One Piece

One Piece is a Japanese anime series based on the manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. Toei Animation produced the series and it premiered in Japan on Fuji Television on October 20, 1999. Since then, the still ongoing series has aired more than 1000 episodes and has been exported to various countries around the world. In 2004, 4Kids Entertainment acquired the license for distribution of One Piece in North America and created an English dub. This dub was heavily edited for content, as well as length; reducing the first 143 episodes into 104.

The series premiered in the United States on September 18, 2004 on the Fox network as part of the Fox Box block. 4Kids released a statement in December 2006 confirming that it cancelled the project. Following the 4Kids dub in 2007, Funimation Entertainment began production on an English-language release of One Piece, which also included redubbing the episodes that 4Kids previously dubbed.

The 4Kids dubbed episodes premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block on April 23, 2005 and aired through September 22, 2007, with 104 episodes aired. After the conclusion of the 4Kids episodes, the Funimation dubbed episodes began airing on Toonami on September 29, 2007, picking up where the 4Kids dub left off with episode 144 "Caught Log! The King of Salvagers, Masira!". The Funimation dubbed episodes aired until the series was removed from the block following the March 15, 2008 broadcast.

The series aired on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block from May 18, 2013 to March 18, 2017. Then returned to Adult Swim's Toonami on January 22, 2022 skipping ahead to episode 517 of the "Fishman Island" arc. The series is rated TV-PG-DLSV and TV-14-DLV on Adult Swim.

Plot
The series begins with the execution of Gold D. Roger, a man known as the King of the Pirates. Just before his death, Roger announces that his treasure, the One Piece, will be up for the taking, causing the Great Pirate Era to begin. As a result, countless pirates set out to the Grand Line to look for the treasure.

Twenty-two years have passed since Roger's execution, and Monkey D. Luffy, a young pirate inspired by his childhood idol and powerful pirate Red Haired Shanks, has since set off on a journey from the East Blue Ocean to succeed Roger and find the legendary treasure. In an attempt to organize his own crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, he befriends many different crew members, each with unique skills and abilities, that he meets on his journey to find The legendary treasure One Piece.

The Straw Hat Pirate Crew consists of: Monkey D. Luffy, a rubber-man and captain of the Straw Hat Pirates; Roronoa Zoro a swordsman and former bounty hunter; Nami, a navigator and a thief; Usopp, a sniper and a liar; Sanji, a womanizing chef; Tony Tony Chopper, an anthropomorphized reindeer and doctor; Nico Robin, an archaeologist and former member of the Baroque Works; Franky, a shipwright and self-made cyborg; and Brook, a living skeleton and musician.

Throughout the series The Straw Hat Pirates face off with many enemies including the Marines, bounty hunters, and many different pirate crews, including; Buggy The Clown and The Buggy Pirates, Arlong and The Arlong Pirates, Shichibukai Sir Crocodile and Baroque Works, and many more.

Characters
Monkey D. Luffy — The captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and the primary protagonist of the One Piece series. In the beginning of the series, he accidentally eats the Paramecia-type Gum-Gum Fruit, causing his body to gain the properties of highly stretchable rubber. In addition to his Devil Fruit ability, Luffy eventually learns to use Haki. After his life is saved by Shanks when he is seven years old, Luffy decides to achieve the tantamount goals of finding the series' titular treasure and succeed Gold Roger as King of the Pirates. Ten years later, wearing Shanks' straw hat, he sets out to sea to gather a crew and sail the Grand Line, where the One Piece is supposedly hidden.

Roronoa Zoro — A swordsman who uses up to three swords, holding the third in his mouth. To fulfill a promise to his childhood friend and rival, "Kuina", he decides to become the world's greatest swordsman by defeating Dracule Mihawk. Before meeting Luffy, Zoro has become a bounty hunter. Zoro is saved from his executioners by Luffy, who decides to follow his dream. He makes it clear that he would turn on his captain if he ever stepped between him and his dream, although he later says that he can not fulfill his dream if he does not help his captain fulfill his.

