Bandai Namco Entertainment has announced ONE PIECE COLLEGE BASKETBALL: US VOYAGE, a new promotional campaign that will bring the anime franchise into NCAA basketball arenas across the U.S. starting on January 23. The project will involve five universities: Gonzaga, Rutgers, St. John’s, Houston, and Illinois, each hosting a set of ONE PIECE-themed games between January 23 and March 4.
Each school will feature three official NCAA games with ONE PIECE branding and events. These include:
- Custom promotional videos played in the arena
- ONE PIECE-themed arena visuals
- Halftime performances or special timeout shows
- Students in select sections will also receive exclusive collaboration T-shirts.
- Giveaways of a limited-edition poster and a promotional Monkey D. Luffy card from the ONE PIECE Card Game
Marching bands and cheer teams at halftime will perform a special arrangement of the anime’s iconic theme “We Are!” at select games, except for St. John’s, which will host a ONE PIECE segment during a timeout. Two games will also feature shout-out videos from the cast of the Netflix live-action adaptation (at Rutgers on January 23 and at St. John’s on February 6).
All games will be nationally televised. The schedule includes:
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights: Jan 23 (Indiana), Jan 27 (Michigan State), Feb 7 (Nebraska)
- Gonzaga Bulldogs: Jan 24 (San Francisco), Jan 31 (Saint Mary’s, Halftime Show), Feb 10 (Washington State)
- St. John’s Red Storm: Feb 6 (UConn, Special Show), Feb 9 (Xavier), Feb 28 (Villanova)
- Houston Cougars: Feb 14 (Kansas State, Halftime Show), Feb 21 (Arizona), Mar 4 (Baylor)
- Illinois Fighting Illini: Feb 15 (Indiana), Feb 27 (Michigan, Halftime Show), Mar 3 (Oregon)
The campaign includes co-branded T-shirts for each school and custom posters featuring Luffy. Also included is a limited-edition Monkey D. Luffy card marked “US VOYAGE” as part of the ONE PIECE Card Game. All items will be distributed while supplies last.
The ONE PIECE manga by Eiichiro Oda first began in July 1997, and the series exceeded 500 million circulating copies worldwide in August 2022. It also celebrated the 25th anniversary in 2022, while the anime adaptation started in October 1999 and is also still going strong. It is set to enter the Elbaph Island arc in April 2026 after a 3-month break.
Upcoming Projects
- Netflix’s live-action series returns this year, with Season 3 already confirmed
- The franchise also has the upcoming remake anime by WIT Studio
- One Piece: Heroines novel focused on the female characters is getting an anime
Source: Press Release
©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha
©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation
©Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.
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