Biography
A bestselling manga artist, Eiichiro Oda is best known for his piratical series One Piece, which follows the adventures of young Monkey D. Luffy and his crew as they search for the eponymous mythical pirate treasure. Born in Kumamoto, Japan in 1975, Oda resolved at the age of 4 to become a manga artist so he would never have to get a real job. Inspired by the work of Akira Toriyama, who created the Dragon Ball series, he started to enter his work into competitions from the age of 17, winning many and coming second in the highly prestigious Tezuka Award; it was on the back of this achievement that he was offered a job at the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, where he developed his style as an assistant manga artist. At the age of 19, he won the Hop Step Award for new manga artists.
In 1996, two of his pirate-themed stories were published; although standalone stories, they both featured a protagonist called Monkey D. Luffy. The following year, the first instalment of One Piece was published in Weekly Shonen Jump; having already rejected the story three times, the editors felt it would be too devastating for Oda to have it rejected a fourth time.
An instant hit, One Piece has been published ever since, with over 1,128 chapters of the serialised series contained in 110 volumes - and the end remains nowhere in sight!
Adapted into films, live action and animated television series, One Piece has also been franchised into card games and video games, inspired novels and guidebooks, and crossed-over with numerous other manga series. Selling over 516 million copies, it remains the bestselling manga series in history.
Full of epic world-building, well-developed characters, compelling storylines and endearing friendships, Eiichiro’s One Piece is an action-packed manga series that effortlessly blends adventure and humour with some truly emotional moments.
Award-winning and record-breaking, Eiichiro Oda is a leading figure in the world of manga, and helped to define the genre for a new generation of artists.
