After its initial run, "We Are!" reappeared as an insert song in several individual episodes, usually to mark significant story developments (and/or retrospectives). In addition, Toei Animation commissioned a number of remixes, two of which have served as openings for later portions of the anime.
The narrator - in a straightforward adaptation of Chapter 1's first page - introduces Gold Roger, a pirate who had won boundless "Wealth, Fame and Power" before his capture and execution. With his last words, he had promised the same to anyone who could find his treasure.
A ship is seen unfurling its Jolly Roger sail, then another, then another, until the sea is dotted with pirate ships. Excitedly, the narrator states that the world has entered the "Great Age of Pirates."
The camera cuts to Luffy, sprinting up a hill and leaping in excitement, followed by quick flashes of his crewmates: Zoro glaring, Nami waving, Usopp posing, and Sanji dragging on a cigarette. Luffy then shows off his abilities, stretching one arm onto the Going Merry and rocketing the rest of himself onboard.
As Luffy closes in on the camera, the opening smash-cuts to the One Piece logo.
The Going Merry is then shown amidst a rough sea, surrounded by massive Sea Kings on all sides. A close-up of the ship's bow shows all of the Straw Hats grinning and unafraid, Luffy even hanging upside-down from the figurehead. The Merry is then depicted from a super-deformed perspective, a stretching little caricature "sailing" the world map.
Next, the Merry comes under attack by enemy pirates, and the Straw Hats demonstrate their fighting skills: Zoro fends off a horde of men with his Santoryu, Sanji defeats another horde with an upside-down spin kick, Usopp uses his Egg Star to stun a man, and Nami finishes the man off with her staff. Finally, Luffy - in an adaptation of Chapter 1's last pages - throws his signature Gomu Gomu no Pistol at the Lord of the Coast.
In-between flashes of upcoming figures - Buggy, Kuro, Don Krieg, Arlong, Alvida, Smoker, and Dragon - Luffy lands back aboard the Merry, standing tall with all his crewmates. Then, as their Jolly Roger proudly flies overhead, Luffy begins spinning his beloved his straw hat on his finger, the camera zooming in on it until Shanks suddenly emerges, Lucky Roux, Yasopp and Benn Beckman following in his wake.
The opening concludes with two more shots of the smiling Straw Hats - Luffy, Nami and Zoro in the first, Usopp and Sanji in the second - and a rear shot of the Going Merry with a seagull flying past. Finally, the title screen shows.
The narrator delivers a slightly abridged (and fully re-drawn) introduction to Gold Roger, his execution, and the last words that began the Great Age of Pirates. The final, lingering shot on Roger then match-cuts to Luffy trapped on the same scaffold, twenty-two years later; as Buggy's cutlass swings for his neck, Luffy fearlessly yells his dream to be Pirate King, then apologizes for dying to each of his crewmates, instants before a mysterious lightning bolt strikes.
Quick-cut to all of the Straw Hat Pirates on the Going Merry, with the now-freed Luffy scrambling from the crow's nest to the figurehead. Soon, the ship sails up the gates of Reverse Mountain, all of the Straw Hats cheering their entry into the Grand Line.
This is followed by a montage of past enemies: Kuro lunging with his Cat Claws, Krieg swinging his Battle Spear, Arlong flashing his Kiribachi, and Alvida and Buggy racing along with their Devil Fruit powers (until one of Luffy's wanted posters blows by, whereupon Buggy immediately stops to nail it against the closest wall).
Cut back to the Merry, where Usopp cries out in excitement from atop the crow's nest. Gathering at the prow, the rest of the crew see an island of pure treasure gleaming in the distance.
After a second montage showcasing what powers await on the Grand Line - Mihawk, Smoker, Tashigi, Shanks, and Miss Wednesday (charging atop Karoo) - the Straw Hats are shown romping about the treasure-island, until another pirate crew descends. Their pockets already filled to overflowing, the Straw Hats cheerfully run, sights set on the next adventure.
