On Monday the One Piece anime series began airing Monday through Thursday nights on the Cartoon Network at 10 pm (ET, PT).  One Piece is sandwiched between Yu-Gi-Oh!, which starts at 9:30 pm and Dragon Ball Z, which airs at 10:30 and leads in to the Cartoon Network's popular Adult Swim Block, which currently includes Family Guy, Futurama, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Inuyasha, Full Metal Alchemist, and Cowboy Bebop.  One Piece will continue its popular Toonami block run on Saturday nights when it airs at 10 pm (ET, PT) and 10:30 pm.

One Piece is one of the most popular anime series in Japan with well over 200 episodes, so the property should have loads of staying power on American TV and is perfect for daily 'stripping.'  The property's newfound visibility on the Cartoon Network should create interest in a growing array of One Piece merchandise. In addition to the anime series, which will start to appear on DVD in the U.S. this fall, Viz has the popular One Piece manga, Bandai is set to release a One Piece TCG in September (see 'Bandai to Release One Piece TCG'), Artbox has One Piece Trading Cards, and Mattel is set to launch a One Piece toy line in the fourth quarter.