The legend of the Grand Line has become one of the greatest adventures in anime history, and for good reason. Even decades following One Piece’s debut, shonen fans are still following along with the story of the Straw Hat Pirates as the grand finale continues to play out. While Luffy has been a character all his own, Eiichiro Oda’s masterpiece might not have been as popular if it hadn’t arrived in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump. As another way to honor the Straw Hats, Shueisha has given Luffy a surprising makeover as the Straw Hat Captain is haunting his fellow shonen heroes.
Regularly, Weekly Shonen Jump will bring together some of its biggest characters to share the covers of its publication. In the latest example, Shueisha sees Monkey D. Luffy transformed into a ghost, haunting his various cohorts who have made stories of their own in the magazine. The Straw Hat Captain shares the cover with the likes of Sakamoto Days, Kagurabachi, Me & Roboco, Akane Banashi, and many more. The reasoning, perhaps, as to why Luffy is transformed into a ghost here is to help celebrate the new horror one-shot from My Hero Academia creator Kohei Horikoshi. Quit Laughing, Shijima recently arrived in Weekly Shonen Jump, proving Horikoshi still has it when it comes to creating new manga. You can check out the new cover below.
While One Piece never had an episode, or episodes, focused on Halloween, the Thriller Bark arc is about as close as you can get. Following Luffy and his crew’s escape from Enies Lobby, the Straw Hats find their way to the mysterious floating boat known as Thriller Bark. So large was this zombie-filled locale that the crew thought it was an island at first, but came to the horrifying realization that they had landed on a ship that had more than they bargained for. Luckily, not only did Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates win the day, but they also gained a new crew member in the form of the singing skeleton known as Brook.
While Weekly Shonen Jump isn’t primarily known for creating horror stories, many of their entries have dived deep into the world of the supernatural. Series such as Jujutsu Kaisen, Yu Yu Hakusho, Bleach, One Piece, and even Dragon Ball have had plenty of ghosts and supernatural elements in their stories. With Horikoshi recently releasing his own campfire story, perhaps a new era of horror anime might be right around the corner. As the spooky season approaches with summer giving way to fall, it will be interesting to see if Shueisha further capitalizes on the supernatural side of storytelling.
