 One Piece, a series that has run for 23 years and counting, having reached 1000 chapters and has fans all around the world. A series can only achieve so much because of how exceptional it is. And whilst most of those who have encountered the series end up falling in love with the vast world, its diverse characters and intricate storytelling, there are still elements that fall between the cracks when it comes to our praise and recognition. Hello my Nakamitachi, this is Joygirl with a video that is actually part of a larger playlist called One Piece of History in celebration of One Piece's millennial chapter. Various One Piece content creators, including yours truly, are a part of this project where we each discuss an element of One Piece we think is underrated or underappreciated. Which brings me to my topic of choice. Underappreciated. When the theme of this project was first introduced to me, I have to say the first thing I thought was that One Piece as a whole is underappreciated. Which may sound crazy, because yes, One Piece is the world's best-selling manga of all time. I mean, even as a relatively small and new channel, I have over 3000 crewmates who are keen to discuss One Piece with me. But, and this may come as a shock to you, to know that to me, you are all rare and thus all the more treasured in my life. As personally speaking, One Piece is a relatively unknown or unpopular series in my area. Though my eyes have been open to the wider fanbase that exists globally thanks to the internet, I, however, cannot say the same for me on a local scale. Growing up, series such as Dragon Ball, Bleach and Naruto were all very popular names eagerly discussed at school. One Piece wasn't one of them. To this day, I can count on one hand the number of people within my immediate circle who have at least watched or read One Piece to some extent. Which to me is baffling because One Piece is the best series that I have ever had the joy of consuming and I don't even limit that to the world of manga or anime. In my opinion, it's the best piece of fiction, full stop. In saying that, I want to take a short time to say a huge thank you to Hiro Oda. Thank you so much for creating such an amazing series that I can honestly say has improved my life in more ways than I can express. The amount of joy I feel whilst reading One Piece is truly indescribable. Congratulations on reaching 1000 chapters and once again, thank you. Hiro Oda puts in so much hard work and dedication to create a series that is practically seamless. There is such an incredible level of detail which means that characters, settings and storylines are extensively developed and thus consistent. Oda is extremely creative and finds new ways to weave in bouts of comedic genius as well as hints and foreshadowing which makes reading the manga feel like a very tightly built experience. And one of the ways in which Oda achieves this, which is my topic of choice for this project and the element I consider underrated in One Piece, cover stories. Firstly, what are cover stories? For those of you who are anime-only fans, you may be unfamiliar with cover stories because though some have made their way into the anime, most of them have not. As such, this video may or may not be considered spoilers depending on how you look at it. On one hand, cover stories are canon so if you have not read them, they may be new pieces of information. But on the other, cover stories are only side plots which take place at the same time as the rest of the series so we are way past most cover story arcs at the point the anime is currently at. Nonetheless, in case you would like to experience these cover stories for yourself, which I do highly recommend because as I'm about to detail in this video, they add a great element to Oda's storytelling which deserves appreciation and if you wish to read these for yourself and be completely unspoiled in that respect, I will give warnings prior to my discussion of any particular cover story arc so that you can watch the majority of this video with ease. And with that being said, let's get into it. The full name of this feature is short term focused cover page serials and much like this full title, cover stories are a series of short, supplementary stories told through cover pages of certain chapters. Usually focusing on side characters or past defeated villains, they feature as mini arcs typically ranging from around 20 to 40 volumes that are told parallel to the main story by featuring as one cover page at a time. To this effect, they are considered canonical with the events of the cover stories occurring side by side to the actual chapter contents. However, the volumes are much more lighthearted, usually providing some comedy at the beginning of the chapter. They follow a much more simpler format in a similar way to sequential comic strips. The cover stories include no paneling and little dialogue which showcases Oda's artistic ability to tell stories through pantomime and the expressions on the characters' faces. This feature started pretty early on in the series publication, the first ever cover story volume featuring as the cover page of Chapter 35, starting the Buggy's Crew Adventure Chronicles which ran until Chapter 75. There are currently 17 completed cover story arcs, 11 of which took place pre-timeskip and then six in the post-timeskip. These cover stories are compiled as volumes in one piece doors along with other chapter cover illustrations so that one can access them as a collected set rather than having to go through each separate chapter. Now, more importantly, why are cover stories underappreciated? Despite being canonical, only six of these cover story arcs have been adapted into the anime. Some of these have been adapted into episodes within arcs such as Buggy's Crew Adventure Chronicles, Diary of Kobe Meppo and the Straw Hat Separation Serial, while some featured as short segments within an episode. Such as Wapol's Omnivorous Hurrah, the story of the self-proclaimed Straw Hat Grand Fleet and Kuribos Kehihihi in the New World. Jango's Dance Paradise was loosely adapted into an animated short, Jango's Dance Carnival. But for the most part, the anime has chosen not to include these cover stories in its animation. Judging by the anime adaptation of the first two cover story arcs, it seems that they at least initially planned for these to be animated. But due to cover stories being focused on side characters, and I can only assume, perhaps Toei realized that they were not popular episodes and thus decided to discontinue animating them. Whatever the case is, however, this does mean that anime-only fans are missing out on tidbits of information and details that can otherwise deeply enrich their enjoyment of the series. In my opinion, these cover stories are actually a great feature of the One Piece manga that is deserving of appreciation. For one, it is a novel feature. Judging from my research, though this was limited so please correct me if I'm wrong, One Piece is the first series that actually features this sort of side story telling to its manga. Like other long-running series that are considered a serial, Weekly Shonen Jump allows One Piece an extra page in its