The appearance of the Blackbeard Pirates and of Charlotte Pudding both in the Cover Story and in the chapter itself is a huge change for One Piece.
The current One Piece Cover Story surprises fans by immediately tying into the main manga, thus breaking one of the series’ longest traditions. As soon as the Blackbeard Pirates appear in the current Cover Story to kidnap Charlotte Pudding, the same characters also show up in the same chapter of the manga.
Cover Stories are an important, and beloved, part of One Piece, expanding the manga’s lore with side adventures that often come back to tie in with the main narrative, but usually only after a long time. Through Cover Stories, fans got to learn about Buggy’s ridiculous journey to pirate stardom, Ace’s fateful quest to track down the traitor Blackbeard, or the Straw Hat’s adventures while being separated during the famous “two years time skip”. While all these stories, and their characters, became relevant for the main plot of the manga, it usually took some time, years even, for that to happen.
Chapter #1064 of One Piece breaks this long tradition, having the Cover Story tie in immediately with the chapter itself. The current Cover Story is called “Germa 66’s Ahh… An Emotionless Excursion“, and it shows the aftermath of the Straw Hats’ adventure on Whole Cake Island, with two of Sanji’s siblings (Niji and Yonji) captured by the Big Mom Pirates, and the other two (Reiju and Ichiji) trying to save them. However, all throughout this Cover Story, there were hints that something else was going on in Big Mom’s kingdom, with mysterious figures appearing in Chocolate Town. Finally, the Cover Story of chapter #1064 shows who these figures were: the Blackbeard Pirates Aokiji and Van Augur, sent to kidnap Charlotte Pudding. Unexpectedly, the chapter itself then shows Pudding as a prisoner on the Blackbeard Pirates’ ship.
One Piece’s Cover Stories Are Now More Relevant Than Ever
Cover Stories have always been an important part of One Piece, and without them, fans would have missed many important details and development. While not all of them are actually relevant, series author Eiichiro Oda usually uses them to relay information that he lacks the time and space to fit into the manga. This is particularly important in a manga like One Piece, which has a grand arching narrative full of decades-old mysteries, and foreshadowing is one of the most common tools used by Oda. Often, the Cover Stories anticipated future developments or the return of important characters, but they have never been so relevant as is the case with “Germa 66“, where the author went so far as to hide a story inside a story. While many fans put together the clues and theorized the Blackbeard Pirates’ presence in Big Mom’s kingdom, no one expected the Cover Story and the main manga to intersect so soon.
This change of pace is yet another signal that One Piece has really entered the final part of its amazing story, and fans will have to star paying even more attention to the Cover Stories from now on.
