On the heels of celebrating its 25th anniversary, the One Piece anime franchise is gearing up for another major expansion into the Western market. Following the launch of the official One Piece Café in Las Vegas, Nevada, Monkey D. Luffy and his friends will soon grace their wanted mugs on the marvelous Vegas Sphere.
Per a press release, Toei Animation continues its partnership with the most populous city in the United States by having the Straw Hat Pirates take over the Las Vegas Sphere for a major live experience this summer. Not only does the Vegas Sphere announcement come right after the successful launch of the first North American One Piece café in Las Vegas, but the upcoming event will also mark the launch of the first official English YouTube channel for the One Piece series. The One Piece takeover of the Las Vegas Sphere will run from June 10-June 16.
One Piece Launches New Official YouTube Channel
"One Piece is now celebrating its 25th anniversary on the heels of last year’s truly explosive global brand awareness due to the overwhelming success of the franchise’s new productions and marketing efforts," Toei Animation President Masayuki Endo said. "We’re excited to commemorate the occasion and bring the world of One Piece to Las Vegas in June. We invite fans to not only join us next month for this very special live entertainment experience but also subscribe to the new One Piece English channel on YouTube."
One Piece Continues to Expand Internationally With Major Global Brand Collaborations
2023 was a momentous year for the One Piece franchise. The highly-anticipated debut of Gear 5 Luffy not only provided the perfect conclusion to the four-year-long "Wano Country" story arc, but fan demand was so strong that it also temporarily crashed the Crunchyroll website when Episode 1071 went live. Even more impressive was the launch of the live-action One Piece TV series on Netflix starring Iñaki Godoy as Luffy, which is now seen as the golden standard of adapting popular anime series into live-action. On top of these impressive achievements, One Piece has collaborated with various popular brands of apparel, shoes, toys and more, as well as made its grand debut at the 97th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
The One Piece anime series is currently available to stream on Netflix and Crunchyroll. The English manga provided by Viz Media is currently releasing the latest chapters of the "Egghead" story arc and will soon head toward a new adventure in late 2024. The live-action One Piece series on Netflix is also continuing production of Season 2, teasing new friends and foes that the Straw Hat Pirates will face on their journey toward the Grand Line.
Source: Press release