magazine for its title page. Whilst most mangaka use this extra page to lengthen the chapter or showcase a one-off illustration, Oda, being the generous genius that he is, has devised a creative way to enrich our experience of the manga by gifting us with these cover stories. Whilst the focus on side characters may be what resulted in Toei scrapping its animation of the cover stories, I think this is a great storytelling device that Oda has employed, which is why I think it deserves more attention. One of the biggest aspects which makes One Piece so great is Oda's extensive world building. For such a vast world, it would be practically impossible for side characters to get more development without seriously derailing from the main storyline of Luffy and the Straw Huts. As such, cover stories are a great way to further develop side characters and build the reader's rapport with them so that the next time they are reintroduced in the main storyline, we'll have a deeper understanding and relationship with these characters. This is perhaps best shown through the example of the cover story arc, CP9's Independent Report. To anyone wishing to remain unspoiled, please get ahead to the time shown on your screen. For those of you who are curious or need a refresher, this mini-arc focused on CP9 following their defeat at the hands of Luffy and the Straw Huts in Ennios Lobby. Having escaped from the annihilated judicial island and surviving the Buster Call, the assassin unit needed to find a way to save Rob Luchi who was heavily injured after his battle with Luffy. While CP9 were the main villains during the Water 7 saga, this mini-arc offers us a new perspective on the assassins. In contrast to the portrayal of the members as ruthless assassins, they are shown to be fiercely loyal, devoted to saving one of their own, with the other members even resorting to work as street performers to raise money for Luchi's medical bills. This shows CP9 in a completely different light to how readers came to know them during the main storyline. It allows us to gain deeper insight into these characters who become more layered and fleshed out as ultimately people who were just committed to doing their jobs and outside of such situations could be caring and funny individuals. Following the journey of side characters can also help fill in a lot of details and context that allows readers a full understanding of the story. But before I delve into this, consider this your spoiler warning and please skip ahead if you need to. For example, the first cover story arc Buggy Cruise Adventure Chronicles showed us the formation of the alliance between Buggy and an unnamed beautiful woman who also harbored an intense hatred for Luchi. In the Locetown arc, this mystery woman was revealed to be Alveda, Luchi's first pipe foe after setting sail who had undergone a pretty significant transformation. This little side story added great flavor to the events at Locetown providing the backstory as to how Buggy and Alveda became allies. Conversely, on my first consumption of the series wherein I was only watching the anime and not reading the manga, I had missed out on the cover story, Hachan's Sea Floor Stroll. So for me, on my reintroduction to Hachan in the South Body Archipelago arc, he was no longer Hachan from Arlong's crew, but rather the proprietor of a Takoyaki stand, which I must say I found quite random. However, had I read the cover stories, this transformation would not have come as quite the surprise and I would have understood how this was Hachan's true dream all along. Similarly, Kami was a new face I met in the South Body Arch but for manga readers, a returning character. Had I met Kami earlier and experienced the whole friendship between the octopus, fishman and mermaid, it would have enhanced my investment even more in the main story when Kami was captured and being sold at the human auctioning house. Aside from keeping tabs on characters, cover stories can also be used to further build the world of One Piece and enrich its history. Oop, another example, please see screen for time of safety. Oda's great space operations was an interesting and frankly speaking, groundbreaking cover story. As it confirmed many elements to exist within the One Piece world. Oda confirmed Oda's successful space travel to the moon, the introduction of alien species and also perhaps most importantly, Oda revealed an ancient civilization who are the ancestors of the Birkins and Chandeers on Sky Island. Whether or how this will come back into relevance in the main storyline remains to be seen. It does however, fill my mind with questions and anticipation for how it could be linked to certain mysteries within the story. And on that note, it seems that Oda is also dropping hints and his foreshadowing reveals for future story developments through these cover stories. And I promise you this is the last time you will have to skip ahead in this video, but for your own sake, please do so now. An example of this is Volume 16 of the From the Decks of the World titled Twin Capes, where Crocus is shown sharing a drink with a mystery figure whose hat and apparel hides their identity. The oriental design of the hat has led to speculations that this figure originates from Wano country, resulting in further speculations about its relevance to our current arc. A speculation which I do go into more detail in another one of my theory videos, but you do get the point. Oda is a master at foreshadowing and hiding information in plain sight is a trick he would and has definitely pulled. Indeed, Alveda's teaming up with Buggy was shown to us the entire time, but we may have just not realized it. For me, as someone who loves reading into every detail and coming up with crazy left field ideas and interpretations, the possibility of hidden clues is a super thrilling reason to read each cover story. But even aside from all of this, at a much more general level, they showcase Oda's creativity, his artistic ability to tell stories in such a concise and simple way. They are often great sources of comedy and most of all, they are part of the story that Oda has intended to tell. To build connections, further develop the world, pick up on foreshadowing clues or simply enjoy his creative brilliance. Oda includes these mini arcs because they are all part of his story. And I for one think it's a brilliant feature deserving of attention and appreciation. On that note, there are many features Oda considers and includes because One Piece is a fantastic series and there are so many elements which makes it the enjoyable and successful series that it is. In which case, all of such elements deserve appreciation. So for those of you who didn't already find this video through Ahara's playlist, please feel free to check out what other content creators in the community have to say on the topic. Which brings us to the end of this video. Please let me know what you think about Cover Stories by leaving a comment below. If you enjoyed today's video, please like and share. And if you are not already, please subscribe so that we can continue to appreciate this wonderful series by discussing it together. This is Joygirl and I'll see you again soon.