Eiichiro Oda, the creator of the iconic anime and manga series One Piece has been quite vocal about him not wanting to kill his characters in the series. Although there have been deaths in the series, the only major character death that was shown in the series was that of Luffy’s brother and Gol D. Roger’s son Portgas D. Ace.
There have been many reasons given by him throughout almost 30 years. He has also claimed that because he likes to have a grand party after every arc, killing a character would depress that emotion that he hates. However, the real reason behind Oda refusing to kill off One Piece characters is different.
In an interview, the mangaka of One Piece talked about the actual reason why he hates killing characters. He stated that one of Studio Ghibli’s movies inspired him a lot and because of that movie he decided not to kill off One Piece characters. The name of the movie is Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
Eiichiro Oda Explains His Reason Behind Not Killing Characters
In an interview in 1998 with Comickers which was later posted by Hatena Blog, the One Piece creator talked about the movie or anime series and discussed scenes that move him emotionally. While explaining that Eiichiro Oda talked about the movie that inspired him.
He stated:
“When I watched ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind,’ I thought it was cool to move people. I felt like saying, ‘I’ll make them cry too!’ So, the theme is about wanting to move people without killing them. Killing someone seems like an easy way out. But if the story naturally leads to it, then it can’t be helped. For now, I believe we can move people without resorting to killing.”
According to Oda, when he watched Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, he understood that it is possible to make people cry without killing the characters. This inspired him to do the same thing with his series, One Piece. It now serves as one of the main reasons why there is no death in the series.
The Movie That Inspired Eiichiro Oda – Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Drawing inspiration from his 1982 manga, Hayao Miyazaki wrote and directed the post-apocalyptic animated fantasy film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which was released in Japan in 1984. Toei Company distributed it after Topcraft animated it for Tokuma Shoten and Hakuhodo.
The tale revolves around Nausicaä (Shimamoto), a teenage princess from the Valley of the Wind, and is set in a post-nuclear futuristic world. She is entangled in a conflict with Tolmekia, a kingdom that seeks to utilize an antiquated weapon to destroy a vast mutant bug jungle. The fantasy emotional film is critically acclaimed and is one of the most successful projects of Miyazaki.
Despite being created before Studio Ghibli’s establishment, it is widely regarded as a Ghibli production and was made available on DVD and Blu-ray as part of the Studio Ghibli Collection. The movie inspired Oda and gave him the understanding that emotions can be drawn out from fans without killing any characters.
You can watch One Piece on Crunchyroll.
