Why "One Piece" Echoes with Readers?
Eiichiro Oda masterfully reminds us the key to a strong story.
Kazuhiko Torishima (鳥嶋和彦), legendary editor of Dragon Ball, once famously criticized Eiichiro Oda (尾田榮一郎)’s One Piece. Torishima described Oda’s compositions as “messy”, the flow among his action sequences as “ill-defined”, and the overall story as “boring”.
A year later, One Piece became a bestseller. Torishima acknowledged his mistake, “Oda’s is very gifted in character development. Along with the written dialogues, strong world-building and touching friendship-arcs, Oda is unquestionably a very successful manga creator.”
Every creator is different. To me, the biggest strength in Oda’s work lies in his great skills in his ability to tell a very character-driven story.
The premise of the book was simple: a boy named Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming the pirate king and searched for the ultimate treasure of the sea known as One Piece. On his journey, he recruited crew members, each with his/her unique sets of talents, baggages, and dreams.
Each character has his/her own touching storyline, and those stories ultimately circle back to become reasons why he/she eventually joins the crew. The emotional arches are very well developed. When an author can touch the reader repeatedly, the story is bound to go far.
There were dialogues that made me laugh with happy tears, and scenes that made me cry with sad tears. Many tears were shed.
To top it off, Oda’s had a solid world-building talent. The world of One Piece contains its own history and complicated geopolitics among bandits, pirates, the world government, and political factions. Did I mention it also has tons of fighting actions to get your heart pumping?
In terms of art, Oda often pulls the “camera-angle” for a more drastic effect.
“I like to make the character at the front really big, and the ones behind really tiny. This gives more depth to the scene.” ~Eiichiro Oda, via a Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine interview.
One Piece is a story where a bunch of dreamers get together on a boat to go on an adventure of a lifetime. They cheer each other on and always have each other’s back. Isn’t that what we all strife for in life, to chase our separate dreams together with a group of trustworthy friends?
You can almost taste the salty sea water, almost hear the boy’s exciting, booming voice calling out to you: “Adventure is on the horizon!”
How can a reader resist to dive in?
Luffy will be part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this week, which is a VERY big deal. The parade is highly selective. This means the series have made a strong footprint in American pop culture.
(On a side note, because I am also a big fan of picture books, check out Melissa Sweet’s beautiful book Balloons Over Broadway to learn more about the story behind the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. ♥︎)
The live-action series in 2023 became the #1 show on Netflix, and it made #1 in 84 countries!
As of 2023, the story of One Piece is still ongoing. After working on it for more than 25 years, rumors had it that Oda is planning to end the series soon. Although he had said that many times before. Who knows?
In the mean time, the grand adventure continues.
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As a general guideline for parents, educators and librarians, the recommended age for One Piece is 14+. Although there are no nudity scenes, there are sexual references, and fighting scenes can at times be violent.
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Do you enjoy reading One Piece? Who is your favorite character and character’s story arc so far? I look forward to your thoughts on the comments section below.