One Piece fans discover hilarious animation error

Tristan Stringer

Someone must’ve fallen asleep at the desk while animating this scene in One Piece.

There’s a lot to keep track of when animating an artistic anime such as One Piece, where intense fight scenes, slapstick comedy, and beautiful landscapes are the norm. While cutting corners isn’t an option, mistakes can fall through the cracks when working under pressure.

One Piece goes through many animation style changes for certain arcs in the series, and guest animation crews take on the One Piece movies.

With this said, it’s during a slow-talking scene where this hilarious blink-and-you’ll-miss-it animation error was discovered, so it’s a wonder how it made it through to the final edit.

Funny animation error found in One Piece

Reddit user EnnaOjala has found an animation error in episode 238 of One Piece during the Water 7 arc, where Luffy is questioned by shipwrights Paulie and, at the time undercover, Rob Lucci for a mysterious attack on the city’s leader Iceburg.

Actually, Paulie, it’s us who deserve an explanation here. Not so much with what’s going on with Luffy, but related to why your mouth has vanished? Why has it moved down that far? Why is it still smoking?! How are you still talking? Is this a regular occurrence for you? Is this Paulie’s hidden Devil Fruit power?

We’ve heard of talking out of your ass, but speaking out of your stomach? What makes it even funnier is Paulie always smokes a cigar, so it looks like his talking gut is also packing a stogie in his pants. Adding to the comedy is the severity of the situation and Paulie’s facial hair, which makes it look like he’s just very sad about the whole thing.

Fans in the comment section come up with an explanation justifying the innocent mistake, saying that it’s an issue with animation layers and that the animators forgot to move their mouth back into position when syncing up with the voice lines. Either way, it’s hilarious, and Luffy’s expression accurately matches the concern of seeing someone who is talking out of their belly and possesses a bad smoking habit.

About The Author

Tristan graduated from Southampton Solent University in 2020 with a bachelor's in TV, Media Production, and Journalism. Previously, he's written for Nintendo Life, Dualshockers, Pocket Tactics, The Digital Fix, VideoGamer, and The Loadout as a guide, list, features, and review writer. On top of being a massive figure collector and struggling New York Yankees fan, Tristan is a Weekend Writer covering all things entertainment Dexerto, from reporting on news to writing features and guides. He can be contacted at tristan.stringer@dexerto.com.