Nami — A navigator and thief who recognizes and analyzes even the slightest changes in the weather. She is also an excellent pickpocket. Her dream is to draw a complete map of the world. She briefly betrayed the crew during the Baratie Arc, but rejoined at the end of the Arlong Park Arc after her past and true intentions were revealed. Throughout the series, Nami fights using a three-sectioned bo staff. Usopp later provides her with a version of this weapon capable of controlling weather, called the Climate Baton.

Usopp — A liar, talented inventor, skilled painter, and sculptor. Usopp fills the role of the Straw Hat's Sniper. In combat, Usopp primarily uses slingshots to fire various kinds of ammunition. During Usopp's early childhood, his father, Yasopp, leaves him and his mother to join the Red-Haired Pirates. Some time after this, Usopp's mother, Banchina, falls ill. Usopp starts telling his mother and other villagers lies, stating that his father has returned and will be taking them with him. His mother eventually dies, but Usopp, in his sadness, continues to tell lies. Despite all this, he does not blame his father for leaving him, but takes pride in his heritage. Usopp has an alter-ego named "Sogeking", a hero sniper, wearing a golden mask and cape.

"Black Leg" Sanji — The Straw Hat Pirates' cook. He knows how it feels to starve from first hand experience, so he will never refuse someone a meal. He has a strong sense of chivalry, because of which, he will never harm a woman, even if he dies. Sanji also seems to keep this code regardless of a woman's appearance. His dream is to find the "All Blue", a legendary sea, containing every kind of fish in the world. Sanji only uses kicks while fighting. He said that this is because a chef's hands are his most prized possessions and should not be risked in battle. Sanji begins using a fire-based kick technique known as Diable Jambe, in which he heats his leg by spinning around rapidly to increase his attack power. Eventually, he can fly using CP9's Skywalk technique and can use Diable Jambe without spinning around.

Tony Tony Chopper — A doctor and a blue-nosed reindeer who gained human properties by eating the Zoan-type Human-Human Fruit. He comes from Drum Island, where he studied medicine under Dr. Kureha. Using a self-developed drug he calls Rumble Ball, Chopper can assume more than the three forms provided by his Devil Fruit ability alone. When complimented, Chopper acts really happy while either telling the person who complimented him to stop trying to make him happy, or that he isn't very happy.

Nico Robin — An archaeologist originating from Ohara, home of the world's largest and oldest library; she becomes an archaeologist at the age of eight and learns how to decipher the writings on the ancient stones called Poneglyph, which are scattered around the world. However, the World Government destroys the island for housing archaeologists along with her returning mother, Nico Olvia, researching these stones. As a result, Robin cooperates with various pirates and other outlaws, eventually becoming a member of Baroque Works as its vice president, nicknamed as "Ms. All-Sunday" at the time, being briefly an antagonist to the Straw Hat Pirates before joining them. Like the scholars of Ohara before her, it is her dream to find and decipher the Rio Poneglyph, which is said to tell the world's lost history. Her devotion to history and its preservation goes so far that she will even risk her life to protect ancient artifacts and buildings. Robin ate the Paramecia-type Flower-Flower Fruit, allowing her to create temporary copies of parts of her body on surfaces near her. However, if her replicated parts are hurt, she feels the pain on her actual body.

Franky — Originally named Cutty Flam, he eventually starts calling himself Franky to hide his identity. He gains infamy as "Cyborg" Franky and becomes shipwright of the Straw Hat Pirates. Abandoned by his pirate parents on the Grand Line island Water 7 at the age of ten, Franky becomes an apprentice to the master shipwright Tom along with Iceburg, who later becomes the island's mayor. When Tom is taken away as a criminal by the World Government for building Gold Roger's ship, the Oro Jackson, Franky tries to stop them. In the process, he is severely injured and, to survive, rebuilds parts of his body using pieces of scrap metal, turning himself into a cola-powered cyborg with super-human strength. His dream is to build a ship, become its shipwright, and sail it to the end of the world. To that end, he builds the Thousand Sunny, a brigantine-rigged sloop-of-war, and joins the Straw Hat Pirates.

