One Piece episode 1097 release date and time (and an episode 1096 refresher)

One Piece started the Egghead Island arc in January as the series transitions to focus on Dr. Vegapunk. The Pirate Crew has ended up on Egghead Island which depicts a futuristic landscape. The crew will learn about Vegapunk's role in the grand scheme of this world as the World government begins to take action.

In the previous episode of One Piece, the straw hats meets Vegapunk-01 Shaka and he reveals the connection between the Island of Ohara and the hundred year void. Luffy, Chopper, and Bonney meet the real Dr. Veagapunk at the scrapyard. The next episode will detail the interaction between Dragon and Vegapunk at the island as the straw hats learn about the Will of Ohara.

One Piece episode 1096 is titled "The Will of Ohara! The Inherited Research" and is scheduled to be released on Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. Japanese Standard Time (JST) and will be simulcast on Crunchyroll in the United States. The episode will also be available in the U.S. on Saturday, March 16, 2024.

The new episode of One Piece will be released in the following time zones found below:

• 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time 
• 9:00 p.m. Central Time 
• 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time Zone 
• 3:00 a.m. in the UK 
• 7:30 am India Standard Time 
• 11:30 a.m. in Australia

READ MORE: Here’s exactly when you can watch One Piece episode 1096 on Crunchyroll

One Piece  episode 1096 recap

In the previous episode, the Straw Hats discover that nine hundred years ago there was a civilization as advanced as Egghead Island. Vegapunk-01 begins to shed light on the one-hundred-year void and Ohara, the island Robin is formed.

Shaka believes Ohara was destroyed because they were learning the truth about the past and the void. The buster call was initiated to destroy the island and its people. Shaka believes the void involves the advanced kingdoms in a battle with the 20 kingdoms that eventually formed into the world government.

The world government took down the advanced kingdom and is actively seeking to keep the void under wraps. The crew are shocked to be learning this information as Robin becomes suspicious of Shaka.

Shaka technically works for the government, but he believes that Ohara's will lives on and details his connection to the land. He was close with Professor Clover, a famous archaeologist who was fascinated with history and he took action to learn about the void. Clover went on several journeys to learn about the world and established scholarly roots in Ohara to learn more about the past.

A flashback showed the confrontation between the government and the scholars, and it resulted in them activating the Buster Call. As Clover was about to name the mysterious advanced kingdom, he was shot and the navy followed it by destroying the rest of the island. When Vegapunk arrived at the island after the attack, he found a pile of books in the lake at the center of the island. He believed the archaeologist spent their last moments trying to preserve the literature and Robin remembers her last moment with her mom and Saul.

Robin asks Shaka about the location of the books, and he reveals that he encountered Dragon when he saw the books. The episode then cuts to Luffy and Chopper as they stumbled upon an old robot in a scrapyard. They explore the giant robot, and they try calling out to it to see if it has an autonomous response.

Suddenly, they feel a force hit the body of the robot, and it is revealed to be an old man stuck on a chunk of metal. As Luffy helps him out, the old man reveals that he knows Luffy is Dragon's son, and he spots Bonney as well. The group discovers that the old man is the real Dr. Vegapunk as they fly into the sky with their boots at the end of the episode.

READ MORE: Here’s exactly when you can watch One Piece episode 1095 on Crunchyroll