One Piece's Shanks returns to anime in emotional reunion
Thought you'd seen the last of him?
Despite having just finished the Wano Country Arc, it seems that One Piece isn't taking its foot off the gas.
The latest episode of One Piece, titled The World Will Burn! The Onslaught of a Navy Admiral, delved into the fallout after the fight between Kaido and Big Mom, alongside Luffy's Gear 5 upgrade.
While the anime has been mostly focused on that epic confrontation between the would-be Pirate King and the dragon warrior, these recent episodes have been side-stories of sorts showing us what's been going on in the interim.
This has included the reveal of the four new Emperors of the Sea alongside the now astronomically high bounty placed on the gang of 3 billion+ berries. However, the most surprising reveal has undoubtedly been the return of a fan-favorite character to the colourful animated seas.
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The episode showed none other than Red-Haired Shanks himself, Luffy's inspirational hero, returning to see just what Luffy has made of himself - and being quite impressed by the youngster's legacy too.
We get a touching flashback which shows a toddler Luffy and a seemingly younger Shanks enjoying themselves atop a hill as the sun sets in front of the pair.
Read more:
- One Piece release schedule: When is episode 1,082 released?
- When will Luffy's Gear 5 be animated in One Piece?
So why is Shanks back? It's clear that he's going to play an instrumental role in the story for the remainder of Season 20 and perhaps 21 moving forward - we get more flashbacks to Shank's own life, giving us insight into how he stole the Gum-Gum Fruit before Luffy got his hands on it.
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These flashbacks initially make us think that maybe a Shanks/Luffy team-up is on the cards, only for Shanks to realize that Luffy is no longer the kid he looked after - he's the new competition in town.
One Piece will be available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Check out more of our anime coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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