One Piece
One Piece
One Piece (ワンピース Wan Pīsu?) is an award-winning Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, that has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997. One Piece follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a 17-year-old boy who gains elastic abilities after inadvertently eating a supernatural fruit, and his diverse crew of pirates, named the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy explores the ocean in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as the One Piece and to become the next Pirate King. On his journey, Luffy battles a wide variety of villains and makes several friends.
The individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 62nd volume released as of May 2011. In 2010, Shueisha announced that they sold over 230 million volumes of One Piece manga so far; volume 61 set a new record for the highest initial print run of any book in Japan in history with 3.8 million copies (the previous record belonging to volume 60 with 3.4 million copies). Volume 60 is the first book to sell over two million copies in its opening week on Japan's Oricon book rankings.[1]
The chapters have been adapted into an original video animation (OVA) produced by Production I.G in 1998, and an anime series produced by Toei Animation, which began broadcasting in Japan in 1999. Since then, the still ongoing series has aired over 500 episodes. Additionally, Toei has developed eleven animated feature films, an OVA, and five television specials. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising such as a trading card game, and a large number of video games.
The manga series was licensed for an English language release in North America by Viz Media, in the United Kingdom by Gollancz Manga, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. The anime series has been licensed by Funimation Entertainment for an English language release in North America, although the series was dubbed previously by 4Kids Entertainment.
Since its release, One Piece has become the most popular manga series of all time in Japan and one of the most popular manga series worldwide. It is the highest-selling manga of all time in the history of Weekly Shōnen Jump, as well as currently being its most acclaimed manga. One Piece is currently ranked as the best-selling series of all time in manga history. It enjoys a very high readership, with more than 230 million volumes of the series sold by 2011. One Piece has received wide critical acclaim from reviewers, primarily for its art, characterization, humor and story
The individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 62nd volume released as of May 2011. In 2010, Shueisha announced that they sold over 230 million volumes of One Piece manga so far; volume 61 set a new record for the highest initial print run of any book in Japan in history with 3.8 million copies (the previous record belonging to volume 60 with 3.4 million copies). Volume 60 is the first book to sell over two million copies in its opening week on Japan's Oricon book rankings.[1]
The chapters have been adapted into an original video animation (OVA) produced by Production I.G in 1998, and an anime series produced by Toei Animation, which began broadcasting in Japan in 1999. Since then, the still ongoing series has aired over 500 episodes. Additionally, Toei has developed eleven animated feature films, an OVA, and five television specials. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising such as a trading card game, and a large number of video games.
The manga series was licensed for an English language release in North America by Viz Media, in the United Kingdom by Gollancz Manga, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. The anime series has been licensed by Funimation Entertainment for an English language release in North America, although the series was dubbed previously by 4Kids Entertainment.
Since its release, One Piece has become the most popular manga series of all time in Japan and one of the most popular manga series worldwide. It is the highest-selling manga of all time in the history of Weekly Shōnen Jump, as well as currently being its most acclaimed manga. One Piece is currently ranked as the best-selling series of all time in manga history. It enjoys a very high readership, with more than 230 million volumes of the series sold by 2011. One Piece has received wide critical acclaim from reviewers, primarily for its art, characterization, humor and story
Plot
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The series begins with the execution of Gol D. Roger, a man known as the King of the Pirates. Before Roger is executed, he told the legend of his treasure, the One Piece. Roger's death caused a Great Pirate Era (大海賊時代 Dai Kaizoku Jidai?) as countless pirates set out to look for his treasure.
Twenty years have passed since Roger's execution, and Monkey D. Luffy, a young pirate inspired by the pirate known as "Red-Haired" Shanks, sets off on a journey from the East Blue to succeed Roger and find the treasure. Along the way, he organizes and leads a nine-member crew named the Straw Hat Pirates. Several of the crew members Luffy encounters eventually become his close friends, including the swordsman Roronoa Zoro, the navigator and thief Nami, the liar and cowardly sharpshooter Usopp, the womanizing chef Sanji, the doctor and anthropomorphized reindeer Tony Tony Chopper, the archaeologist and former enemy Nico Robin, the cybernetic shipwright Franky, and the musician skeleton Brook.