Brook — Brook is a living skeleton, resurrected by the Paramecia-type Revive-Revive Fruit, which grants the user a second life. He is an excellent musician, who claims to be able to play any instrument, although he is usually seen playing the violin. He is also a skilled fencer, who uses a shikomizue (a Japanese cane sword), in battle. Brook can hypnotize people with his music. His lightweight skeleton body allows him to jump extraordinarily high and to run across water. He has a very childish and energetic personality. When Brook's crew, the "Rumbar Pirates", enters the Grand Line, they leave their pet whale "Laboon" behind at Reverse Mountain, promising to return after sailing around the world. Fifty years later, Brook considers it his duty to fulfill his former crew's promise.

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Gallery
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Broadcast History
In Japan, One Piece began airing on Fuji Television on October 20, 1999. In the United States, the 4Kids dubbed version of the series aired on Fox's Fox Box programming block from September 18, 2004 to 2005. One Piece then aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami block from April 23, 2005 to March 22, 2008. During this time, the series also aired weekday afternoons at 4:00 PM on Cartoon Network's Miguzi block from January 2, 2006 to March 31, 2006. In addition, the series also aired weekday nights (Monday-Thursday) at 10:00 PM on Cartoon Network from February 2006 to June 8, 2006. After several years off of American television, the series returned to Adult Swim's Toonami block from May 18, 2013 to March 10, 2017. After another 5 year hiatus, the series returned to Adult Swim's Toonami programming block on January 22, 2022.

Outside of the United States, the 4Kids episodes appeared on Toonami UK in the United Kingdom and Cartoon Network in Australia, Latin America and India.


 * Japan (Fuji Television) — October 20, 1999 - Present
 * United States (Fox) — September 18, 2004 - November 12, 2005
 * United States (Cartoon Network) — April 23, 2005 - March 15, 2008
 * United States (Adult Swim) — May 18, 2013 - March 18, 2017; January 22, 2022 - Present
 * Canada (YTV) — July 8, 2005 - December 8, 2006
 * United Kingdom (Toonami) — 2005 - 2006
 * Australia (Cartoon Network) — 2005 - 2009
 * Latin America (Cartoon Network) — 2006 - 2008
 * India (Cartoon Network) — 2006 - 2007

Toonami Broadcast History
In the United States, the 4Kids dubbed episodes of One Piece premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block on April 23, 2005 with back-to-back episodes at 10:00 PM and 10:30 PM, replacing Dragon Ball GT in the lineup. It retained these time slots through September 3, 2005, and after being pre-empted for a week by the premiere of Naruto, it moved into the 9:30 PM slot, down to one airing a week to make room for an extra airing of Justice League Unlimited.

Starting on February 11, 2006, premiere episodes of the 4Kids English dub began airing on Toonami, overtaking its run from FOX. Following the removal of IGPX from the lineup, One Piece returned to a double airing on July 8, 2006, airing at 9:30 PM and 10:00 PM. On August 12, 2006, Teen Titans returned to Toonami, reducing One Piece down to a single airing at 10:30 PM. The series was removed from the lineup following the December 16, 2006 broadcast and was subsequently replaced by the television premiere of MÄR.

One Piece returned to the lineup on February 3, 2007, replacing Zatch Bell! at 9:30 PM through May 26, 2007. The entire Toonami block was pre-empted on June 2, 2007 by the Pokémon Master Marathon, and One Piece moved to the 10:30 PM time slot on June 9, 2007. When Dragon Ball Z moved to 10:30 PM on August 25, 2007, One Piece moved to 10:00 PM. During this time, after the 104 4Kids dubbed episodes were aired, the Funimation dubbed episodes began airing on Toonami on September 29, 2007 and continued airing in the 10:00 PM time slot through March 15, 2008. The series was subsequently replaced in the lineup by Bakugan Battle Brawlers.

