One Piece and The Making Of Its Greatest Opening 

Ishitani has a complete and absolutely perfect understanding of what One Piece is and the heights it should achieve emotionally.

Hands down best and most beautiful opening One Piece has ever constructed. I don’t know if they will ever surpass this. All the foreshadowing to later in the arc and that Vivi shot?! Toei wanted to make a statement with the remake now in production and basically said “Don’t count us out yet”

imagine if Ishitani is made Director in The One Piece Remake, this would be a dream come true

That shot of kizaru nonchalantly falling upside down from the sky with his hands in his pockets will always stand out to me. Ishitani understands one piece on such a deep level it could make me cry.

I wish megumi ishitani knows how much the community appreciate her😭😭

I love One Piece but have to agree that seeing this new OP just reminds me how incredibly hyped I would be to see Megumi Ishitani getting a green light for her own longform directorial project.

The opening is insane you could watch it 100 times over.

What really is outstanding about the new OP is how so many big name animators worked on it even if for a sequence that's just 1 second. And that's not usual for Openings. And I feel that's cause all these big animators just want to work on a Megumi Ishitani Project no matter how small or big it is. That's the kind of power to draw incredible talent Ishitani has. So I wouldn't be surprised when Ishitani makes her full movie or series, it'll be stacked with animators who're there simply to be able to work with Ishitani.

I've only seen 3 episodes directed by Megumi Ishitani and this opening, and Ishitani is already my favorite anime director of all time. What she does isn't copy pasting the original source into animation, but she has a vision to make the events better in the anime and make them flow really well, paired with incredible camera angle and really cool looking shots, she's just incredible. 1015 is by far my favorite singular episode in all of anime, and it has less to do about what's in the episode but how the episode came to be. Phenomenal stuffs and I cannot wait for her next big project, hopefully she's working with Wit Studio crew on creating the new One Piece anime.

Ishitani for One Piece Film Blue, buggy’s ascend to yonko and his delivery business

I don't know why, but i love seeing the childish sentomaru face full of innocence being amazed by the lighting ray at 6:51 , it's just so cute and beautiful ❤

Ishitani has taught me so much about direction and storyboarding with her episodes. I keep going back to her episodes to learn about how to improve on it. I love her brains dude!

My dude the way she grasps our attention with such creative, chaotic, colorful, fun, yet clean and cinematic animation are just fucking insane. Everytime I see her work I don’t even know how else to put it in words, other than “GOD DAMN!!!!!!” Also loved how you mentioned Mori, Hosoda, Matsumoto and other insanely cool animators!

I am SO glad that so many people are recognizing just how AMAZING this intro is. Not only the music but the actual animation is incredible. This intro and song is no less than perfect. If they SOMEHOW get something better, I will be absolutely shocked

Wow I'm so glad someone out there appreciates ishitani more than me enough to make videos and even highlight masami mori, a duo that has had exponential value with both of them working together. They both really deserve this love and care that you bring!!

I hope Ishitani and Mori get to work on their own sort of series but at the same time, Vincent Chansard recently said he’s gonna be working exclusively on One Piece for an entire year, so I feel like maybe not just Chansard, but also possibly Ishitani and Mori are just as ecstatic to keep working on this series. I’m nowhere near caught up with OP at the moment but I do hope you’re right on Ishitani and Mori potentially working on the next One Piece movie because regardless I will be there day 1

8:15 this part of the opening is makes me tear up every time i see it. Seeing all of luffy’s costumes over the years just in a flash. I still remember being so hyped at the power up luffy got after the time skip and everyone is hyping him up saying he has conquerors haki etc etc.

The moment I first laid my eyes on Op 26, the memories of Movie 6 flooded back into my head, that is my favorite One piece movie and I'm so glad you referenced it in this video💙 Edit: The Kagenashi (No shadow) style really needs more recognition, it's definitely is one of the main reasons I have a passion for animation

Thanks for bringing this talented artist into my perspective of anime. Ep 1015 was amazing and now I know why

Imagine if they made a prequel about joyboy's adventure at some point, I want megumi and mori to lead this movie

I've talked with some friends about something that always catches my eyes in one piece ,especially since Wano started , THE COLORS ,idk what it is ,but i feel like Toei is one of the only studios that use such vibrant colors and i feel like this amazing opening is bringing out even more of those bright and fun colors you rarely see in animation nowdays.

