From creating the best-selling manga, One Piece, to being one of the richest mangakas, Eiichiro Oda has carved his niche in the world of Shonen manga. Besides that, he has won several accolades, including the 18th Shin Watanabe Award (2023), the Special Lifetime Achievement Award at Napoli Comic Con (2022), and the Sondermann Award in the International Manga Category (2005,2008,2009).
It isn’t surprising considering the efforts he took to sustain his manga franchise for over two decades. While this may come as a surprise to some, the author has installed a life-size statue of Bruce Lee in his house and fashioned a character in his series to show his love for Kung-fu and the legendary icon.
Eiichiro Oda’s love for Kung fu and Bruce Lee
One Piece draws inspiration from Dragon Ball as well as Greek and Hindu mythology. While this may be an unknown fact to some people, Eiichiro Oda was encouraged to work on his manga series after watching iconic Kung fu movies from Hollywood, which also changed his perspective on live-action adaptations of anime.
Moreover, his love for Kung fu and action movies was evident when he installed a life-sized Bruce Lee Statue in his house which is estimated to be around ¥4000. A user @newworldartur shared the photo of the life-size statue on their Twitter account.
5,000 dollar life-sized Bruce Lee statue in Oda's house pic.twitter.com/k6e3Wb1eut
— Artur – Library of Ohara (@newworldartur) August 10, 2022
The author grew up watching Bruce Lee’s movies and the iconic martial artist eventually influenced his work. He also considers himself to be the biggest fan of the Kung fu icon. This life-sized statue was built to scale and designed by Infinity Studio.
However, his love for Kung fu didn’t end there as he dedicated a character as an ode to the legendary Bruce Lee in his manga.
Eiichiro Oda’s tribute to Bruce Lee in One Piece
One Piece is among the Big 3 of Shonen Anime along with Naruto and Bleach. From its bestselling records to extraordinary animation, the manga franchise has managed to sustain its position for the past two decades. It is also one of the longest-running anime of all time.
The author’s admiration and love for Bruce Lee goes beyond the life-sized statue. This was evident when he fashioned one of his characters after Bruce Lee, namely Blue Gilly in his series One Piece.
Gilly is a member of the Longleg Tribe who also happens to be a martial artist excelling in Jao Kun Do. It was later revealed that this form is a reference to Bruce Lee’s philosophy and combat system Jeet Kun Do. Moreover, this form is swift and agile, which immediately reminds the readers and viewers of the legendary Kung fu icon.
To make things more interesting, this character also shares his birthday with the legendary Bruce Lee, which is November 27th. Gilly’s character design is a striking resemblance to the icon and to say the least, the author did justice in representing the icon through his anime.
Apart from spending his net worth on Bruce Lee’s statue, the author donated money to several charities including the Kumamoto Relief Project in 2016. According to Anime News Network, he donated around 500 million yen under Luffy’s name and an additional 300 million yen in his name.
One Piece is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.
