Tokyo Japan.- “One Piece” launches its 1,000th chapter, a new milestone for one of the most successful series of Japanese animation achieved thanks to “the talent” of the author of the original manga and “team collaboration”.
The series, based on a homonymous comic by Eiichiro Oda, began airing in Japan in 1999 and since then it has become a worldwide phenomenon by being exported to 80 countries, in addition to being Toei’s longest-running production, according to the Japanese production company itself.
The secret to its longevity is “the talent of the original author” and “the support of all the companies involved and team collaboration, “Toei president Ryuji Kochi said in an interview with Efe.
The unmistakable aesthetic conceived by Oda, the richness of its multiple characters and the breadth of the fantastic world where it takes place are some of the keys behind the continued success of the manga and anime starring the pirate Monkey D. Luffy.
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“Originality is important, but there are many other things that make it reach the heart as well “, Kochi points out when asked what makes “One Piece” stand out among other works of the “shonen” subgenre and above other of the most remembered anime series.
And it is that the adaptation of the manga of Oda exceeds in time in screen to previous Toei productions that left their mark on different generations, such as “Mazinger Z”, “Transformers”, “Dragon Ball” or “Sailor Moon”.
The most important thing is that the story of ‘One Piece’ has continued for 22 years … That is what makes the difference “, Kochi emphasizes.
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Oda was recognized by the Guinness Record for being the creator “of the highest number of published copies of the same comic series and by a single author, “with a work that debuted in 1997 in the Japanese weekly Shukan Shonen Janpu and continues to be published today.
A moment of global anime explosion
De “One Piece” some 490 million copies have been distributed in nearly 60 countries, which also ranks it as the best-selling manga in history.
The series has also become millennial at a time of global anime explosion triggered by the proliferation of digital platforms that are strongly committed to the genre, such as Netflix or Crunchyroll.
“Thanks to the digital platforms, right now there are a lot of Japanese animation productions, and this generates more knowledge about all the titles, “says the aforementioned manager.
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The head of the Japanese study also is optimistic about the future of the sector: “I think the anime audience will continue to grow in the coming years, and Toei should be a key player in this trend,” he says.
Toei commemorated the broadcast of the 1,000th episode of “One Piece” on the 21st with events held throughout this month in different parts of Europe, among them screenings in cinemas of the 13 animated feature films based on the series.
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Oda’s work will also have an adaptation to a live action series, in which Netflix is working with the “mangaka” Japanese as executive producer and that will star the Mexican actor Iñaki Godoy in the role of Monkey D. Luffy, as announced by the digital platform at the beginning of the month.