You did an incredible job pointing out the amazing individual traces of Ishitani's works and presenting all these surreal artists. Amazing video

Every time you pause it with someone on the screen its a background picture. This is beautiful

Absolutely love this kind of discussion around the artists making the heart and magic a reality!!! Thank you so much!

I love how accurately and completely you're able to convey you're opinions on anime and further back it up. Also, really nice that they tend to be similar opinions to mine.

Favourite part of the new opening is the colouration, pace and timing of the animation with the music. Definitely the best opening of the series! ❤

This was a very insightful, educative, well done video. I loved the new OP opening and watch it every so often to see what new stuff I discover. Will also definitely look into some of the works shown herein. Thanks and kudos!

This opening is truly beautiful and im very thankful for the industry insight youve provided

Ishitani is an absolute genius, and I've enjoyed each episode she's worked on! This Opening has so many references, easter eggs, and flows so well that you can watch it dozens of times and still find something new about it!

What an excellent video, thank you for making it! I really appreciate the passion you have for these creators and their work! Definitely keeping an eye out for more anime/project/creator breakdowns in the future :)

Amazing work as always Phenom! You are definitely making me want to get into One Piece quicker than I first anticipated

Aaaahhh this actually had me tearing up from the amount of genuine love and passion on display, and relit my enthusiasm for animation and art in general!!! Thank you for taking the time to make this video, it was such a treat to listen to :’)

Exellent video and very well explained. Thank you.

it really takes a special eye to be able to go through credits, identify work, and break it down like this. More videos like that that explain the genius of people working their magic around us right now would be appreciated. I could watch 100000 hours of videos exactly like this

Btw I really enjoyed your video years ago, I am so glad to see you make another one about this OP. Thank yu :)

I very like your video because it sounds like love letter to animation and to talents of certain animators. I like that you not only said why opening is good but also expanded idea about artists' creativety and their potential. I also very like your visual part of the video because it's not mindless, it contains a lot of love and attention.

Great video! Really appreciate the work you've done in putting the opening in context with the artists and the industry! A few notes: -Ishitani didn't actually debuted with Dragonball Super 131 but with 107, she wasn't credited at the time, but she later confirmed on social media/her personal site that she directed and partially storyboarded the ep -Mori also contributed to the storyboarding process for opening 26, as confirmed by Ishitani in a few tweets they exchanged/confronted on various ideas, what could be considered (& in other cases has been credited as) storyboard assistance. (Mori also "storyboarded" the Where The Wind Blows MV, tho that's a special case since it was more of a freeflowing creative process and there wasn’t much of a storyboard in the first place, they are simply that good) -Also in regards to how Ishitani process/visualizes light & color i think it's important to mention director of photography Naoyuki Wada and the folks at Asahi Production (also Tomoyuki Ishiyama of Studio Ignaz in regards to 1015 and a few minor works she directed since) who handled compositing in all her works including this opening and have a very distinct and striking style when it comes to processing animation, stuff like Queen's concert in 982 or Luffy's Red Roc and the whole setpiece on the roof of Onigashima in 1015 wouldn't look they way they do without Wada's involvement

It really is one of my favorite openings and something was really itching in my brain since I first saw it and when you where talking about transitions it clicked… her style of transitions is really similar to Edgar wright, who focuses on the composition of the shot and how it also match the music of the scene. she really is an amazing director and I love everything she has done so far

Kyousougiga mentioned! I love that anime and wish people would mention it more when it comes to these direction/animation discussions, because it's so good! The OP for it lives in my head rent free lol.

I agree. It is the best anime intro of all time. Everything is perfect. The song is perfect. By far my favorite.

These videos more focused on the production are super interesting! Keep it up!

Crazy how this was in my top anime openings after 1 watch. What a legend.

I'm crying... hard... this is so so very absolutely the best storyboard explanation I have ever seen in my life. Megumi Ishitani became an alien in my mind thanks to you 🤣😭

I like how this video is virtually impossible to only listen to, the smooth animation, the bright colors, and the lighting all intertwine together in such a way that you just have to watch it the whole way through.

