Once again, I will be talking to you guys about One Piece. With this year being the 25th anniversary and One Piece going on a break (the anime) until next year, there have been many special and exclusive things coming out for the series.
Fan Letter, a special episode has come out onto Crunchyroll recently. I don’t ever say something like this lightly- the animation was breathtakingly beautiful.
How the sequence of events were told, by suddenly going from present time to three years ago during the Paramount War was really well done. You never got lost and could tell where we were in the timeline of events. One of the biggest things that awed me in this one shot, was seeing the point of view from the Marines during the Paramount War. It was terrifying. They were all just bystanders in this war among people who have these awesome powers, they weren’t even taken into consideration by people from their own side. Many of them were casualties due to friendly fire, they were hurt and trapped because of the actions by the higher ups. One of the main characters in this one shot, the older brother Marine, we see key moments of the war from his perspective. His moments where he talks about not liking his younger brother, but admiring Luffy going to rescue his older brother despite the world being against him. He is also thankful to Luffy because without him showing up and fighting in the war, his younger brother would have died. Despite being a Marine, he is a fan of Luffy and wants him to be doing okay.
The other main perspective we get is, the Marines neighbor, a young girl of 15 who admires Nami from the Straw Hat crew (she is the main focus in this episode). She looks up to Nami because in a world full of people with powers, she is someone who can be strong without having a special ability/power. She also dresses like Nami from the beginning of the series, it’s very sweet. After the war and when the Straw Hats disappeared, she cracked Luffy’s secret message to the rest of the crew. And is off on her very own adventure to meet the crew, specifically Nami, at the grove where their ship is hidden. Her goal throughout the episode is to give a letter she wrote to Nami, and be of help in any way she can.
The animators captured that one moment during the war that you have hope that Luffy saves Ace and they are making it out of there. It’s so beautiful but also heart wrenching to see all over again from another’s perspective. It brings all the hope back to my heart and takes it right away all over again. I have rewatched this episode of Fan Letter a few times and I still have to pause it on this part because I need a moment. But, again it is so beautifully done, you can’t help but keep watching it over and over again. Not just for that moment of hope for Luffy and Ace, but the entire episode itself. All of it is just so beautifully done.
There are two other characters in the episode who are also fans of people from the Straw Hat crew, a bookstore clerk, who is a huge fan of Brook (A.K.A. Soul King), and an admiral who adores Chopper (he always gets all the fans). There are only slight mentions of a fan for Zoro, none for Sanji (I’m the only one I guess), Robin, Frankie, and Usopp are also left out of having any fans. For the four main ones I mentioned above, they are all on their way to see the Straw Hats before they depart on their journey to the new world!
I’ve seen this episode about three times now, and have loved every moment because there is always something you missed last time. Lots of little hints are shown, especially at the end credit scenes. But the main take away from this is that every fan of the Straw Hats, and One Piece, each have One Piece of the puzzle for the story. Because they are part of why the series and characters are loved and what they are today.
So, if you’ve caught up to One Piece (one of a lucky few) or are past the start of the arc where the crew heads to the new world. Please go watch this episode right away, you will love it and it won’t spoil anything for you.
One Piece Fan Letter is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Are you going to see the episode? Have you already? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Twitter/X at @TheConCollectve, Threads at @theconventioncollective, or Bluesky at @theconcollective.bsky.social
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