The crew crosses paths with diverse villains, such as Buggy the Clown, many of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Marines, who place bounties on Luffy and Zoro's heads, and Arlong, a fishman and member of the former Sun Pirates. They encounter Baroque Works, the crime syndicate responsible for a civil war in the desert kingdom of Alabasta, along with fellow rookie pirate Blackbeard, whose dream is also to become the King of the Pirates. The crew also confronts Eneru, the ruler of the floating island Skypiea. Later, the crew meets the Marine admiral Aokiji, who reveals that Robin was involved in searching for Poneglyphs, stones with markings left by an ancient civilization whom Roger himself was also able to read. The crew also encounters Cipher Pol No. 9, the intelligence agency responsible for the destruction of Robin's homeland, whose actions cause the pirates to declare war on the World Government. After an epic battle at Enies Lobby, the crew defeats CP9, avenging the lives of people lost in the destruction, and each member receives bounties on their heads.
When the crew finishes the first half of their journey and prepare to sail off to the New World, the second half of the Grand Line, they get separated during a battle at the Sabaody Archipelago. During this time, the Marines sentence Luffy's older brother and Roger's son Portgas D. Ace to be executed, and they hold a war against a group of pirates led by Whitebeard. Luffy eventually rescues Ace, but both Whitebeard and Ace are killed in the ensuing chaos. Later, Luffy and the crew undergo rigorous training regimens, some under the tutelage of prominent figures. Two years later, the crew regroups and journeys to Fishman Island in order to enter the New World. At the same time, a group of fishman pirates appear on the island and hold a coup d'état
Twenty years have passed since Roger's execution, and Monkey D. Luffy, a young pirate inspired by the pirate known as "Red-Haired" Shanks, sets off on a journey from the East Blue to succeed Roger and find the treasure. Along the way, he organizes and leads a nine-member crew named the Straw Hat Pirates. Several of the crew members Luffy encounters eventually become his close friends, including the swordsman Roronoa Zoro, the navigator and thief Nami, the liar and cowardly sharpshooter Usopp, the womanizing chef Sanji, the doctor and anthropomorphized reindeer Tony Tony Chopper, the archaeologist and former enemy Nico Robin, the cybernetic shipwright Franky, and the musician skeleton Brook.
The crew crosses paths with diverse villains, such as Buggy the Clown, many of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Marines, who place bounties on Luffy and Zoro's heads, and Arlong, a fishman and member of the former Sun Pirates. They encounter Baroque Works, the crime syndicate responsible for a civil war in the desert kingdom of Alabasta, along with fellow rookie pirate Blackbeard, whose dream is also to become the King of the Pirates. The crew also confronts Eneru, the ruler of the floating island Skypiea. Later, the crew meets the Marine admiral Aokiji, who reveals that Robin was involved in searching for Poneglyphs, stones with markings left by an ancient civilization whom Roger himself was also able to read. The crew also encounters Cipher Pol No. 9, the intelligence agency responsible for the destruction of Robin's homeland, whose actions cause the pirates to declare war on the World Government. After an epic battle at Enies Lobby, the crew defeats CP9, avenging the lives of people lost in the destruction, and each member receives bounties on their heads.
When the crew finishes the first half of their journey and prepare to sail off to the New World, the second half of the Grand Line, they get separated during a battle at the Sabaody Archipelago. During this time, the Marines sentence Luffy's older brother and Roger's son Portgas D. Ace to be executed, and they hold a war against a group of pirates led by Whitebeard. Luffy eventually rescues Ace, but both Whitebeard and Ace are killed in the ensuing chaos. Later, Luffy and the crew undergo rigorous training regimens, some under the tutelage of prominent figures. Two years later, the crew regroups and journeys to Fishman Island in order to enter the New World. At the same time, a group of fishman pirates appear on the island and hold a coup d'état
Setting
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The fictional world of One Piece is covered by two vast oceans, which are divided by a massive mountain range called the Red Line (赤い土の大陸 (レッドライン) Reddo Rain?).[4] The Grand Line (偉大なる航路 (グランドライン) Gurando Rain?), a sea that runs perpendicular to the Red Line, further divides them into four seas: North Blue (北の海 (ノースブルー) Nōsu Burū?), East Blue (東の海 (イーストブルー) Īsuto Burū?), West Blue (西の海 (ウェストブルー) Uesuto Burū?) and South Blue (南の海 (サウスブルー) Sausu Burū?). Surrounding the Grand Line are two regions called Calm Belts (凪の帯 (カームベルト) Kāmu Beruto?), which experience almost no wind and ocean currents and are breeding ground for the huge sea creatures called Sea Kings (海王類 Kai Ō Rui?, renamed "Neptunians" in the English manga). Because of this, the Calm Belts are very effective barriers for those trying to enter the Grand Line.While marine ships, using sea-prism stone (海楼石 Kairōseki?) to mask their presence, can simply pass through, most have to use the canal system of Reverse Mountain (リヴァース・マウンテン Rivāsu Maunten?), a mountain at the first intersection of the Grand Line and the Red Line. Sea water from each of the four seas runs up that mountain and merges at the top to flow down a fifth canal and into the first half of the Grand Line. The second half of the Grand Line, beyond the second intersection with the Red Line, is also known as the New World (新世界) Shin Sekai
