Follow us on Google News
Get the latest updates directly in your Google News feed
One Piececreator Eiichiro Oda is one of the biggest icons in the world, having his manga entertain audiences since 1997 and being one of the best-selling comics in the world. So it’s natural for him to be extremely busy writing chapters on a weekly basis.
The dude is literally having zero work-life balance, and despite all of that, he was excited to be the executive producer ofOne Piece Film: Strong World, which released in 2009 and bagged $61.2 million worldwide.
Oda was forced to join the crew to increase staff morale
Oda revealed during an interview in 2009that the then producer ofOne Pieceat the time, Shinji Shimizu, told him that the ‘close-knit circle’ of the staff seems to be falling apart and morals seem to be at an all-time low.
The anime really comes to life when the staff, the voice actors, and even the people from companies associated with the production all come together in harmony.
Shimizu informedOdahow recently the strength of that union might have weakened.
Back when the anime first started airing, Oda and the staff members of Toei were always getting together for parties and really close, but as the years passed and the staff changed again and again, their meetings hardly ever happened.
Not to mention Oda’s intense weekly schedule for the manga. He couldn’t even get Sundays off and go out with his family.
Oda goes to bed at 2:00 a.m. and gets up at 5:00 a.m., working all the time except for meals and other activities.
His weekly schedule goes about something like this:
“I changed my mind”: Without This Iconic Movie, Eiichiro Oda Might Not Have Said Yes To Netflix’s One Piece Live Action
Nevertheless, the producer at Toei requested Oda be involved inOne Piece Film: Strong Worldas the scriptwriter and executive producer, something Oda had never done before.
I want the next movie we make to bring back the staff’s morale and make it something that gives One Piece a fresh start. And for that, I need your strength.
However, Oda agreed to all of it. This is a guy who got his hands full with the weekly serialization and is not the type of person capable of handling multiple projects at the same time. But seeing Shimizu-san’s enthusiasm, Oda was like, “Alright, I’ll just write the plot.”
But sooner or later, he got more involved in the film’s production than he initially realized.
Oda’s editor told him to stop running around and focus on the manga
For the plot, theOne Piececreator asked the staff what they enjoyed or got them excited when they were children while adding his own experiences and bringing it all together.
While rewriting the script, Oda found himself having fun and getting excited. So much so that he inadvertently got more deeply involved than originally planned by designing the villains, the crew’s outfits and the animals.
When asked why he took so much responsibility, he said the work became something he wanted to make, and he was very particular about every detail to ensure the project wouldn’t be a failure.
First thing I declared was, “I’m doing the design for the new characters and outfits.” And originally I was going to ask the animation staff to do the animals but even then I wound up saying, “I’m going to draw all of them.”
His editor at Weekly Shonen Jump got so mad at him that they told him to stop goofing around and return to his manga work at once. But by then Oda had gotten too deep into the rabbit hole so there was no going back.
Even the breaks he took from the serialization here and there were used to finish up designs for the movie.
After seeing his dedication, fans got to respect their lord and savior more than they already had. Every week when Oda drops a comment on Jump, they pray for the author’s well-being and hope that his health stays intact.
One Piece is now available on Crunchyroll.
Anand Bhaskaran
Articles Published :134
A Dragon Ball fanatic who also loves to read and talk about Indian spirituality. An MBA finance graduate with a passion for doing everything that is unrelated to it. Anand has over 4 years of experience under his belt, having worked with leading content heads in the anime community. Currently, he’s more into Slice of Life and Romcom shows than actual Battle Shonen. But unfortunately, he’s stuck with a job writing ONLY about Battle Shonen (smh).
