To celebrate the release of the 113th volume of the hit manga ONE PIECE on November 4, eye-catching “Red-Haired” ads appeared inside Ikebukuro Station and Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line’s Shibuya Station in Japan. The campaign has generated significant buzz online, with users commenting, “What’s going on?! Even those who know and those who don’t can’t help but react—what a clever tagline!”

The bold phrase “This man is not Shanks. (JP: この男、シャンクスではない。)” is printed across the ads, accompanied by the line “Another ‘Red-Haired’ has descended.” Each variation of the ad features the same mysterious man. While readers of the serialized magazine already know his identity, those following only the collected volumes or the anime remain in suspense.

Online reactions include comments such as, “That line is essential—anyone not reading the magazine would definitely think ‘That’s Shanks,’” “Love how the ad emphasizes that it’s not Shanks,” and “This kind of campaign could bring back fans who haven’t read the series in a while.”

ONE PIECE began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump on July 22, 1997. It tells the grand adventure of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy who gains rubber-like powers after eating the Gum-Gum Fruit, as he gathers a crew known as the Straw Hat Pirates and sets sail in pursuit of the legendary treasure left behind by the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger.]

The series boasts over 510 million copies in circulation worldwide. Its TV anime, which began airing in 1999, continues to this day. The 2022 film ONE PIECE FILM RED became a social phenomenon, earning 20.34 billion yen at the Japanese box office. The anime currently airs every Sunday at 11:15 p.m.(JST)

Source : ORICON NEWS