Eyecatchers

An eyecatcher is a scene or illustration used to begin and end a commercial break in a TV program, especially in anime and tokusatsu shows.

In One Piece, there are two eyecatchers in every episode, and each one shows one of the Straw Hat Pirates, usually the ones who had the most significance in the episode, accompanied by a short excerpt of their respective themes.

First set of Eyecatchers
From Episode 1 to Episode 206 each eyecatcher showed an image of one of the Straw Hat Pirates on a wanted poster. The wanted poster is flying in the wind, then stopping, allowing a clear view of the image. In the background, there are the other Straw Hat Pirates, but only the ones that already joined the crew. There is a different tune for each Straw Hat Pirate and Vivi and Carue. Vivi and Carue's eyecatcher was only in use while they travelled with the Straw Hat Pirates and discontinued at the end of the Alabasta Saga when they parted ways with the crew.

Special Edition
Recently, the series began airing again from the beginning of the series, but this time they aired in a higher resolution than the original 4:3 (NTSC). It now airs in 16:9 (HDTV) resolution. This edition is upscaled and cropped remasters of the episodes in the beginning of the series, and it's called "The Special Edition". Due to the higher resolution, the eyecatchers in this version look a little different, but they are still the same eyecatchers from the first set.

Second set of Eyecatchers
From Episode 207 to Episode 516 a new set of eyecatchers aired. They still feature one of the Straw Hat Pirates with the same set of tunes for each one, but with a different animation. In each of them, a Straw Hat is doing something he or she usually does through a telescope, which then pans down to some items unique to the character. The items are often related to their role in the crew. The second set of eyecatchers was initially introduced at the start of the Long Ring Long Land Arc, with the switch to high-definition format, and retired after the two-year timeskip.

Third set of Eyecatchers
From Episode 517 to Episode 746 the eyecatchers have changed drastically. The eyecatchers have their own unique music, different from any music heard in an eyecatcher before, and so far all of the eyecatchers have the same music. Each eyecatcher shows the shadows of all the Straw Hat pirates passing, except for one of them, who is passing while picking up an item that belongs to him or her. After that the eyecatcher then switches to an image of the Straw Hat Pirates on a shore next to the Thousand Sunny.

This set is greatly different from the first two sets, which were fairly similar in presentation. The first two sets showed only one crew member per eyecatcher, but the third set showed all the Straw Hats in a single one. Another difference is that unlike the first two sets, this set is showing the Straw Hats post-timeskip. In addition to the personal eyecatchers, in this set there is another eyecatcher that represents the One Piece logo. Since its debut in Episode 535, it has appeared in every episode as the second eyecatcher. It has the same music as the personal eyecatchers.

Fourth Set of Eyecatchers
From Episode 747 onwards the eyecatchers have changed. The eyecatchers have their own unique music and background depending on what character is being used. Each eyecatcher starts with the News Coo flying over the ocean before transitioning to one of the Straw Hat Pirates' wanted posters. Bartolomeo also got an eyecatcher, and so far he is the only non Starw Hat member to get an eyecatcher in this set.

This is the second time that the wanted posters are being used for the eyecatchers, although the bounties and pictures have been updated to the current wanted posters.

The Bounty Posters in the fourth set of Eyecatchers


Special Eyecatchers
Aside from the regular sets of eyecatchers, there are a few special eyecatchers which appeared only once on special occasions. So far, there are seven special eyecatchers, one of them was in the Chopper Man's special episode. Three others are from the time when Dragon Ball Kai was followed by One Piece when it first aired in Japan, so special eyecatchers featuring the characters from both series were made and shown between the two series. Another eyecatcher is from the second Toriko X One Piece Collaboration Special. The last two are from the History's Strongest Collaboration Special.

Trivia

 * The characters of One Piece get a personal eyecatcher only after they join the Straw Hat Pirates. For example, Brook, despite fighting alongside the Straw Hats for the entirety of the Thriller Bark Arc, had no eyecatcher until his official recruitment. Sanji is the exception, having an eyecatcher just two episodes after his initial appearance, long before joining the crew.
 * The images of the Straw Hats on the wanted posters from the first set of eyecatchers are different from the images on their actual wanted posters.
 * While Vivi was traveling with the Straw Hat crew, she had an eyecatcher of her own, where Vivi and Carue are shown on a wanted poster with their own unique theme music playing.
 * In Zoro's second eyecatcher, when his three swords were shown, his sword Yubashiri was one of them. Later on, when Yubashiri was destroyed and he got his next sword, Shusui, the swords were changed in the eyecatcher to fit the story.
 * Episodes 207-241 showed only Luffy's new eyecatcher, but during in 207 both Chopper and Sanji's themes were playing. The eyecatchers did not update to feature the other Straw Hat Pirates until the beginning of the Water 7 Arc. Notably, Nami and Sanji are portrayed with the outfits they wore during the arc (for Nami, her second outfit), and the eyecatchers keep them in these outfits for the remainder of their use.
 * Brook's first eyecatcher in the second set is the only one where it shows a different sky background and the telescope moves upward to show his special items.
 * Episodes 517-532 showed only Luffy's new eyecatcher.
 * Throughout the first dozen episodes of the series, the eyecatchers played the wrong theme with the wrong wanted posters.
 * In Episode 1 Luffy's poster came up twice, but Zoro's theme played in the first time.
 * In Episode 3 Luffy's theme played when Zoro's poster came up.
 * In Episode 6 Luffy and Zoro's themes are reversed.
 * In Episode 8 Nami's theme played when Zoro's poster came up.
 * In Episode 9 Luffy and Nami's posters are seen, but Zoro's eyecatcher is playing.
 * In Episodes 13 - 15 Zoro's theme played when Luffy's poster came up.
 * In Episodes 139 and 143 Robin's theme played when Zoro's poster came up.
 * In Episode 151 Dracule Mihawk is seen observing Luffy and Zoro's bounties and his theme plays continuously and while it is playing the screen cuts to the commercial break eyecatchers and Zoro's comes up while Mihawk's theme is still playing.
 * In the new eyecatcher with Brook, Brook picks up a violin, but in the series he is holding a guitar. Brook is still associated with his violin, but is now more commonly seen as a guitarist after gaining his rock star image as the Soul King.
 * Episode 24 is the first episode to not have Luffy's eyecatcher in it.
 * Franky's first eyecatcher shows a bottle cap fly off one of the cola bottles as it fizzes over. Then, a glass pipe full of cola cracks, causing a leak to spurt out. It is difficult to observe what happened to the pipe at first glance, but one can make out that the bottle cap ricochets off the pipe, fracturing it.
 * In Episode 747 Bartolomeo's Eyecatcher shows the same scene as the first eyecatchers in the series (Episode 1 - 206 ), except with the Going Luffy-Senpai docked instead of the Going Merry.

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