O: Ahem. I've been receiving a ton of questions about the anime so I'm going to tell
you how much I'm involved in it, to either answer those questions or just to let you
know.
1. First of all, what I MUST tell you is that I am a manga artist so I don't make
anime. What I can do is help out with the character designs for anime-original episodes.
Nothing major. So basically, the One Piece world I've created in my manga is entrusted
to others to be adapted in the anime. 2. And so, while on that topic, I want to introduce
to you... "THE" UDA KOUNOSUKE! You'll see his name in every episode during the opening
credits roll. He's listed as the "Series Director". That's basically "head director".
Pretty cool, eh? "Head director". (DOOON!). 3. For the OP anime, there are 7 directors
including Uda-san that take turns making episodes because you can't make a 30-minute
episode in just one week. Every episode's director is listed at the end of the ending
credits. And the person who organizes all of their work is, you guessed it, THE UDA
KONOSUKE (whistle!). 4. If his opinions and mine do not meet, Luffy instantly ceases
to be Luffy and the world becomes entirely different. Even if I create the most heart-wrenching
moment in the manga, if the anime's "directing" is wrong, it becomes a forgettable
scene. But the reason that doesn't happen, and in fact, becomes even more memorable
in the anime, is thanks to Uda-san and his crew of Director-Fighters, for understanding
the world of OP so well and their directing skills. 5. By "directing", I'm talking
about music, sfx, voice acting and character expressions, so I'm truly grateful to
all the people involved in the anime. Oh, by the way, my very own editor Habu-yan
does the "scenario checking". 6. All in all, what I really wanted to point out were
the credits that you audience probably ignore. There are a lot of hard working people
on those credit rolls, and it'd be nice if you could become familiar with some of
those names as well. 7. I know I made him sound very formal earlier, but Uda-san is
really a cool, friendly man. Sometimes when I have a meeting with the anime staff,
I go out and have lunch or dinner with Uda-san and the producers (they're fun, too).
Usually though, I just leave the anime work up to them and enjoy it as a viewer, just
like all of you do. I even cry sometimes. 8. And that concludes this SBS. See you
next volume.