Those that have been wanting to watch the English dub of ONE PIECE in the UK can now do so, as following on from the announcement last week, the series has now begun streaming in English on BBC iPlayer within the UK.
As previously reported 206 episodes, which cover the East Blue, Alabasta and Skypiea arcs, are currently available to stream in English with the remaining 879 episodes being added throughout the year. This means that by the end of year we’ll be able to watch over 1000 episodes in English dubbed form, which takes viewers to the conclusion of “Land of Wano” arc.
Synopsis: Monkey D. Luffy is a boy with big dreams. This daring rubber-man refuses to let anyone or anything stand in the way of his quest to become king of all pirates. With a course charted for the treacherous waters of the Grand Line, Luffy strikes out in search of a crew – and a boat. Along the way he’ll do battle with scallywag clowns, fishy foes, and an entire fleet of marines eager to see him walk the plank. The stakes are high, but with each adventure, Luffy adds a new friend to his gang of Straw Hat Pirates! Like his hero Gold Roger, this is one captain who’ll never drop anchor until he’s claimed the greatest treasure on Earth – the Legendary One Piece!
It is also important to note that the English dub available on BBC iPlayer is the uncut FUNimation (Crunchyroll) English dub, and is presented in it’s original aspect ratio, which is the same version that is included with the UK (and US) DVD and Blu-Ray releases of the series. Sadly it seems the episodes on BBC iPlayer have been converted to PAL format, as opposed to using the original NTSC format, so the fps and visual quality may differ compared to the DVD or Crunchyroll versions of the series.
Regardless, the addition of English dubbed episodes of ONE PIECE on BBC iPlayer is a welcome addition to platform, as previously the only way to watch English dubbed episodes of the series was to purchase the DVD (and now Blu-Ray) releases from Crunchyroll. The series is available to stream on Crunchyroll in the UK (with new episodes from Egghead arc also available on Netflix UK), but these episodes are only presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
It is also unclear if the BBC are planning to broadcast the series on TV, as the series itself has been added to the BBC Three catalog of shows, but for the time being at least those interested in watching ONE PIECE in English can do so on BBC iPlayer.
