The creator of the beloved series One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, is one of the best storytellers in the industry. For more than 25 years, Oda Sensei has amazed fans all over the world with his exceptional narrative abilities.
Eiichiro Oda is also called a genius for his skill in adding easter eggs and foreshadowing future plot developments through significantly minor story details.
Oda’s One Piece is set in a world filled with pirates, all engaged in a journey to find the legendary treasure known as the One Piece. This amazing prize was left behind by the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger.
As the central Straw Hat crew of pirates travel from island to island on their journey to uncover One Piece, the series flawlessly transitions from Scooby-Doo-esque horror adventures to narratives akin to The Great Escape.
How One Piece Differs From a Typical Pirate Story
One Piece has explored a wide array of classic pirate symbolic representations over the years. Fans have witnessed pirates with imposing golden hooks for hands, former buccaneers sporting wooden peg legs, and even those escorted by pet birds.
In the collector’s book of One Piece named “One Piece 10th Treasures”, which is filled with some amazing facts and trivia about the story, Oda addressed a strange fact.
The manga artist, Eiichiro Oda, explained that the moment a character wears an eye patch, they become similar to the archetype of the legendary pirate.
But for One Piece, Oda’s creative vision was to represent “the story of a normal-looking boy’s pirate tale.” He wanted to focus on the process of this humble main character becoming a true successor, rather than relying on expected visual signs.
In One Piece 10th Treasures collector’s book Eiichiro said,
“I thought, if there’s an image in everyone’s head about what a pirate is, then I thought I would write/draw about the process of the boy getting there. But it’s not like I dislike eyepatches, so in the final scenes of ‘One Piece,’ there is one pirate who appears with an eye patch.”
Interestingly, even one of the main characters Zoro, who lost an eye during a two-year time skip, has not adopted the eye patch look, further bringing out audience expectations.
Why One Piece Is Best of Shonen Jump’s Big 3
Since their initial serialization in Shonen Jump, there has been an ongoing debate among fans regarding which of the “Big Three” Shonen manga series, One Piece, Naruto, or Bleach, is the best. While arguments can be made for each title, in 2024 the clear answer to this question is One Piece.
This is not simply because of the fact that One Piece remains an actively serialized work, while the other two series have ended. Instead, One Piece can be considered the best it has ever been at the present moment.
The current Egghead Island arc is providing long-awaited answers to major mysteries that fans have theorized about for so many years, all while continuing to develop the main cast of characters in deeply satisfying ways.
You can watch One Piece on Crunchyroll.
