Anime fans who also have a taste for sports-themed apparel have much to look forward to as Nike seems to have dropped a tease regarding a potential collaboration with One Piece. The Japanese wing of the Oregon-based company recently took to its social media handle to share a mysterious post that appeared to hint at a partnership with one of the most popular anime series on the planet.
Nike teases One Piece collaboration with cryptic post
On August 6, Nike Japan shared an image on its X (formerly Twitter) account that featured a massive orange-colored stone block covered in ancient script, stationed adjacent to a neighborhood.
Notably, the gigantic stele seemed to be a nod to the Poneglyphs that feature in the One Piece anime. Poneglyphs are ancient stone tablets that contain cryptic messages from the past in the One Piece timeline.
Nike’s social media update also comes with a caption that reads, “ROMANCE DAWN – The Dawn of Adventure,” which is, once again, a reference to the fan-favorite Japanese franchise. In One Piece lore, “Romance Dawn” serves as the title of the first chapter of Eiichiro Oda’s original manga.
Some fans actually managed to decode the message written in Nike’s tease, which appears to be a reference to Monkey D. Luffy’s Gomu Gomu no Mi fruit. Explaining the message via an X update, Andy Collectz noted, “The message on the sign on the left roughly translates to, ‘I have arrived here and am leading Nike to 5656.’ 5656 is a Japanese numeric wordplay for ‘Gomu Gomu,’ referencing Luffy’s Gomu Gomu no Mi fruit.”
Notably, three rumored designs of Nike’s Air Max Plus range, revolving around One Piece’s Devil Fruits, caught fans’ attention earlier this year. However, Nike has yet to confirm or deny the authenticity of these designs.
Reacting to Nike’s cryptic post, one fan wrote, “Whoever thought of this idea deserves a raise.” Another X user called for a domestic release, stating, “U.S.A. Release as well please.” Meanwhile, a third user simply expressed their excitement regarding the potential merchandise attached to the tease, noting, “Can’t wait to get my hands on these!!”
Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on ComingSoon.
