"One Piece" episode 780 titled "A Hungry Front! Luffy and the Navy Rookies!" will be released on March 19. Originally, it was scheduled to be released on March 12 but it was cancelled due to Nagoya Women's Marathon 2017.
Also on March 12, Sunday, Harucon 2017 was held at the International Conventions Center in Jerusalem, Israel. Organized by the Association for Manga and Anime in Israel, the convention dedicated to Japanese manga and anime was attended by more than 3,500 visitors.
Japan's ambassador to Israel Koji Tomita, 59, attended the event cosplaying as Monkey D. Luffy from Eiichiro Oda's "One Piece." He said was very embarrassed wearing a suit in Harucon 2016 and invited the audience to visit Japan if they want to know more about the country, Asahi Shimbun quoted him as saying.
Also present during Harucon 2017 were Japanese voice actors Toshio Furukawa, 70, and Shino Kakinuma, 51. For the former, who is married to the latter, it is surprising that Japanese animation and subculture are appreciated with excitement beyond borders and languages, NHK quoted him as saying.
Furukawa voiced Ataru Moroboshi in "Urusei Yatsura," Asuma Shinohara in "Mobile Police Patlabor," Portgas D. Ace in "One Piece" and Piccolo in "Dragon Ball." On the other hand, Kakinuma voiced Naru Osaka in "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" and Videl in "Dragon Ball Kai."
In the "Dragon Ball" manga by Akira Toriyama, Piccolo has four fingers but he has five in the anime series. The character is seen with red blood during the fight between him and Goku and on another fight with Raditz when he loses one arm.
As for Luffy, he is known for his trademark straw hat. When he was young, legendary pirate captain Red-Haired lent it to him.
Meanwhile, here is a "One Piece" episode 779 review: