The animation of One Piece has significantly grown since the time skip. Earlier, the series was mostly known for its characters and storyline, but for the past few years, the series has worked extensively on its animation, which has resulted in the anime series producing some great moments for One Piece fans.
The prime example of this is the Zoro vs. King fight during the Wano arc. The fight was animated by Katsumi Ishizuka, one of the biggest animators in the anime industry. Ishizuka has worked on a bunch of anime series, but he is most known for animating major One Piece fights like Zoro vs. King, Law vs. Blackbeard, Luffy vs. Crocodile, Luffy vs. Lucci (first), and many more.
However, the animator has hinted at another upcoming major fight in the One Piece anime. The fight is between Monkey D. Garp and Aokiji Kuzan, the tenth captain of the Blackbeard Pirates fleet. As soon as fans got to know that Ishizuka would be the one animating the anticipated fight, they instantly shared their excitement and are waiting for the episode to get a release date.
Katsumi Ishizuka will be Animating Monkey D. Garp vs. Aokiji Kuzan.
An image depicting Marine Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp and Marine Captain Koby was posted on X(Formerly Twitter) by One Piece animator Ishizuka.
— Ishi (@Ishi_01) April 24, 2024
The artwork portrays Koby as wounded and angry and Garp as mysterious, with his back covered with snow from Kuzan’s attacks, facing away from the viewers, suggesting a fierce battle between Garp and the Blackbeard Pirates.
However, the anticipated confrontation is still a few months away from being adapted into an anime. The battle was depicted in manga chapter 1088, and the anime series is now adapting chapters 1070–1071, which conclude Luffy’s battle with Lucci and show Kizaru traveling in the direction of Egghead Island.
It’s not the first time Ishizuka has teased fans with illustrations of the upcoming clash. He has already posted several drawings of Koby and Garp. However, this panel is special because it shows both of them mid-battle.
Fans are Eagerly Waiting for the Fight to Get Animated
As soon as Ishizuka shared the illustration, fans filled the entire comment section of Reddit and X with their excitement for the fight. Ishizuka’s contribution is widely recognized by One Piece fans, and they already know that he is going to do justice to the battle.
Fans pointed out how Ishizuka has built a great reputation by animating such brilliant fights and making them exactly as fans wanted them to be.
Others talked about how great the moment will be when the fight finally hits their screens and makes their wait worthwhile.
Comment
byu/GreenStrawhat32 from discussion
inOnePiece
@Gilfdon
koby and garp in a couple of episodes pic.twitter.com/JUteUbyWEd— zuki (@_zuki9) April 24, 2024
Comment
byu/GreenStrawhat32 from discussion
inOnePiece
At this rate we’ll die of peakness
— That which soaks into the soul (@sagehierophant) April 24, 2024
The legend 🥹 pic.twitter.com/g9fhjGynUf
— 1 (@ii6623) April 24, 2024
Although One Piece manga fans know what the outcome of the fight will be, they still are eagerly waiting for it to get animated, and Ishizuka being in charge of the battle with the new animation style which was introduced with the Egghead Island arc makes it even more interesting.
You can watch One Piece on Crunchyroll.