he currents and weather on the Grand Line's open sea are extremely unpredictable, while as in the vicinity of islands the climate is stable.[10] What makes it even harder to navigate is the fact that normal compasses do not work there. A special compass called a Log Pose (記録指針 (ログポース) Rogu Pōsu?, renamed "Grand Compass" in the edited English anime) must be used.[12] The Log Pose works by locking on to one island's magnetic field and then locking on to another island's magnetic field.[13] The time for it to set depends on the island. This process can be bypassed by obtaining an Eternal Pose (永久指針 (エターナルポース) Etānaru Pōsu?, renamed "Eternal Compass" in the edited English anime), a Log Pose variation that is permanently set to a specific island and never changes.
The world of One Piece is filled with anachronisms, like the transponder snails (電伝虫 Den-Den mushi?), snail-like animals that can be attached to electric equipment and function as rotary phones, fax machines, surveillance cameras, and similar devices. Dials (貝 (ダイアル) Daiaru?), the shells of certain sky-dwelling animals, can be used to store wind, sound, images, heat, and the like and have various applications. A Devil Fruit (悪魔の実 Akuma no Mi?, renamed "Cursed Fruit" in the edited English anime) is a type of fruit which when eaten confers a power on the eater. There are three categories of Devil Fruit. Zoan (動物系 (ゾーン) Zōn?) fruits allow the user to fully and partially transform into a specific animal. Logia (自然系 (ロギア) Rogia?) fruits give control over and allow the user "to change their living body structure into the powers of nature". Paramecia (超人系 (パラミシア) Paramishia?, renamed "Paramecia" in the edited English anime) is a catch-all category for fruits that give the user superhuman abilities. They are said to be incarnations of the Sea Devil himself, and as a result, Devil Fruit users cannot swim in sea water, as "they are hated by the sea". When even partially submerged in sea water, they lose all of their strength and coordination, although some abilities remain, such as Luffy still being able to stretch after being totally submerged. "Moving" water, such as rain or waves, does not have this effect.
Production
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One Piece started as three one-shot stories entitled Romance Dawn—which would later be used as the title for One Piece's first chapter and volume. The two one-shots featured the character of Luffy, and included elements that would later appear in the main series. The first of these short stories was published in August 1996 in a special issue of Shōnen Jump and later in One Piece Red. The second was published in the 41st issue of Shōnen Jump in 1996 and reprinted 1998 in Oda's short story collection, Wanted!.
Oda originally planned One Piece to last five years, and he had already planned out the ending, but he found himself enjoying the story too much to end it in that amount of time and now has no idea how long it will take to reach that point. Nevertheless, the author states, as of July 2007, that the ending will still be the one he had decided on from the beginning and he is committed to seeing it through to the end, no matter how many years it takes.
When creating a Devil Fruit, Oda thinks of something that would fulfill a human desire; he added that he does not see why he would draw a Devil Fruit unless the fruit's appearance would entice one to eat it. The names of many special attacks and other concepts in the manga consist of a form of punning, in which phrases written in kanji are paired with an idiosyncratic reading. The names of Luffy, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, and Franky's techniques are often mixed with other languages, and the names of a number of Zoro's sword techniques are designed as jokes; for example, some of them look fearsome when read by sight but sound like kinds of food when read aloud (like Zoro's signature move, Onigiri, which is rendered as demon's cut but may also mean rice dumpling). 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." Nevertheless, Konosuke Uda, the director, said that he believes that the creators "made the anime pretty close to the manga."
Oda was "sensitive" about how it would be translated. The English version of the One Piece manga in many instances uses one onomatopoeia for multiple onomatopoeia used in the Japanese version. For instance, "saaa" (the sound of light rain, close to a mist) and "zaaa" (the sound of pouring rain) are both translated as "fshhhhhhh."
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