One Piece’s anime commenced its best backstory yet in its Spring 2025 return, with many questions still left unanswered about Kuma’s past and his decision to become a Pacifista. While Bonney has already seen through Kuma’s memories before the main fight began, we are just now learning the truth. The latest Episode 1130, was absolutely horrifying because of the Native Hunting Competition in God Valley. The Celestial Dragons were already hated for their atrocities before, but there’s no limit to how low they can get after getting free rein from the World Government to do as they please.
The World Government allows them complete freedom while the Admirals do everything they can to protect them while ignoring their horrible actions. Although Kuma may have escaped the hell in God Valley and doesn’t live as a slave anymore, the happiness he felt in the Sorbet Kingdom is nothing but a fleeting moment. We have yet to see the worst part, and for some of us, including One Piece’s most beloved animators, there’s a strong possibility it’ll be the first time seeing how much worse it can still get. Kuma’s backstory is extremely dark, and it’s difficult to process how one character can suffer so much. It’s not just fans, but even the animators have difficulty when it comes to learning more about him, so much so that one of them hasn’t even read the backstory yet.
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Megumi Ishitani Didn’t Even Read Kuma’s Backstory
Megumi Ishitani shared on her X account, “I don’t like watching stories that I know from the beginning will be sad, so I haven’t even read the original manga, let alone the Kuma Arc anime… (It took me a long time to decide to read Summit War as well.) Everyone tells me that if they read it, they will cry, so it’s hard to read… The sadness of not being able to ride this big wave.”
In another post, she shared her experience of working on the Fan Letter, which showed glimpses of the Summit War: “The Summit War makes you feel like you’re left alone on a devastated battlefield, so while I was making it, I kept saying I didn’t want to reread it.”
Ishitani is a famous animator, especially for her work in One Piece. She first joined the team in 2022 and has contributed significantly to visually striking episodes, openings, and the fan-favorite special episode, One Piece Fan Letter. It was released to commemorate the anime’s 25th anniversary and won fans’ hearts with brilliant storytelling and unparalleled visuals.
Although she has yet to work on any Egghead episode after Episode 1089, Ishitani is still a part of the team just as any animator. Now that the anime is featuring Kuma’s backstory, she not only confirmed that she hasn’t read it but also talked about her difficulty navigating through the Summit War during the Fan Letter’s production, which is the most heartbreaking arc in the series.
H/T: @ishigyunyu on X
