It’s not every day that two of Japan’s biggest media franchises come together. But in a historic first,PokémonandOne Piecehave officially crossed over via an official artwork.Weekly Shōnen Jumphas revealed an original illustration that brings together two of their most iconic characters, showing that even legendary rivals can share the spotlight and that pirates can be Pokémon trainers too.
One Piece’s creator,Eiichiro Oda, showcased official artworkMonkey D. LuffyandPikachu,where both share an electric stance. While it is very unlikely that the world ofOne Piecewill joinPokémon, it does open up a great “what if” scenario where Luffy travels to the Grand Line with a team of pirates and Pokémon by his side. Oda isn’t the only artist who has made official crossover art based on their work. Comicbook.com reported that other artists, likeBlue Box‘s Kouji MiuraandMe and Roboco’sShuhei Miyazaki,will be releasing official illustrations featuring their characters andPokémoninWeekly Shōnen Jump’sAugust 4 issue.
Did ‘Pokémon’ and ‘One Piece’ Crossover with Other Media?
While there are no plans to produce an official anime or spin-off OVA featuringPokémonandOne Piece,Monkey D. Luffy isn’t the only Japanese character to have official artwork based onPokémon. Virtual artistHatsune Mikuparticipated in an official collaboration with The Pokémon Company, titled"Project Voltage,“where various artists created 18 unique pieces based on the singer based on all 18 Pokémon types. Additionally, 18 songs were also released as part of this project.
Meanwhile,One Piecewould have crossover episodes with other franchises that would be featured in the anime; one of them includesDragon Ball Z. Episode 590, titled “History’s Strongest Collaboration vs. Glutton of the Sea,” was aTorikox One Piece x Dragon Ball Zcollaboration special released in 2013, but was later re-released in English in 2023. In this special, characters from the three franchises enter the IGO tournament to win the Carat meat, but it leads to a tie between Goku, Toriko, and Luffy. The first part of this special is found in Episode 99 of the Toriko anime, and unfortunately, this episode never had a home video release.
One Pieceis available to stream on Crunchyroll, whilePokémonis available to stream on Netflix and YouTube. Follow Collider to keep up to date with the latest updates.
Monkey D. Luffy sets off on an adventure with his pirate crew in hopes of finding the greatest treasure ever, known as the “One Piece.”
Source:Comicbook.com
