Danica Davidson
May 7, 2024 
Monkey D. Luffy’s birthday just happened on May 5, and Monkey D. Luffy himself celebrated it. And by that I mean his actor in the highly successful live-action Netflix adaptation of One Piece, Iñaki Godoy, celebrated the birthday. And, wait, is that a teaser?
Check out the birthday video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeHP9jhjZXg&t
“We’re going to celebrate today with this,” Godoy says, pointing to a cake. “Luffy, thank you so much for everything that you have done for me and many others around the world. You make us happy, you aspire us to follow our dreams and you’re just the coolest pirate captain ever. I am so happy to be a part of your journey.”
At the end of the video there’s a closeup on Godoy’s face and the top of the cake. The cake has the numerical 3 on top, similar to Mr. 3’s hairstyle. So there’s speculation it could be symbolizing that we’ll see Mr. 3 next season.
The first season is streaming exclusively on Netflix, with the second scheduled to come out next year. The success of the live-action show also helped lead to an official One Piece Café being opened in Las Vegas later this month.
VIZ Media publishes the original One Piece manga by Eiichiro Oda, and gave this description for its first volume:
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy was inspired to become a pirate by listening to the tales of the buccaneer “Red-Haired” Shanks. But his life changed when Luffy accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit and gained the power to stretch like rubber…at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, still vowing to become the king of the pirates, Luffy sets out on his adventure…one guy alone in a rowboat, in search of the legendary “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…
Source: ANN
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
