Copy of Interviews

ONE PIECE, THE MODERN EPIC TAKING OVER THE WORLD

Created by Eiichiro Oda, and with over One Thousand chapters and five-hundred million copies sold in Japan and worldwide, One Piece is on the cusp of becoming the best selling comic in history, already surpassing Spiderman and Batman, and less than a hundred million copies away from Superman’s nearly hundred year sales numbers. One Piece has grown from weekly Comic to world phenomenon; Japan is inundated in One Piece mania, German Football clubs display One Piece Banners, Olympic Athletes during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics made One Piece references, American Football players put One Piece references in their Uniforms, and One Piece latest movie, titled “One Piece, Movie RED” took over Time Square in a promotional stunt that captivated a nation.

Today we sit with Kumori Comic’s own Borja Chavarri, who with the help of friend and Co-Host Stefano, is running a special Podcast dedicated to analyse One Piece from its first chapter to its last.

KC: To what do you attribute One Piece success

BC: Well, Oda’s dedication to the story is a good start, the man had been toying with the idea for a decade before publication, and it is said the Oda lives and dies for One Piece, but beyond that I think it is a perfect storm of a man who knows what he is writing about, a team who understands how to get the best out of Oda, and a company that has been willing to stand behind Oda all the way.

KC: You make it sound really easy.

BC: Indeed, and it was not. According to interviews and Oda’s own statement, One Piece was a hard pitch to sell. Shonen Jump, the magazine publishing One Piece, was facing a big slump after Dragon Ball Z ended, it was desperately needing a new hit, and there were too many “Dragon Ball inspired stories” coming their way. Oda was no exception, he carries his Dragon Ball inspiration on his sleeve, and his story did not seem the immediate appeal other stories of the time. One Piece’s art-style is very distinct, and its settings and world are a big departure from what you saw in magazines at the time, plus Pirates weren’t a phenomenon yet.

KC: How did One Piece get into the door then

BC: Oda had won awards for his work, paid his dues as an assistant for other creators in Shonen Jump, and received backing from luminaries such as Akira Toriyama, the creators of Shonen’s last great success Dragon Ball. Such pedigree helped the unorthodox story take root.

KC: One Piece has run for twenty five years now, in both anime and manga, with a weekly schedule, such pace would kill most men passion and talent, and yet Oda keeps pushing.

BC: I think Oda may be a genius in his own right, not only he is a huge history buff, I think he may be a craftsman in the trues sense of the world, someone who lives and dies for their work. It would not be an exaggeration to compare Oda with historical characters such as DaVinci, Michael Jordan, Dali, and Kubrick as a creator and artist; Oda seems to be the kind of man that lives for the challenge, and the harder the pressure the stronger he becomes. Of all the artists running in Japanese Weekly Magazines he seems to be the only one getting bigger and better regularly.

KC: What would attract a fan to the story

BC: You have The World, The Characters, The Power System, The Lore; there is so much that is hard to know were to start. Oda has built a world where everything is possible, from Islands in the Sky to tribes of Anthropomorphic Animals living in islands locked in perpetual winter, or on the back of colossal elephants and no one questions it because Oda makes it make sense. The fact that Oda is a brilliant visual storyteller helps you get lost in the world as many daily things are not eplained because they make sense at a single glance. The main cast is also a riot, Luffy and the Straw Hat crew are characters on their own right, and you feel they could be real, maybe even be your friend.

KC: What do you think is the future for One Piece

BC: Well, Oda has stated he will finish the story in five years from 2022, but at the current pace I would give it a couple of extra years as wiggle room. Oda is paying a lot of mysteries he put forward early in the story, and as he does he makes every remaining mystery more and more appealing. I believe that by the time we see the end of One Piece we will be looking at the Best Selling Comic in history, and a franchise that will give Star Wars and Marvel a run for their money.