Several variants of this song have been produced with Straw Hat Pirates singing the lyrics. The earliest, originally released on 2004's Character Song Album 2, featured every member up to Nico Robin; this version was briefly used as an anime opening during the Enies Lobby Arc's "recap" period (Episode 279 to 283), accompanied by the same visuals as the first opening.
In 2009, an updated version was released, incorporating vocals from both Franky and Brook.
Originally aired at the promotional showing of One Piece for America, this version was one of the many theme song demos 4Kids produced for the show at the time.[2] This version was sung by Russ Velasquez. The song's appearance in the convention led to many English speaking fans becoming excited over seeing the series. After 4Kids gained the rights to the series, this introduction was dropped in favor of the One Piece Rap.
Now it's time to set sail for a mystery Don't know where we will go or what we're gonna see
ONE PIECE!
Gotta find a crew, and then I'll work 'em to the bone There's just no time to rest, it's all mine, and mine alone I've always believed this is my destiny To be the greatest pirate the world has ever seen!
If you're not by my side, then you'd better run and hide We'll defend 'til the end, all of our friends On that you can depend!
Now it's time to set sail for a mystery Don't know where we will go or what we're gonna see We will never give up the ship or the hunt One hope, one dream, one day...
The Funimation-dubbed anime produced two English versions of the song:
The first, a sort of "stopgap" made for the television broadcast of Episode 152, was translated by Jerry Jewell and Justin Cook, and sung by Jewell. As of this writing, it has not been given any official release.
The second, produced for DVD releases, was translated by Mike McFarland and sung by Vic Mignogna. This version accompanied every release of the corresponding East Blue episodes as well as the release version of Episode 152, making it for all intents and purposes the only official English version.
Narrator: Wealth, fame, power... Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates, attained this and everything else the world had to offer. And his dying words drove countless souls to the seas.
Gold Roger: You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place! Now you just have to find it!
Narrator: These words lured men to the Grand Line in pursuit of dreams greater than they've ever dared to imagine! This is the time known as 'The Great Pirate Era'!
Pandaman makes a cameo in this opening. He is seen running with a sword along with the rest of the enemy pirates on the right side of the screen just as Zoro begins to use his sword attack.
Don Krieg's appearance was drawn with long hair, rather than his short hair as he appears in the series. The image used was used directly from his wanted poster as opposed to his current appearance.
Interestingly, Smoker's cigars were not edited in the 4kids version. Within the actual episodes, however, they were edited.
During his appearance in this opening, Smoker's hair retained the manga color white, instead of the grey anime color.
In Arlong's shot, the writing on Arlong Park says "Arlone" instead of Arlong.
Although shots of Alvida next to Loguetown's fountain, Smoker and Dragon are shown, this opening is not used during the Loguetown Arc, where these characters appear.
We Are! Straw Hat version is the last 1:50 run time opening.
At 5 episodes, this version has also lasted shorter than any other thus far.
This version is also the first opening to not include the song's lyrics.
An instrumental version of this song is used as background music for each episode preview for the first half of the series, before being substituted by We Go! instrumentals for previews of Episode 518 and onwards.
In the Odex version, the song is exactly the same as the Japanese version. However, the narration at the beginning was translated.
While this was the first Japanese song to receive an English version, the third opening was actually the first to be aired alongside an English dub.
In Chapter 339 of the manga Gantz, a group of people who were being abducted by aliens sang the first verse of the One Piece theme song, to keep their spirits up.
The original opening was featured in Shonen Jump’s 45 Year Anime Opening Collection DVD.[1]
In Episode 10 of Kiss Him, Not Me, the main character, Kae Serinuma, directly quotes the opening lines of We Are! during a treasure hunt. In the episode's English dub, she misquotes the Funimation dub version of the song by asking her friends: "Are you ready for adventure? Well, come aboard and bring along your hopes and dreams!"
