The recent collaboration between One Piece and the LA Dodgers came as a surprise to many sports and anime fans. The baseball team’s collaborations with well-known Japanese creators and brands have become common in recent years, and its collaboration with Toei Animation for a One Piece promotion seems to be a hint at more partnerships in the future.
The MLB is no stranger to anime collaborations, with the MLB Tokyo Series working with Demon Slayer producers Ufotable to promote the event and its players. Rather than putting real players in an anime setting, One Piece’s association with the LA Dodgers takes the opposite approach by giving Luffy the team’s uniform and the role of the pitcher. This collaboration could be taken even further in the digital space, making for an interesting anime game.
Related
Seattle Mariners Will Also Host One Piece Night, Complete with T-shirt
The Seattle Mariners are the latest Major League team to announce a special One Piece night.
One Piece X LA Dodgers Proves a Shonen Sport Game Could Work
There Are Many Anime and Sport Collabs
The collaboration between the LA Dodgers and One Piece is not the first sporting crossover for the series in 2025 alone. Beyond baseball, the series’ characters have donned the kits of the German football team Borussia Dortmund, and a short animation has been released for a One Piece x LA Lakers collab. In the latter, Luffy single-handedly secures victory thanks to the powers of the Gomu Gomu no Mi, introducing the concept of anime characters using their abilities in a competitive sports setting.
One Piece isn’t the only anime to directly crossover with sports, either. The popular soccer anime and manga series Blue Lock collaborated with Inter Milan and Liverpool FC. Sport is a popular subgenre within anime, so it is no wonder that many series are collaborating with real-world teams to deepen this connection and stir excitement among fans. This is different for the One Piece collabs, though, as sports are not the primary focus of that series, yet the crossover works so well. If other franchises follow the same path, a case could be made for a sports video game.
Filling a Gap in the Market
A sports game crossing over with prominent pop culture figures is not unfounded. While the series has since been retired, the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games franchise has proven that established characters can compete in a sports game. For the most part, though, the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series tries to stay true to the sporting events, not giving the characters many opportunities to showcase their unique abilities to gain the advantage, unlike what was seen in the One Piece x LA Lakers collab animation. A sports game featuring shonen heroes could push the unique abilities of these characters, with each having different strengths and weaknesses within their roles.
There are plenty of anime crossover games that have shonen protagonists and villains facing off against each other, but these are typically focused on action, like fighting games. By shifting over to sports, the competitive and cooperative environment would frame these characters in a different way, leading to creative uses of their abilities typically reserved for combat.
Related
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot – How Playing Baseball Works
Bandai Namco US tweets out a new promotion for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot that gives an in-depth look at how the baseball mini-game will work.
A Shonen Sports Game Could Have Diverse Characters and Events
Instead of pitting these characters against one another in a test of strength, their abilities would combine as a team in different sporting events. Using the LA Dodgers One Piece collab as an example, Luffy would be a great pitcher, and possibly even better in the outfield. A character like Zoro could use his Three Sword Style as a batter, putting more power into his strike. Stepping away from One Piece, Naruto could use his Shadow Clone technique to duplicate himself, with players controlling two doppelgangers with each control stick to increase their chances of catching the ball. One Punch Man’s Saitama could hit consistent home runs, but to keep him balanced, he may leave the event immediately after, remembering that it is bargain day.
An Anime Sports Game Wouldn’t Be Confined to Just Baseball
Stepping away from the plate, an anime sports game wouldn’t need to just be restricted to baseball, spanning multiple sports and events using the characters’ distinct powersets. Okuyasu’s stand The Hand from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has the ability to erase anything its right palm touches when in motion, including empty space. This would give him the ability to pull opposing characters towards him in a soccer game mode, or close the gap in a race. Events like shooting and archery could be replaced completely to compensate for the high-power abilities of Frieren’s spells or Goku’s Ki Blasts.
Using shonen characters could also lead to many unique gameplay mechanics related to them. Across all sports, Shigeo from Mob Psycho 100, also known as Mob, may be one of the weaker characters of the roster initially, with a meter that gradually builds up over the course of gameplay. Once this reaches 100%, his esper abilities are maximized, making him one of the most dangerous opponents to face in any sport. This meter could even be filled quicker when he is on the losing team, leading to some risky strategies that encourage losses to gain access to Mob at his peak.
The cast of Jujutsu Kaisen could also offer a lot to a sports game roster. Each of Jujutsu Kaisen’s characters has cursed techniques, some of which are unique to the user. No two characters from this series are alike, adding a lot of variety to the cast of an anime sports game. A character like Yuta would be very interesting, as he could copy the abilities of other jujutsu sorcerers. Those who are capable of using the Black Flash would add a level of skill to some characters, meaning that players who can perfect the timing are rewarded massively.
Luffy’s appearance in the LA Dodgers collab with One Piece makes a strong case for an anime crossover sports game, starring some of the strongest anime characters. The novel way in which they use their abilities in battle makes a case for the many ways these could be used within sport. These could be on full display in a crossover sports video game, giving players the chance to assume control of their favorite shonen heroes and use their powers in a different context.