While Anime Expo was in full swing, One Piece took over the Shrine Auditorium to bring fans a symphony extravaganza. Kicking off the 25th anniversary celebration, the One Piece 25th Anniversary: Symphonic Voyage began the American leg of its tour the night of July 6.
Fans were treated to two hours of live One Piece music performed by a 50+ symphony orchestra. For all the people who weren’t band kids, this is awesome because every part of the music Kohei Tanaka (composer for One Piece) composed for the series can be recreated live without compromise.
Next Stop, San Diego!
As a special treat for San Diego Comic-Con attendees, anyone with a badge will be able to attend the live outdoor concert at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. The San Diego Symphony will take over for this performance. For SDCC, Toei Animation and Crunchyroll teamed up to put the event together.
However, the SDCC performance will be missing two amazing musical pillars of One Piece – and these two don’t plan to rejoin the tour until it reaches Paris.
The Program Lineup:
For casual fans or anyone who is actively trying to catch up, this concert has massive spoilers for character arcs, important plot points, and a really, really, REALLY big thing from the end of Wano. Part of the appeal of these concerts is watching scenes while the orchestra plays. To remain spoiler-free, you need to keep your eyes closed and plug your ears between songs. You have been officially warned!
To start, the orchestra takes the audience on a journey themed around each of the ten Straw Hats: Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Nico Robin, Franky, Brook, and Jinbe. After meeting the main crew, the concert moved into music that accompanied some of the most important moments in the series. Through music, the audience was introduced to Ace, White Beard, and Kozuki Oden.
After dealing some “Emotional Damage” going into the intermission, the concert returns with a symphonic version of “We Are!”, followed by some other popular openings. However, this may vary and be a little different for the SDCC performance.
Anime Expo Special Guests:
Because so many Japanese guests attended Anime Expo, two very special, very talented musicians joined the fun: series composer Kohei Tanaka and singer Hiroshi Kitadani (“We Are!”, “We Go!”, “OVER THE TOP”, “Assu!”). Every interaction between these two felt like watching old friends reunite. They were playful and bantered with each other.
Kitadani kicked off the second half of the concert by performing “We Are!”, fully backed by the symphony orchestra. “We Go!”, “OVER THE TOP”, and “Assu!” received the same treatment, all met with enthusiastic fans losing their minds over seeing it all live.
Tanaka also had some additional tricks and treats up his sleeve. Throughout the concert, he came on-stage to share his experience working on the anime and with Eiichiro Oda directly. When reflecting on the 25 year history of One Piece, Tanaka recalled a conversation he had with Oda about how much longer the series would continue. Since Tanaka is 70 years old, he said he encouraged Oda to wrap up the series because if it goes on another 10 years, he “may not be around for it.”
Musical Features:
Jokes aside, Tanaka worked closely with Oda on developing the music for the anime. Notably, the two collaborated for the song “Binkusu no Sake” (Binks’ Sake/Binks’ Brew). Tanaka took to the piano to both play and sing the song. Accompanied by scenes of Brook with the Rumbar Pirates, the song took on a melancholy tone, one of longing and mourning.
However, the song was performed again during the encore. With the audience encouraged to sing along the second time, the song transformed once again to something of celebration and camaraderie. Scenes of the Straw Hats messing around and being friends helped lighten the mood.
Another notable moment in the concert came from Tanaka and Kitadani discussing the creative process behind “Assu!” Last year, there was a One Piece concert held at The Dolby Theatre. During the Dolby performance, Tanaka half-jokingly asked Kitadani to sing a random high note. After seeing Kitadani do it with ease, Tanaka incorporated that talent into Kitadani’s next opening song: “Assu!”
The event came to a close with the orchestra, Tanaka, Kitadani, and the audience all singing “We Are!” together. Twice. It was awesome.
After SDCC, the ONE PIECE Music Symphony 25th Anniversary – World Tour will stop in Australia and work its way across Asia and Europe. It will return to the United States on January 25, 2025, and will be performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
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