In episode 1062 of the anime One Piece, Toei’s animators cleverly hid a secret message about food in a series of comic references. This episode showcases a fierce battle between Zoro and King the Conflagration, and in the midst of the scene, One Piece characters launch red energy lines shooting into the sky, revealing a funny Easter Egg containing a short message in Arabic. One Twitter user translated the message to “I like pasta” or “I like macaroni,” which appeared in one animation frame at 18:48 minutes into the episode.
Easter eggs in One Piece anime are famous among fans, such as the most notable “Pandaman,” a joke character who often appears in scenes with large groups. While his head is always visible, his body keeps changing, making it challenging for viewers to spot him. Another example is the crude drawing of “Franky” Luffy, appearing during the Straw Hats’ journey to find the perfect shipwright. This drawing becomes an Easter Egg when viewers realize that despite its terrible design, it resembles Franky a lot, although Luffy never met him before.
Even Eiichiro Oda, One Piece’s creator, has appeared in the series but usually only as a name on bookshelves. Meanwhile, Netflix is currently producing its first live-action series of One Piece, featuring Inaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Gibson as Usopp, Taz Skylar as Sanji, and McKinley Belcher III as Arlong.
During May, Netflix has released several new promotional materials for the upcoming live-action series, including posters featuring Going Merry, Luffy’s ship, and the hand-drawn iconic Straw Hat pirate flag. However, the series has faced some problems during test screenings. While the feedback from viewers during the test screenings was only a small sample, they criticized the unattractive use of CGI and the plot development that doesn’t make sense to fans who are unfamiliar with the series.
Eiichiro Oda revealed that the team initially had difficulty finding the “same wavelength,” but his message also stated that they had successfully overcome the problem and are now working “in sync.” Although Netflix has set the release date of One Piece for the year 2023, Eiichiro Oda confirmed that the series would not debut until he is “satisfied” with the final result.
The One Piece manga is available in English through VIZ, while the anime can be watched on Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Netflix. Stay tuned for updates on the upcoming live-action series and more Easter eggs in the latest One Piece episodes.
