The Mastermind Behind Luffy’s Scariest Scene Is Back in One Piece Episode 1146

One Piece is about to drop episode 1146 on Sunday, October 19, 2025, and there is a very good reason fans are buzzing: animator Akihiro Ota is back. If the Luffy vs Lucci throwdown in episode 1100 is burned into your brain, you already know why this matters.

Why Ota returning is a big deal

In episode 1100, during the Egghead arc, Lucci goes off-script and picks a fight with Luffy. Both of them go full awakened mode — Luffy in Gear 5, Lucci in his own awakened form — and they proceed to tear through the Fabiriophase area like it owes them money. Ota handled a chunk of that battle, including a moment from Lucci’s perspective that gave Luffy a full-on demonic aura: glowing red eyes, a too-wide grin, and that unhinged, reality-warping power Gear 5 loves to flex.

Before Lucci can even piece together his next move, Luffy smashes him into a nearby structure. The way the environment warps around Luffy, the smear and stretch, the dirt and debris as Lucci hits the buildings — it all has that 'oh, they went all out' polish. That sequence is one of the more striking bits of animation in recent One Piece, and yeah, fans are understandably hyped to see Ota’s name pop up again for episode 1146.

So when can you watch episode 1146?

• Eastern Time (ET): Sunday, October 19, 2025 - 11:45 AM
• Pacific Time (PT): Sunday, October 19, 2025 - 9:15 AM
• Central Time (CT): Sunday, October 19, 2025 - 10:45 AM
• Japan Standard Time (JST): Sunday, October 19, 2025 - 11:15 PM
• Greenwich Mean Time (GMT): Sunday, October 19, 2025 - 4:45 PM

Ota’s One Piece track record

Ota’s first brush with One Piece came while he was still studying under Koudai Watanabe. He contributed to episode 870 — the Snakeman Luffy vs Katakuri showdown — specifically the bit where Katakuri uses his foresight. It was a small slice, but it hinted at what was coming.

Since then, he’s been credited on episodes 1072, 1100, 1112, 1122, and 1127, and he’s also worked on Luffy’s Gear 5 power-up scene. His thing is fluid motion that makes characters feel like they’re actually throwing their weight around. He leans into dramatic shape changes — characters morph mid-action — and his lines and forms sell the force behind every hit. Over time, his grasp of muscles, scales, and movement has gotten sharper, and you can see that payoff in how he handles the cartoon elasticity of Gear 5 without losing impact. His sequences tend to pop off the screen, and he’s great at turning quick, agile movement into something you can feel through the frame.

The bottom line

Akihiro Ota coming back for episode 1146 is a very good sign if you’re here for big, expressive action and the wildness of Gear 5 done right. One Piece is currently streaming on Crunchyroll, so you know where to be on October 19.