Shout out to big news Morgan’s having the single best panel in the entire opening. The storytelling she gets across in an opening alone is crazy

The emotions that Ishitani invokes... before coming to this video, I had no idea that all the episodes that really hit me hardest were directed by one incredible woman. We need to see more! I really hope we get to!

MEGUMI 👊 👊 With this treasure I summon the one who left it all I am you because you are always bet on Hikari

great video. as an animator I've been captivated by these artists but didn't dig into who is doing what so this was perfect, thank you

I didn t realise it but at 8:42 as they were getting flipped,they flip to the changed age from young jinbei to elderly luffy to copper before eating the human human fruit and EVEN THE BACKGROUND SIGNIFYING JEWELRY BONNEY WITH THE HAND OF BONNEY and THE JEWELS AROUND IT BRO THE REALISATION

Great video! I would love it if you made more videos surrounding the production of anime because it’s a topic I’m not very knowledgeable on and unsure of how to learn more

This is my favorite opening of any anime of all time. It is a labor of love, and it beckons me to reciprocate the feeling.

I'm so happy you talked about masami more, because whenever I hear about animators his name always get overlooked

i just watched to this opening dozens of times, it's hipnotizing

i love this video. you;re so good at making video. keep making videos if it makes you happy

I haven't seen you in a while, good to see you again :)

I think the best way I saw someone exsplain this intro is "This intro is quite literally eye candy" and man like from colors to animation to music to timing its... its art at its best

Fricking love Ishitani, she brought me back to the anime, she gave me hope that this unbereable adaption can still have amazing episodes! I'm the type of guy, I really can't watch post Shabondy (1st go) to end of Wano... Really so many things always just annoy me when watching One Piece (so far Egg Head holds up very well but I'm just waiting for the fall back 'cause it's just impossible to keep the quality on a weekly basis) Ishitani finally brings an artistic vision to the production like you showed throughout the video. It's not just "close up-3 frames for the mouth-face to face dialogues" and it's so good! Masami Mori has the perfect artstyle for One Piece, it's bubbly and dynamic while not compromising on action and drama! With those 2, less is more, the solid colors and minimal lineart and shadows does the series really good!

Hey, you are amazing with all of this insight, I appreciate the focus on these people I feel bursting with anticipation of something greater, I just want them to get the massive sandbox they deserve, i just want them to thrive man. Also i dont know where you get all this info, but I will be trying to start a channel about animation and art and oh boy i need to learn lol

OH MY GOSH first time watching the OP I was so confused watching beginning of the video and I went back to one piece and watched the theme song and episode I AM BEYOND SHOCKED HOW DID THEY DRAW THE ANIMATIONS AND COLOR AND JUST THE WHOLE THEME SONG????!?!? And you’re telling me SHE EVEN MADE MORE EPISODES TOO??????? My excitement rn lol I’m just learning this informations about big animators making sick animations/anime’s and THATS JUST INSANE!!!🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

Absolutely fell in love with this opening. It literally brought tears to my eyes. It really encapsulates the journey of the straw hats and really hypes up the final saga. I can't get enough!

This one of the craziest glazings of all time, and its 100% deserved

finally someone pointed out the enormus genius of the animators and artist overall , i just recenty caugth up to one piece and i get everthing you're talking about its a masterpeice of the opening ever made in anime history , not only it imbodies the the true sprit of one piece ,but also the art of animation and story telling itself , to me its quit frankly the pinnacle of visual arts.

I have been manga only for One Piece until recently. It seems Wano has some gems worth rewatching in the anime. Thanks for this video!

Literally man this opening is so good that i downloaded it and am trying to learn each shot by by breaking it down frame by frame in the editing software!!! Megumi Ishitani san is sooo good with what she does!!

she is the most valuable aset of toei animation, everything she work on become the most iconic animation

You make me feel comfortable with how much I love this manga because I know there are people out there who love it as mush as I do

Talent is just another word for hardwork

crazy good vid, you got my abo

I absolutely Agree, this is pure GOLD!

I learned a few things, I learned who this amazing talented person is, how she does it, story boards, and another reason to love one piece and everyone in it!