During Momocon 2013, the Toonami staff announced that they had re-acquired the rights to the series and that One Piece would be added to Adult Swim's Toonami lineup in April 2013 beginning with episode 207 of the “Long Ring Long Land” arc (or "Davy Back Fight" arc as it's also known), due to the fact that a lot of the episodes preceding 207 were already shown on Toonami, and because every episode after 207 is in HD. . After several years off of American television, the series returned to Toonami, now airing on Adult Swim, on May 18, 2013 at 1:00 AM, replacing Tenchi Muyo! GXP in the lineup. One Piece remained at 1:00 AM until Attack on Titan premiered on May 3, 2014, pushing One Piece into the 1:30 AM time slot. On October 4, 2014, the series returned to the 1:00 AM time slot.

The series returned to the 1:30 AM time slot on January 3, 2015 but resumed airing at 1:00 AM on January 24th, as the block was shortened by half an hour. The lineup was reshuffled on February 7, 2015, due to the block being shortened further, moving One Piece to 2:30 AM through May 21, 2016. The series was pre-empted on May 28th by a Samurai Champloo marathon, and the following week (June 4th) the entire block started airing half an hour earlier, moving One Piece to 2:00 AM. The series returned to the 2:30 AM time slot on October 1, 2016.

On March 10, 2017, during a Toonami: Pre-Flight episode, it was announced that One Piece would be leaving Adult Swim's Toonami on March 18, 2017. It was subsequently replaced in the lineup by Tokyo Ghoul starting on March 25, 2017. Jason DeMarco stated that it was not the crew of Toonami's choice to remove the series but that what ultimately led its removal were "many complicated legal and financial reasons, beyond the simple basic fact that it just never did well enough in the ratings for our programming department to be really happy with it."

The series returned to Adult Swim's Toonami programming block on January 22, 2022 at 1:30 AM with back-to-back episodes, beginning with episode 517. Two weeks later, on February 5, 2022 when Shenmue the Animation premiered, One Piece moved to 2:00 AM and 2:30 AM. On May 7, 2022, the series moved to 1:00 AM and 1:30 AM for one week only due to shuffling following the completion of Shenmue and Attack on Titan's seasons. The following week, May 14th, it settled into the 1:30 AM and 2:00 AM time slots following the regular addition of Primal to the lineup. On June 18, 2022, One Piece moved to the 1:00 AM and 1:30 AM time slots as part of another re-shuffling of the lineup after Assassination Classroom completed its run and was removed from the lineup.

Following the October 22, 2022 broadcast, the series lost one of its airings, due in part to Toonami losing the 3:00AM hour, and subsequently began airing once-a-week at 1:30 AM on November 5th. The series regained the 1:00 AM airing and returned to airing twice-a-week from 1:00-2:00 AM on March 4, 2023. Also, episode 590, which crosses over with Dragon Ball Z and Toriko made its Toonami premiere at 1:00 AM, after it was initially skipped back in October of 2022. Two weeks later, when Food Wars: The Fifth Plate premiered, One Piece returned to airing only once a week at 1:30 AM.

Outside of the United States, the 4Kids episodes appeared on Toonami UK in the United Kingdom and the Toonami block in Australia.


 * Toonami (United States) — April 23, 2005 - December 16, 2006; February 3, 2007 - March 15, 2008 ; May 18, 2013 - March 18, 2017 ; January 22, 2022 - Present
 * Toonami (United Kingdom) — 2005 - 2006
 * Toonami (Australia) — 2005 - 2006

Toonami Marathons
One Piece only had one marathon appearance during its run on Toonami, the One Piece Marathon on December 26, 2015.