda’s approval to let them fight more when it’s possible.

Kappei: The same could be said for Dog Storm and Cat Viper. Does the staff all come together to discuss the ways they could fight that weren’t depicted in the manga?

Fukazawa: You could say that. But we have to stay within the limits of what is currently known in the story, so we can’t take them too far.

Yoshiike: In our case, knowing about events that will transpire can work in our favor, but also against us at times. An anime is always in the present progressive – you can’t reread it like a manga. If a story is progressed through inversion, the generous thing to do would be to insert a scene that you want the audience to recall, but doing so can feel too deliberate. In that case, we ask ourselves whether we should leave a subtle hint beforehand instead. And so on.

Kappei: So you face the conundrum of whether dropping spoilers like that would be for the best. You also have to think about whether the audience would feel lost if they miss watching an episode, and if you think from a child’s point of view, you sometimes do have to repeat things relentlessly for them to enjoy it. By the way, in a location with a giant landmark like the whale tree, are things easier or harder to draw?

Yoshiike: I wouldn’t say it’s a question of easier or harder, but more about how we show it most effectively. You know how in traveling shows they don’t reveal the landmark until they arrive at the scene and say, “And here we are”? We try to do something similar to that effect. Forgetting about it temporarily is a technique as well.

Kappei: I see. This time around, the city itself is in ruins and the situations brutal, but the characters that appear are quite colorful. Do you come up with several color designs before deciding on a final color palette?

Fukazawa: We have specified colors for important characters, so we have them colored accordingly first. After careful scrutinization on our end, we send them to Oda for approval. At first, Cat Viper was more bland in color, but through discussions we had with Oda, we decided that we wanted to express an element of cuteness, so we made the belly warmer pink.

Kappei: It’s super cute. There’s a hint of cuteness in the palettes of Duke Dog Storm and the Musketeers as well. Mr. Hisada, do you think about colors when you come up with the character designs?

Hisada: I wouldn’t say colors exactly, but I think about the texture of the material – whether something is made from soft cloth or leather, and such. Also, in dark areas, adding highlights are more effective than adding shadow over them, so if I feel that something looks dark, I just add highlights to make the colors pop. I don’t consciously think about colors too much beyond that.

Kappei: Huh! I see. How about Mr. Yoshiike? On the image board, it says “sunset of semi-imaginary Ryunosuke.” What exactly does this mean?

Yoshiike: I had my mind set on portraying that farce of a scene like the sunset of youth, so I didn’t use the color orange anywhere else. Also, after 6 p.m., it becomes the King of Night, Cat Viper’s time. It takes a mere two to three minutes for Dog Storm to retreat and Cat Viper to appear, but the colors in the sky won’t change that much within that time in reality. But for the purpose of making Cat Viper’s hours visually recognizable, we use spooky colors during his hours.

Kappei: Now that I’ve heard that, I feel terrible for not paying it much attention before. I’m so sorry… (laughs)

Fukazawa: Oh no, it’s all right. Please, don’t pay much attention to it. (laughs)

Kappei: Do you have a favorite character in the Zou arc?

Fukazawa: My favorites are Ryunosuke and Bariete.

Yoshiike: Amazing. They’re the succeeders in life. (laughs)

Hisada: If I dare pick it as a character, I’m going to go with Zunesha.

Kappei: Is Zunesha a character!?! Then, have you drawn it as well?

Hisada: Just the basics. I have Mr. Yoshiike draw the top…

Kappei: As we entered the Zou arc, both the eyecatch (ad break) and prologue have changed. What were the viewer reactions like?

Fukazawa: Well, we’ve heard that it’s great to see the wanted posters. I wouldn’t call it a tribute to the old eyecatch, but… Mr. Yoshiike gave us the idea to base the eyecatch on the 500 Million Man Arc (From the Decks of the World: The 500 Million Man Arc), and have the wanted posters reach the respective towns.

Yoshiike: But we didn’t want the composition to be identical to the original, so the intent was to make it look like we’re watching the posters falling from a different angle.

Fukazawa: As for the prologue, our previous one served as a post-New World exposition. The new prologue is made so that new viewers understand what Luffy and his crew are trying to do. I’d even say that there’s almost a bit too much explaining.

Kappei: And lastly, please share with us any upcoming scenes you’d like us keep an eye out for, if any!

Fukazawa: While the story mostly progresses through flashbacks, the Zou arc continues to become even more exciting and interesting once we return to the present, so I hope the viewers will be able to watch the excitement soar.

Kappei: Any words from Mr. Hisada?

Hisada: While we’re indeed busy with the Zou arc, we’ve also began preparations for the next series as well…

Kappei: (laughs) It just shows that the story is moving right along, forever onward. I’m looking forward to it! Thank you very much!

Fukazawa/Yoshiike/Hisada: Thank you very much.

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Be sure to check out the original post on the official website for more photos and visuals from this interview! You can even send a message of encouragement to Kappei Yamaguchi by pressing the 応援メッセージを送る (send a message of encouragement) button at the bottom of the page!

SOURCE: One-Piece.com