Continuing a long-running manga is a creative venture that calls for more than just skill and creativity; it also takes an unusual amount of endurance, commitment, and the capacity to continuously produce excellent work over a long period of time. Very few manga artists have achieved the same level of proficiency in this difficult process as One Piece author Eiichiro Oda. His storytelling skills and work ethic have influenced many other creators, such as Kohei Horikoshi, the genius behind My Hero Academia.
As a manga artist of the newer generation, Horikoshi has had incredible success with the series My Hero Academia, which quickly a worldwide hit. However, he ran into some unexpected problems when trying to write an arc that matched One Piece‘s length and intricacy, which made him admire Oda’s superhuman skills.
Kohei Horikoshi’s Struggle During Creation of The Internship Arc
In addition to being an important turning point in the story of My Hero Academia, the Internship Arc was a major creative learning experience for Kohei Horikoshi. He became aware of the huge strain and psychological toll associated with maintaining a lengthy, dark, and complex plot while working on this arc.
Translated by Audrey, in an interview via Natalie Comics, Horikoshi has provided great insight into his creative journey through My Hero Academia. In this interview, Horikoshi shared his initial ambition regarding the Internship Arc in My Hero Academia. Inspired by the epic arcs of One Piece, he embarked on this project with the intention of creating a narrative that was more extended and complex than anything he had done before, quoting,
When I started the internship arc, I was thinking that I wanted to make this the longest arc so far. Up until now, even the longest arcs for BNHA spanned no more than two volumes. However, series such as One Piece have arcs that keep going and going, right?
But Horikoshi soon found that maintaining such a long arc was far harder than he had imagined. The burden of the narrative started to wear on the Internship Arc as it went on.
To tell the truth though, when I was writing the internship arc, it was really hard to push through. In the middle of the arc I thought to myself, “I can’t do this.”
Horikoshi acknowledged that he was having trouble finishing the arc halfway through. The plot was more difficult since it was darker and more dramatic in addition to being a longer story arc. Additionally, he even started to contemplate on his narrative choice at some point.
Through this experience, he learned that it’s not just about creating a long story, but also about maintaining the energy and passion needed to see it through to the end.
The Superhuman Skill of Eiichiro Oda
Horikoshi’s experience with the Internship Arc makes us appreciate Eiichiro Oda even more. With thoughtfully crafted storylines spanning several dozen volumes, Oda has been creating the One Piece universe for more than twenty years. It is quite amazing that Oda can maintain such a high degree of creativity and zeal for a long time.
Even Kohei Horikoshi openly acknowledges that Oda has the resilience to pull off these lengthy arcs while maintaining consistency, depth, and engagement. While Horikoshi struggled with the dark and extended nature of the Internship Arc, Oda has a history of skillfully handling the details of lengthy and complex plots without losing momentum. One Piece‘s long dominance at the top of the manga world can be credited to its consistency.
Although it was a difficult experience, through this Horikoshi has not only grown as a storyteller but has also gained a deeper appreciation for the craft of manga creation, recognizing the superhuman effort it takes to keep a long-running series alive and thriving.
You can read One Piece and My Hero Academia on MANGA Plus by Shueisha.
