On January 5, the new official Twitter account for the One Piece manga staff announced the addition of the newest editor for the One Piece manga. Mr. Takuma Naito will be the ninth editor for One Piece since it began its run twenty years ago on July 19, 1997. The editors are some of the few people who know future details of the One Piece story before they are revealed to the general public. Eight of the nine editors of One Piece recently shared their favorite moments with author Eiichiro Oda at Jump Festa 2017 and in the One Piece: 500 Quiz Book 2 back in 2014.

After five years of working with One Piece, Isaka is leaving its editorial service. Naito will be the new manga editor, and Sugita will be the new media editor. In this picture we see Naito “inheriting the will” from Isaka.

Mr. Naito joined Shueisha back in 2013 and has worked on series including Toriko, Isobe and Gintama. Here is his welcome message from the One Piece manga staff’s Twitter account about his excitement around joining as One Piece manga editor for the 20th anniversary:

はじめまして！新しく原作担当になりました、内藤です！これまでは銀魂やトリコ、磯部磯兵衛物語などを担当しておりました。引き継いだばかりで、まだ尾田さんにもお会いしていない状況、これから起こることが楽しみで楽しみで楽しみです！20周年、一緒に盛り上がっていきましょー！〈内藤〉 — ONE PIECE スタッフ【公式】 (@Eiichiro_Staff) January 6, 2017

Nice to meet you! I’m Naito, the new manga editor! Prior to this I’ve worked on Gintama, Toriko and Isobe Isobee Monogatari. I’ve only just taken the position and have not yet met Oda-san, so I’m super super super excited for what comes next! Let’s make the 20th anniversary year a memorable one! <Naito>

Takuma Naito replaces Suguru Sugita, who was the One Piece manga editor for over two and a half years. Just last month, Mr. Sugita revealed the timeline — and later confirmed by author Eiichiro Oda — for the upcoming year in the One Piece manga. Suguru Sugita will become the new One Piece media editor. You can also read Mr. Sugita’s statement:

はい！ということで、新年から担当変更のご報告でした！笑

僕は三年弱、原作担当でしたが、これからはメディア担当として井坂に替わって内藤と2人で20周年の舞台裏をお届けして参りますので、皆様何卒よろしくお願いします〜！杉田 — ONE PIECE スタッフ【公式】 (@Eiichiro_Staff) January 6, 2017

There you go! Our first announcement of the year is a new editor! I worked as the manga editor for just under three years, and now I’ll be replacing Isaka as media editor to work with Naito on all the behind the scenes stuff for the 20th anniversary year. Hope you all stick with us! <Sugita>

You can read more information about the outgoing editor of One Piece in our article about his appearance on Tanken Bakumon, and in the second One Piece: 500 Quiz Book. The One Piece Podcast also conducted an exclusive interview with the seventh One Piece editor and outgoing One Piece media editor Takeru Isaka for The One Piece Podcast Goes to Japan, available for free online. You can see the trailer for the film below:

This change in editors at Shueisha marks the end of a five year career for Takeru Isaka with Eiichiro Oda as part of the One Piece manga staff. Mr. Isaka’s statement is available below:

入社以来、原作メディア通年で5年ほど担当させていただきました。さみしいですが、これからのONE PIECEはめちゃめちゃ面白くしかならないので(尾田さん談)、読者としても楽しもうと思います！20周年は水面下でいろいろ動いていた色々な発表も控えてますので、皆さんお楽しみに！〈井坂〉 — ONE PIECE スタッフ【公式】 (@Eiichiro_Staff) January 6, 2017

I’ve worked on this series both as manga and media editor for five years, since I joined the company. It’s sad to leave it, but One Piece can only get way more entertaining (quoth Oda-san), so I’m excited to enjoy it as a reader now! We have lots of stuff in the works, and many announcements to make for our 20th year, so look forward to it! <Isaka>

SOURCE: Twitter; Sandman on AP

Thanks to our own Stephen Paul for the translation of the editors’ tweets!