The anime of One Piece is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The franchise wanted to celebrate this anniversary with the fans and has invited them to several events in Europe. At the same time, Ruffy’s birthday was celebrated on the day of the event. In Germany, the event took place in Berlin. However, the feedback has been rather poor.
What was the event like? The birthday celebration took place on Ruffy’s birthday, May 5, 2024. In advance, the organizers from Toei Animation announced that the birthday party would be “epic”.
Huge balloons were supposed to be inflated all over Europe. In Germany, the balloon could be seen in Berlin. From 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, an employee from Toei Animation was supposed to welcome the guests, and “exclusive surprises” were promised at the same time.
There were to be different surprises for each city:
- In Milan, a pop-up store opened
- In London, there was an “immersive video experience”
- In Paris, fans could look forward to a “highly symbolic location”
- In Berlin and Madrid, there were supposed to be “lots of goodies”
No wonder that fans from all over Germany made their way to celebrate Ruffy’s and One Piece’s birthday. However, the feedback on the event is rather negative.
One Piece is now approaching the final stretch:
Fans pilgrimage to Ruffy’s birthday and are “really disappointed”
What did fans think of the event? On the official page, it is shown that there was a different Ruffy balloon in each city. While in France the Gear-5 Ruffy was visible, in Germany, for example, the pose for Gear-2 could be seen. It has already been an inspiration for many athletes. There was also a gigantic straw hat to see.
But aside from that, fans were rather disappointed – at least in Germany. Under a TikTok video, comments are gathering that the event was “really pathetic.” There was only the balloon, some music, and a few cosplays to marvel at.
In the video from mangakochbuch, you can see some excerpts from the event:
The “many goodies” that were promised in advance were a bag of gummy bears and postcards. A fan on TikTok, who was there for a whole two hours, supposedly didn’t even see these postcards.
Especially extreme: A fan traveled from Bonn and took on the more than 600 km journey. Other fans also traveled up to 500 km to spend four hours in front of the balloon.
Accordingly, the judgment from fans in the comments on TikTok is harsh:
- Kenneth D. Ink: “I thought you could buy stuff there.”
- Xshiavu: “Biggest letdown, it was totally boring.”
- Tenreki: “I drove 2 hours specifically. It was announced as having many surprises and a bunch of merch and then just this old postcard. I feel really cheated.”
In general, many users are using the word “disappointing.” Among French fans, the judgment is similar. In a reddit post, a user complains that he had to wait 45 minutes for a photo. The event in London was also supposed to be “underwhelming,” as there was only a stone wall with Ruffy’s Gear-4 fist.
Did you participate in the event yourself? Let us know in the comments how you perceived the event. Alternatively, you can tell us if you would like to have been at such an event.
The mangaka of One Piece has similarly bizarre ideas: The mangaka of One Piece wanted to name 2 babies after a ship
