One Piece is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. As of August 2022, its individual chapters have been compiled into 103 Tankōbon volumes in Shueisha’s shonen manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump.
As of today, One Piece has published over 1000 chapters and has turned into a huge franchise, with an anime adaptation made by Toei Animation, many feature films, and numerous merchandise items.
It has been recognized as Japan’s most popular manga since the late 2000s and holds the Guinness World Record as the best-selling single-author comic book to date.
The One Piece manga is divided into two key parts – the story of One Piece: Sea of Survival: Super Rookies Saga ((サバイバルの海 超新星編 Sabaibaru no Umi: Chōshinsei-hen )[ 1-597], and The Final Sea: The New World Saga ( (最後の海 新世界編 Saigo no Umi: Shinsekai-hen).
About One Piece Manga
| Written by | Eiichiro Oda |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
| Original run | July 22, 1997 – present |
| Volumes | 102 |
| Genre | Mystery, Action, Adventure, Fantasy |
Concept and Creation
When he was young, Eiichiro Oda was inspired by Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump. As a child, he was inspired by Vicky the Viking and wanted to draw a pirate manga series. Later, he created Pandaman for Yudetamago’s Kinnikuman.
At the age of 17, Oda submitted a manga called Wanted! in 1992. The Weekly Shonen Jump staff noticed him as a promising mangaka. As a new manga writer, he began assisting established manga writers such as Shinobu Kaitani, Masaya Tokuhiro, and Nobuhiro Watsuki.
Oda was also fascinated by pirates, including Edward Teach (also known by his pirate name “Blackbeard”). In the mid-1990s, he wrote two one-shots called “Romance Dawn”. The stories introduce Monkey D. Luffy as a boy with a straw hat who embarks on a journey to become a legendary pirate.
Luffy’s inspiration for becoming a pirate and the mystery of a mysterious fruit that turns him into rubber – are elements of the eventual serialization of One Piece.
As of August 1997, Eiichiro Oda began using many of the ideas he had used in “Romance Dawn” in a weekly serial titled “One Piece”. The story was first serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha’s weekly shonen magazine, and became one of the magazine’s top manga series in no time.
Development
Oda created Devil Fruits in response to human desires; he believes drawing a Devil Fruit would be a waste unless its appearance would entice one to eat it.
Many special attacks in the manga have idiosyncratic names created by combining kanji phrases with personal readings. Many characters’ techniques have words that sound like food when read aloud.
For example, Zoro’s signature move is Onigiri, pronounced the same as rice ball in Japanese but written as demon cut. Eisaku Inoue, the animation director, has said that the creators did not use these kanji readings in the anime since they “might have cut down the laughs by about half.”
However, Konosuke Uda, the director, said that he believes that the creators “made the anime pretty close to the manga.”
One Piece was originally planned to run for five years (meaning it could have ended in 2002), but Oda had no idea how long the series would last!
That said, Eiichiro Oda has stated that Chapter 597 marks the end of the first half of One Piece and has already planned the ending to One Piece.
It’s safe to say that One Piece will end the way he planned from the beginning, no matter how long it takes him to complete it.
Story Plot
The Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, was executed 22 years ago. However, before he died, he revealed the location of his treasure, the “One Piece”, hidden at the end of the Grand Line. As a result, people became pirates and sailed toward the treasure, starting the Great Age of Piracy.
Twelve years later, a young boy from the East Blue named Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of finding the One Piece. After accidentally eating a Devil Fruit he acquires the properties of rubber but he lost his ability to swim.
Shanks, one of the four most powerful pirates in the world, gave Luffy a straw hat on the agreement that he would return it once he became a pirate and surpassed Shanks.
10-year letter Luffy started his journey to become the next King of the Pirates and explores the Grand Line with his pirate crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, in search of the one piece, the ultimate treasure of the deceased King of the Pirates Gol D. Roger.
Style
When the series was released, dot-eyed artwork was losing popularity, and manga and anime moved toward more popular big-eyes artwork, made famous by Sailor Moon. During the manga’s run, Eiichiro Oda was aware of the change in art style and was concerned that it would discourage people from reading it.
In one Piece’s early run, the characters had a more cartoonish and roundish design. Through time, Oda relaxed the art more, resulting in a more loose and energetic drawing style for One Piece.
In addition to its unusual art style, Oda was also concerned about its strangely drawn characters. Early production faced the problem of the “Bishie” becoming a popular form of manga character depiction and “ugly” or “weird” manga characters becoming more difficult to market.
However, these character designs have become one of One Piece’s selling points, allowing for more eccentric characters.
Real World References
Oda Sensei uses lots of real-world problems and incident and try to solve them in the One Piece world. Such as –
- Censorship – Ohara island storyline
- Classism – Wano Country Arc
- Corruption – World Government, Dolflamingo and Shogun Kurozumi.
- Drug Addiction -New Fish-Man Pirates.
List of One Piece Manga Sales by Year
Based on Oricon’s records, here are the total volume sales of One Piece manga. On 5th August Shueisha announced that the One Piece manga has sold 500 million copies all across the world as the release of the 103rd volume on the same day.
| Year | Annual Sales |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 5,956,540 |
| 2009 | 14,721,241 |
| 2010 | 32,343,809 |
| 2011 | 37,995,373 |
| 2012 | 23,464,866 |
| 2013 | 18,151,599 |
| 2014 | 11,884,947 |
| 2015 | 14,102,521 |
| 2016 | 12,314,326 |
| 2017 | 11,495,532 |
| 2018 | 8,113,317 |
| 2019 | 10,134,232 |
| 2020 | 7,709,667 |
| 2021 | 7,002,583 |
| 2022 (Half Year) | 4,155,790 |
Trivia
- The title “One Piece” has a secret meaning that only Oda knows.
- Each week, Oda Sensei works on the story for three days and then on the drawings for three more days.
- The Japan Anniversary Association has officially recognized July 22 as “One Piece Day“.
FAQ
Is the One Piece manga finished?
No; but One Piece is entering its final chapter as Eiichiro Oda said in a recent interview with Gosho Aoyama that One Piece manga will end in 3 years.
When One Piece will end?
The author has confirmed that One Piece will be completed within three to five years. So it will end within 2025-27.
How many One Piece manga is there?
There are 1054 chapters and 103 volumes of One Piece manga.
When did One Piece manga start?
On July 22, 1997, the One Piece manga started.
How to read One Piece Manga for free?
You can read One Piece Manga free at manga plus.
