The One Piece anime series is taking a historic turn by inviting American director Henry Thurlow to direct an episode. Thurlow is an American animator currently living and working in Japan, who will direct episode 1066 of the One Piece anime series.
Often in the anime industry, the role of director will be held by a native Japanese speaker. So with this change, many people were surprised. News of Thurlow’s directing role was first reported in the July issue of Newtype magazine and later confirmed by the animator himself via Twitter.
This “unprecedented appointment” is not only the first for One Piece, it could be the pioneering “detonator” for the change of Toei Animation (One Piece anime production studio). Thurlow is the first non-Japanese director of any Toei Animation feature film.
Thurlow’s impressive resume, contributions to popular projects such as Sweetness & Lightning, Nurse Witch Komugi R, ClassicaLoid, Naruto Shippūden and Tokyo Ghoul made Toei Animation “change its mind”.
He started working as an animator at Toei Animation in July 2021, and began his contributions to both the One Piece series and the One Piece Film Red movie.
While Thurlow’s contribution will be historic in the One Piece anime, he’s not the only foreigner to leave his mark on the anime industry. Other notable names include Sunghoo Park – the Korean director behind Jujutsu Kaisen, Kyoung Soon Park – the Doraemon film director, and D’Art Shtajio – an American-founded studio based in Tokyo that has made currently running a series of projects including an episode of “Star Wars: Visions Volume 2”.
These examples show that although anime is inherently Japanese, the creative process behind it is becoming increasingly global.
Episode 1066 of the One Piece anime directed by Henry Thurlow will air on June 25. The episode will most likely revolve around the climax of the battle between Trafalgar Law and Eustass Kid against Big Mom, based on the pace of the adaptation. recent movie.
Fans are eager to see the episode under Thurlow’s direction and hope that this cross-cultural collaborative effort can set a precedent for future episodes and series.