On April 30, 2022, Chibi Maruko-chan aired its 1500th episode. In commemoration of that, Maruko herself made a brief cameo in a One Piece episode. The episode she appears in is available for free online from Tver until May 8, 2022. This episode is actually the “A Special Episode to Admire Zoro-senpai and Sanji-senpai! Barto’s Secret Room 2!” special, which covers Sanji and Zoro’s activities thus far in the Wano Country arc.
Chibi Maruko-chan originated as a shoujo manga that ran from 1986 until 2016. The TV show started in 1995, and is still running. Chibi Maruko-chan follows the story of Momoko Sakura, whose nickname is Maruko. She is a troublemaking elementary school student who lives in suburban Japan with her family.
One Piece’s eye-catches have the wanted order of the crew appear on-screen, allowing you to see the bounty on their heads. In the eye-catch, Maruko has a bounty of 1,500 Bellies. This is a reference to the fact that her show has 1500 episodes. This also does mean that Maruko has a higher bounty on her head than Chopper of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Despite originating from different magazines, Chibi Maruko-chan and One Piece have appeared together in the past. When Momoko Sakura, the manga artist behind Chibi Maruko-chan, passed away in 2018, Oda drew a tribute to her showing Luffy and Maruko eating together.
One Piece is available on streaming sites such as Crunchyroll. The One Piece film, One Piece Film Red, will air in Japan on August 6, 2022.
