New York City’s Mercer Labs has teamed up with Toei Animation to bring the beloved anime series “One Piece” to life in a new interactive way.
Mercer Labs, located at 21 Dey St., is an immersive art experience that seamlessly merges art and technology. Having just opened in 2024, the museum has already collaborated with Doja Cat, Robert DeNiro and the Tribeca Film Festival and Hugo Boss.
“It’s a new museum that basically has 15 installations. It has different technologies that allow us to create new art that’s been done before or new art that we are doing right now, it just takes it to the next level,” said Roy Nachum, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Mercer Labs. “As you walk through the exhibition, you discover installation after installation after installation, it’s basically a completely new museum experience.”
The latest collaboration for Mercer Labs is ONE PIECE x MERCER LABS, an installation that highlights “One Piece,” a popular anime and manga series by Eiichiro Oda. Mercer Labs partnered with Toei Animation, which brings “One Piece” to life in the anime series, to create installations that bring visuals from the beloved show to life in a new way.
“Every time we’re doing a show and there’s a new concept coming and we feel like we want to do something, we’re taking it and creating something completely new from what it is,” said Nachum. “‘One Piece’ was very exciting because I love anime, I was always looking up to that and it was a very interesting moment to collaborate with them.”
ONE PIECE x MERCER LABS spans across 11 rooms, highlighting the show’s protagonists, the Straw Hat Pirates, and their adventures in the Land of Wano Arc. When you step into the installation, you will first find the Window Room, which portrays the Straw Hats setting sail for Wano, followed by a huge room with swings that projects scenes from the show, such as the Straw Hats’ captain, Monkey D. Luffy, in his battle with the main antagonist in the Wano Arc, Kaido, captain of the Beast Pirates.
Throughout the installation, you’ll find more imagery from the Land of Wano in a new, immersive way. Installation highlights include the Infinite Room, which is a mirrored corridor that shows the Straw Hats’ ship the Thousand Sunny on the open sea; the Dragon Room, which features the battle between characters Zoro and King; a sound room that allows visitors to take in the sounds of the ocean; and the Cave Room, covered in pink hydrangeas, showing clips of character Momonoske in his dragon form.
“We’ve been working directly with the ‘One Piece’ team. This is a true collaboration and with their vision and our vision, we see basically eye to eye. We just put this thing that came to life, so we didn’t compare it to other genres,” said Nachum. “We created something that’s completely new and different.”
Nachum says that you need not be a “One Piece” fan to enjoy the installation.
“You don’t need to know ‘One Piece’ to enjoy the show. I feel like this is the discovery moment of walking through the space and see anime in different forms with different technology. We’ll get you inspired no matter what,” said Nachum. “It’s a great show to come ane see. It’s a moment to escape, it’s a moment to go into a dream, it’s a moment to feel a certain way.”
Individual tickets for ONE PIECE x MERCER LABS are for sale, with $55 for general admission, $50 for students, seniors (65+), and youth, and $75 for VIP, which comes with a complimentary mochi, a customized beverage, and a commemorative poster.
ONE PIECE x MERCER LABS will be on display through Nov. 30. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.mercerlabs.com.
