The official One Piece website has released a special interview with one of the One Piece anime series’ directors: Takashi Ôtsuka. After working on the One Piece anime for several years, Ôtsuka was given the reins to the production of the new One Piece opening released at the beginning of the Dressrosa Arc. What follows is a compilation of certain answers given by Ôtsuka himself in the interview as well a report on some of the other answers he gave.
Ôtsuka starts off the interview by answering what exactly it is he did for the opening. He said the production of the opening can be summarized in one sentence: get the kids all fired up. He was in charge of coming up with the images that would be used during the opening, drawing up a storyboard and then creating the actual images with other staff members.
Because of the immense popularity of the One Piece anime, Otsuka said he felt really honored, but at the same time he was also very nervous when his superiors Hiroaki Miyamoto, director, Hiroyuki Sakurada, producer and Shigefumi Shingaki, animation director.* The opening was used to commemorate the 15th year of the anime.
Q: With the opening commemorating the 15th year of the anime and entering the Dressrosa arc, I take it you first listened to the song? So could you tell us what you thought of the song and what kind of image you had in mind when you first listened to it?
A: Because I was asked to work on the next opening before the new song was done I asked them in the beginning to “Please choose something that’s very One Piece as in being full of energy and shining.” which the Director and producer were already planning on doing, it seems. After that, I listened to the song and thought, “Oh, good, it’s cool and full of energy!” The sudden hook’s vigor also turned out well.
Q: And at the time, was there anything you thought you wanted to try out?
teach vs luffy kopie
A: Before the song was completely finished I said to everyone that I wanted to add some dialogue in the middle of the song and, if that were possible, whether they could include an interlude (or) a pause in the song to add that. Thankfully, the director and everybody else approved of that idea, so I was able to make that happen.
Q: While making the opening, e.g. during the process of drawing up the image storyboard etc. was there any part that was specifically difficult to do, or was there a point where you had to be really careful? Or was there perhaps anything that was particularly funny you could share with us?
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A: During this project we got a request to have the Straw Hat crew appear on screen once wearing an outfit they wanted us to make for the 15th Anniversary Commemoration. So I asked the animation director Yukiko Nakatani to make that commemorative outfit, and she drew up a great design that just expressed the world view of One Piece and pirates so wonderfully, so I thought that we should make it appear more often! Now, in order to see in an instant “This is it” when looking at the color scheme, we only configured the colors to each character’s color palette. Since the color stands out in an instant, I came up with that concept and brought it to our color designer Teppei Horita to have him do it.
With the “15th Year Anniversary” being the theme this time, I wanted to make something worthy of being called a “Commemorative Opening,” but without straying from that “One Piece”-ness. However, I felt (that I was in) a bit in a pickle seeing as after 16 openings that “One Piece”-ness must’ve been completely depleted.
To which I drew the battle against Akainu and Blackbeard after thinking to myself “This opening just has to have battles in it!” But in the end, those are just images resting on the 15th year anniversary clothes. And it’s exactly because they’re wearing the 15th year anniversary clothing that I got the green light from Director Miyamoto and was able to actually make this, in other words, it was a special situation. I just hope that the kids looking at the fights between Luffy and the others got them all fired up!
Looking back on the opening, Ôtsuka said that he really liked the way the dialogue between Luffy and Blackbeard worked out, and reaffirmed his appreciation towards his fellow animators for all the work they put in the opening to make it look as good as it does. Furthermore, he said that the opening’s cheery, energetic nature makes it really fitting for a Sunday morning anime show.
Q: Besides that, is there anything you’d definitely like the One Piece fans to know? Any thoughts or perhaps anecdotes or messages that might make the fans like this opening even more?
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A: When “One Piece” started broadcasting I wanted the viewers to get all excited from watching it, and this time I was aiming to make an opening that would make people who TiVo the episodes not fast-forward past it because they’d feel they’d be disappointed if they’d missed it, or in other words, make an opening they wouldn’t get tired of no matter the number of times they’d seen it and actually want to watch it over and over again. Everyone involved in the production of this opening really showed me how motivated they were and kept working really hard on it until the very end to create something wonderful, even though time was limited. I’d be glad if the staff’s spirit came through to the viewers at home.
*Mr. Shingaki will be interviewed as part of “The One Piece Podcast Goes to Japan” set to release at Anime Boston on March 21st at 4:00PM in Panels 302/304, and online soon thereafter.
Bei Rebecca gibt es wichtigeres 
Bartolomeo haben sich auch super umgesetzt bin auf dem Rest von ihm gespannt.
