One Piece is one of the best-selling manga series of all time. Eiichiro Oda, the man behind One Piece, has actually been named to be one of the few manga artists that have changed the history of manga.
One Piece was first serialized as Japanese manga series in the Weekly Shonen Jump. Since July 1997, there have been 75 tankobon volumes released so far. It was later licensed Madman Entertainment and Viz Media for an English version. Konosuke Uda, the same man responsible for Ginga Kickoff, Sailor Moon, and Lovely Complex to name a few, directed the anime adaptation of One Piece together with Toei Animation Studios. It premiered on the Fuji TV network on October 1999. As of to date, One Piece have broadcasted 662 action-packed episodes, one of the longest running anime in history.
As of 2013, One Piece has sold over 345 million volumes in circulation worldwide making it the best-selling manga series in anime history. Since then, One Piece have been making huge waves in the industry and breaking numerous records including the very first book to ever sell three million copies in Oricon history. It has indeed won several awards including “Favorite Anime Series” and “Most Popular Animated TV Series”.
One Piece also gave birth to three interconnected OVAs (original video animation): Defeat the Pirate Ganzack, Romance Dawn Story and a One Piece film Strong World accordingly.
Plot
────────────────────
The series begins with the public execution of one Gol D. Roger, the one man said to have claimed everything and acclaimed to be the so-called “Pirate King”. Just right before his death, he announces to everyone that his most prized treasure, One Piece, is real and is hidden somewhere in the Grand Line along with the rest of his treasures. His charismatic words moved men’s hearts and inspired them to sail the seas especially the aspiring pirates in search of the legendary treasure akin to the Pirate King.
The world has entered the Great Age of Pirates where men and women set sail in search for romance, wealth, power and even fame. The story shifts over to a young aspiring pirate, Monkey D. Luffy, who sets off on a journey to find the coveted One Piece and become the next Pirate King. But to do so, he must first find a ship and a strong crew to sail the Grand Line with.
Turns out, Luffy ate a mysterious Devil’s Fruit that gave him rubber powers. On his journey to finding his crew, Luffy crosses paths with the infamous Pirate Hunter Zoro, who turns out to be on a self-journey to becoming the world’s best swordsman. Zoro joins Luffy’s crew seeing that it might be that much faster to his goals. Later, they soon meet Nami, the crew’s navigator, Usopp, a sniper and Sanji, a womanizing chef. The crew keeps finding themselves fighting against numerous pirates, the navy and even a fishman and his crew on their search to finding One Piece, while battling numerous enemies and making new friends along the way.