Ahead of Thanksgiving Day, Toei Animation revealed that Luffy from One Piece is joining the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Along with the announcement, Toei also gave us our first look at the Luffy balloon.
Monkey D. Luffy joining the parade has definitely been a long time coming, and he arrives at the perfect time.
After all, the series not only celebrated its 1000th episode this year, but Netflix’s live-action adaptation also skyrocketed the series’ popularity even among non-anime fans.
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Is Increasingly Featuring Anime
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a long-running parade that happens annually in New York City. This event was started in 1924 by Macy’s, one of the most well-known department store chains in the US.
The parade has since become one of the most anticipated events of Thanksgiving, enough that it is televised nationwide, meaning the parade can be enjoyed not only by New York City residents.
One of the biggest highlights of the parade is the various balloons that often depict popular American characters. Recently though, anime characters have become a more common sight in the parade.
For instance, Toei Animation debuted their Goku balloon at the 2018 parade. Since then, Goku has been a fixture of the Thanksgiving celebration. This year’s parade will also feature the Dragon Ball fan favorite.
Along with Goku, another popular character from the world of anime is Pikachu, the most popular and most recognizable figure in Pokemon.
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Luffy Is Coming to the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
This year, anime fans have even more to look forward to as Toei Animation announced that One Piece's Luffy will also join the parade this November.
Toei also revealed the official Luffy balloon which depicts the Straw Hat Crew’s captain wearing his signature New World attire and straw hat. Luffy is also seen readying his Gum-Gum Pistol attack.
The Luffy balloon will be present at the parade, possibly alongside Goku. Given the increasing number of anime characters in the parade, it won’t be a surprise if more characters get featured in the future.
Following the balloon’s reveal, many One Piece fans got excited about this year’s Thanksgiving celebration given that joining the parade is a momentous celebration of the series in the US.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2023 will happen on November 23, 2023.
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