Regarding world-building, One Piece is one of the few series/Mangas that manages to do it flawlessly. With 1000+ episodes, it can get a little hard to navigate through significant moments in this anime adventure series, such as when the Straw Hat Pirates finally got themselves a new ship.
Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece centers on the exciting new adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew called the Straw Hat Pirates. Throughout the series, we see these eccentric pirates go out into the ocean searching for “One Piece,” a treasure sure to grant its holder the title of “King of Pirates.”
Leading up to the episode where Straw Hats finally gets a new ship, we see that Going Merry took a lot of damage and eventually had to be given a respectful Viking funeral. Going Merry was a token of gratitude given to Straw Hats by the Syrup Village after defeating the nefarious Black Cat Pirates.
What Episode Do The Straw Hats Get A New Ship?
After their first full-sized ship had to be laid to rest, The Straw Hats got a new ship called the “Thousand Sunny” in Episode 321. This new brigantine-style ship was almost twice as big as Merry and had diverse architecture throughout its structure.
Thousand Sunny was built by Franky and given to the Straw Hats Pirates after the assault on Enies Lobby. He came up with the spectacular design when he was just a child, but Franky’s dream remained stagnant after losing Tom.
When the Straw Hat Pirates came along, and Franky was impressed by the warm and strong companionship of Luffy and his crew, he decided to revitalize his dream and build the ship using money his gang stole from Straw Hat.
The episode then shows the Straw Hat Pirates convincing Franky to join them as their shipwright. This task is easier said than done as Franky does want to join them but feels held back due to what he had gone through in his past.
Thousand Sunny: About The Powerful Ship
Besides having a fun appearance, Thousand Sunny has tons of features that make it more powerful than Merry, although both ships share the same soul. Franky made sure that all of the materials used would help create a ship that could withstand any kind of weather or damage.
Thousand Sunny was built using Adam Wood, a wood sourced from a special type of tree that’s very strong and durable. The high quality undeniably comes at an expensive price, with Franky paying almost 200,000,000 berries.
The Straw Hats crew had many requests that initially seemed unreasonable, but with Franky’s genius mind, Thousand Sunny was built with many exciting features that we see being used in the rest of the episodes.
With 3 barrels of Cola, Thousand Sunny can fly for around 1 km, a mechanism that’s not seen in many ships. This ship also had a special safety function, which has 5 different channels to handle different situations in which the ship could end up.
Franky had finally built Thousand Sunny after days of working on it continuously, and this ship was revealed to the Straw Hats by Iceburg. The abilities of Sunny are clearly demonstrated when Garp attacks the ship with a comically large iron ball.
Thousand Sunny can blast itself out of the Iron ball’s path with a mechanism that Franky calls “Coup de Burst.”
Whenever caught up in the middle of a powerful storm, Thousand Sunny can also paddle its way out of the turbulent waters using its Paddle Wheels. The Prow of this ship consists of a cannon that lies in the Lion’s mouth.
Due to the amount of cola that the cannon technique uses up, it’s sparingly used by the Straw Hat Pirates. The lion’s mane can also turn into a propeller, helping the ship quickly escape attacks by taking it backward.
Each channel consists of useful tools and builds that can come into use when the situation calls for it. While the Paddle Wheels make up the first channel, the rest of them include Shiro Mokuba I in Channel 1, Mini Merry II in Channel 2, Shark Submerge III in Channel 3, Kurosai FR-U IV in Channel 4, and Brachio Tank V in Channel 5.
The 6th channel consists of an inflatable pool. Thousand Sunny has a lawn on its deck, a large aquarium, and a stunning and spacious kitchen, much to Sanji’s delight. While Going Merry will always be remembered for its work, Thousand Sunny has proven itself to be just as, if not more, iconic than the Straw Hat Pirates’ previous ship.
Also Read: One Piece Filming Locations: Where is the Netflix Live-Action Filmed?
