When I knew a few weeks ago that Megumi Ishitani (for those who don't know, ep.director for ep1015) was going to direct a One Piece special focused on original characters I was really, really excited, expecting it to be an amazing story. Then, today, One Piece Fan Letter dropped and it delivered everything that I could've expected from it.

In Fan Letter, Ishitani takes the solid foundations that Oda's been building over the ages and gives it a twist, letting us watch the events that takes place in the main story from the perspective of the average human from the One Piece world and by doing so, we get to see how some of the Strawhats actions have possitevely affected all those people around the world. This approach feels specially hearthwarming and relatable as we can feel this new characters are, to some degree, a representation of us, One Piece readers/watchers into the story itself, and by doing so, calling this Fan Letter couldn't fit it better.

And, it's not only that we can see ourselves into this special, but also that we can tell how Ishitani's love for One Piece shines in her direction of the episode, she's also a fan and it tells. Every second of the special feels like she's telling us "I'm the same as you, a One Piece fan, and since I'm so too, I'll thank this story that's moved our lifes so much in your regard". She embraces this vivid world with an incredibly fluid direction, intertwining each one of these short stories slowly just so in the end they're all just the story of this little girl who just wanted to tell Nami how big of a fan of hers she was.

This is an incredibly touching special for all of us that's been travelling along Luffy and the crew over the ages, and as one of those I couldn't be more grateful to Ishitani for what she's gifted us in this.

From the more moving stories such of that of a young girl that's moved by Nami's adventuring into a world of monsters while still being just a regular girl without any powers or special strenght to a younger brother that having faced death at war with his older brother learns to cherish him no matter what after witnessing Luffy's efforts to rescue Ace. From a girl that's just annoyed of missing her last chance to see Soul King perform live, some kids that like to mess with her at it's book store and some guys that likes to argue over who's the strongest swordsman in the world at a bar that provides the necessary, and to this point characteristic, One Piece comic relief.

Fan Letter embraces what One Piece really is from every angle, its very essence, forging everything into an outstandingly well directed and animated special and, although One Piece has established itself as what it is today obviously mainly due to Oda's excellent worldbuilding and writting, it's also gained it's legendary status within the anime/manga world thanks to all of us joining Luffy onto his journey, making it our own journey. All of this makes One Piece so special and gives Fan Letter it's soul, because it is not only the little girl letter to Nami, it is also our letter, our love letter, to Oda's marvellous creation.