Naruto and One Piece are the giants in the anime world with immense success and popularity. Both series have been considered to be one of the biggest anime and manga series ever created in the history of anime. Not only this, the series in their initial days shared a sweet rivalry. Despite the rivalry, Masashi Kishimoto, the genius mind behind Naruto, freely admitted that One Piece had a huge influence on his work. The popularity of Naruto can be linked in part to the success of its counterpart, One Piece.
Kishimoto has admitted that his jealousy of Eiichiro Oda and his work became the driving force that led to the success of his manga series, which later joined the ranks with One Piece itself.
Masashi Kishimoto was Envious of Eiichiro Oda
During an interview arranged in NewYork Comic Con 2015, Kishimoto expressed how he was envious of Oda, as they both were of the same age but Oda beat him with releasing One Piece a year before Naruto. He said:
“One Piece debuted about a year earlier than Naruto did, even though we’re the same age. He beat me to it. I was very envious in the beginning and yet, at the same time, I wanted to not only be like him, but I wanted to surpass him. In some ways I feel like the reason Naruto was able to be published and was able to succeed was because of One Piece.”
Kishimoto admitted that he admired Oda so much that he not only wanted to be like him but also surpass him. He believes that in some ways One Piece became the driving force for Naruto. Despite their friendly rivalry, both authors talked highly of one other’s work and made subtle references to their series.
Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda Supported Each Other in Some Ways
Kishimoto also believed that their rivalry was in a sense a support system for each other as it led to the success of both series. The success became so immense and gigantic that both Naruto and One Piece became part of the top 3 animes in the history of the anime genre. He stated:
“Perhaps we both kind of supported and bolstered each other over the years which led to both of our successes because we had that rivalry. When one of us did something, the other one had to outdo the other, and that kept both series going.”
Oda has also praised Kishimoto many times for his success with Naruto, stating that it was the one project that kept him motivated while working on One Piece.
Source: ReedPop