Great video❤

Amazing video 💛💛

This is one of the best videos i have ever watched

So validating! I watched the intro for an hour straight, need to show this video to any naysayers

Don't forget the outro, i absolutely love it

Grined the entire video gotta love Oda and Ishitani!

😊Ishitani is the final addition to Strawhat pirate crew who everyone of us were waiting for.

i had tears of pleasure/joy hearing/seeing this opening the first 3 times i heard it

Thanks . First time i dont scip it after some Episodes. That opening is crazy😂

I'm surprised you haven't talked about Vincent Chansard. Dude's animation is on another level, especially with the frequency he gets scenes to animate

i was going to watch these video as a background sound 😂 but then his explanation, the voice of gratitude and his editing maaaan i will have to watch the video with my whole concentration which is rare in modern youtube.

Thats the power of one of the members of JAM PROJECT.

ive never watched one piece but fell in love with this new OP when i saw a clip of it on twitter. then i watched this video for more context and i wanted to learn about its director. then at 19:28 i got jumpscared by my favorite director ever, rie matsumoto! the second i heard the OST for kekkai sensen kick in along with the shot of leonardo watch running from below and him almost like "stepping" on the camera i literally cheered "YES" outloud and paused to write this comment

This is my favorite opening in a REALLY long time. This is like… almost it on ON PAR with We Are opening 1

I love the enthusiasm and the concept of the essay, but it seems like you love One Piece so much that you adopted even their stretching techniques.

Its genuinely insane I can't describe it in words

This opening is so underrated. Its has like 10M views while mash opening have over 31M views. Both openings are great but the fact that this new one piece opening have so low viewers hurts my eyes. One piece openings are so overlooked imo.

*Those chapters* are gonna be so good with this style of animation. Can't wait for the anime to get there

Koehei Tanaka (composer) and performer Hiroshi Kitadani (performer) are such a legendary duo too! HINT: its the same as the first opening, We Are! Such a great song.

THERE IS NO OTHER DIRECTOR LIKE MEGUMI ISHITANI, SHE’S THE GOAT FRRRR 🔥🔥🔥

shes just goated like that 1015 was imo the best one peice episode ever and this opening is now most ppls favorite SHES AMAZING

This opening to me was for..all of us..😅 if you are up-to-date, anime or manga, and currently watching this new opening, it's like saying, "Congratulations for making it up to this point so far. Now we're going to see the One Piece. " It's mixed with so much storytelling of not just Egg Head arc but the entirety of OP and the main goal of watching it..the journey. It's that "We're 1000+ episodes in, we're on opening 26, and we're gonna finally see this treasure of the world" type of feeling. It's a pretty dope feeling. It's labeled to be the start of the final saga opening for a reason, and I completely see it. From start to finish, it felt like One Piece was ending, but I'm not saddened by it. It's more like a pride, proud feeling I have. Like, I made it this far with everyone. I got to see the growth of the SHs, from being rookie pirates to the most notorious 😂 funny thing I was waiting for that growth to happen, and here we are. It started with "We Go" being part of the time skip opening, and I had that same feeling of growth and joy. I honestly think it's my favorite OP so far. It beats out "Share the World" for me. I also love the shot at the end where all routes are alluding to the routes of the One Piece.. Everything is just so good 💯👌🏿

HANDS DOWN MASTERPIECE ❤

Something I appreciate is the amazing rotational movements. 2:40, 2:45, 2:55, (3:24 notice the change in direction as well)

This opening gets me so damn excited

the episode that i caught up on was 1015 and omg im so happy that it was that episode. and it was on my birthday that i watched it too

Another factor you could mention owing to Ishitani’s greatness is how certain scenes in the opening work extremely well with the actual song. For example, the scene showcasing all the matchups and how they transition one by one matches very well with Kitadani’s vocals at that instant.

Did you know that outfit changing for brook was also included for a split second they didn't need to do that but they did absolutely amazing 3:09

Also in the outfit changing/arc walking part of the opening the arcs are illustrated as the light of sunbeams which ties into the Nikka symbolism for the arc as well.

animation masterclass, so glad to have Ishitani in One Piece