My Favourite Manga : One Piece

One piece is a popular manga created in 1997 that makes use of classic mythology and politics to tell the story of a crew of pirates called the Straw Hats as they travel the world and make new friends as well as enemies.

+The One Piece Manga

Eiichiro Oda has attested to being inspired by Akira Toriyama and Dragon Ball in the creation of One Piece. Inspired by the tales of Vikings, Oda’s interest in the life of a mangaka was piqued at a young age. It was in creating the manga "Wanted" that the 17 year old was finally noticed by the Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine, whose staff he eventually joined, working as an assistant under numerous established names in the manga world such as Nobuhiro Watsuki.

Oda’s interest in all things Viking also drew him towards the idea of pirates, so much so that he created two one-shot pirate themed stories about a young boy named Monkey D. Luffy who wanted to become the world’s greatest pirate.

With many of the concepts regarding his most popular series emerging in these one-shots, titled Romance Dawn, including the idea of mysterious abilities acquired from eating special fruits, Oda eventually pooled his various ideas together to create One Piece; the series rapidly gained success and today stands as Shonen Jump's top Seller.

Oda has admitted that he initially expected One Piece Manga to run for five years; the story however continued to expand much further than he could have anticipated, so much so that, more than ten years later, the mangaka has suggested that the One Piece Manga series is only at the halfway point.

+The Story.

The world of the One Piece manga is a unique realm, with strange creatures and vast oceans separated by large mountains; events over the last several decades brought about an explosion in the activities of rogue elements on the seas known as pirates.

Two decades prior to the start of the series, the most famous pirate in the world, Gol D. Roger was captured by the world government and executed for his perceived crimes.

Before the death blow however, Gol D. Roger, the so called king of pirates revealed to the world the existence of a great treasure, one that he had conquered and hidden, the One Piece. His announcement sparked the Golden Age of Pirates, as the words of the great dead pirate provoked many young men and women around the world into action, their goal being to find the great treasure known as One Piece.

Monkey D. Luffy is a young boy with a dream to become the world’s greatest pirate; inspired by the legendary "Red Hair" Shanks and endowed with the power of the "Rubber Rubber" fruit, Luffy sets out across the seas, gathering nakama, making enemies and having the adventure of his life.

With over 300 million copies sold, One Piece is the highest selling manga in history; employing a quirky art style, odd character designs and explosive battles, One Piece Manga has conquered the hearts and minds of children and adults alike, attracting a generally positive opinion from the majority of its readers.

While enjoying unrivaled popularity in Japan, the One Piece manga is yet to acquire a stable foothold in the west, where manga readers have been known to display an apprehensive attitude towards the quirky nature of its story.

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