Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece has been a huge success since its serialization in 1997. The series earned a place as one of “The Big Three” works that became the pillar of Shonen Jump. However, the series has not always been so popular. When the series was first released, Oda and One Piece had quite a lot of haters who believed the series would be an epic failure.
One of these haters was Dragon Ball’s first editor Kazuhiko Torishima who worked at Shueisha in 1976 and currently is the outside director at Bushiroad. Torishima worked closely with Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, and Dr. Slump and was one of the main reasons why Dragon Ball became a huge success.
But Torishima had no trust in Oda or One Piece. He openly criticized One Piece and believed that it wouldn’t amount to anything. Even when the series became successful, Torishima was not too happy with One Piece and wanted another manga to knock it off from the top of the list.
Dragon Ball Editor Kazuhiko Torishima Had No Faith in One Piece
Torishima is a big name in the anime and manga industry because of his work with Akira Toriyama. However, he was against One Piece since the beginning. The editor refused the publication of Eiichiro Oda’s masterpiece three times before it finally got approval.
Yasukai Kita, the creator of the manga series Kenka Shobai, once talked about a conversation between him and Torishima in which Torishima openly criticized One Piece. It was later translated and shared by @Sandman_AP on X(Formerly Twitter).
Torishima stated:
“There is no way One Piece will become a popular manga! Don’t talk nonsense!!”
According to the conversation, Kitai believed in Oda and One Piece and felt that the series would be a big hit and eventually become a pillar of Shonen Jump. However, Kazuhiko Torishima was against One Piece and believed that the series would not be able to achieve any success in the manga world.
Kazuhiko Torishima Opposed The Serialization of One Piece
Torishima is known for his heated debates with Toriyama. However, he had a particular hatred towards Eiichiro Oda and One Piece. Torishima is known to criticize One Piece even after it became a huge success. @Sandman_AP translated and shared one of his comments about One Piece on X.
Torishima stated:
“When I told Toriyama to draw someone you hate the most, he drew my face. I could not disagree because of being busy. I opposed the serialization of One Piece. OP has been at the top of manga market for 20+ years. I wanna see a manga that knocks OP off the top spot.”
Although Torishima wanted another manga to knock One Piece off the top of the list, the series has been rock solid in its position as one of the biggest anime and manga series of all time. Not only that, One Piece has inspired many other mangakas and will continue to do so in the future.
You can watch One Piece on Crunchyroll.
