One Piece Executive Producer Shinji Shimizu Interview Summary
Today we had a very special live show in our Twitch channel. We have had the opportunity to chat with Shinji Shimizu, producer of Toei Animation and, especially, of One Piece. During the talk, which you can also enjoy on our YouTube channel, he talked about his experience working for One Piece, as well as giving small details of what is to come from the emblematic work created by Eiichiro Oda.
Shinji Shimizu is a veteran producer with extensive experience in the world of animation. In 1977 it started in Toei Animation as editorial assistant in Candy Candy and in Fist of the North Star. Later, he worked in different fields of animation in series such as Kinnikuman, Aoki Densetsu Shoot, GeGeGe no Kitaro, Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo, Galaxy Express 999 and more recently One Piece.
Despite the great success of One Piece Throughout these 20 years, Shimizu has acknowledged that he never felt no pressure at the time of work. When they commissioned him to produce the series, they gave him four months’ notice, having to deliver an episode each week. This margin allowed them to work quite comfortably.
For him, the success of One Piece it resides in that the story is already complete in the mind of its creator Eiichiro Oda. In this way, they can offer a much more solid job that allows to delve little by little into the general story and hook the fans more and more.
Regarding the new movie, One Piece Red, has not given many details. Laughing, he joked that they don’t let him comment on anything because he tends to talk more than necessary. He even acknowledged that he had not been invited to the Jump Festa so as not to spoil any surprises.
Anyway, he did confirm that Eiichiro Oda is very involved in this new installment. Not only in the script, but also in the part of Executive production. He stressed that for the mangaka movies are just as important as the original work so you want to offer the best possible product for the fans. At the moment, it is not known if it will reach Spain, although Shimizu has already confirmed that they are working with distributors around the world to be able to take the film to different countries.
As for the series, where he also performs production functions, he commented on the change in animation. Shimizu considers that each director has their own style And, inevitably, it changes with each filmmaker. For this reason, in the arch of Wano a stylistic change has been noticed. Of course, always with the permission of Eiichiro Oda.
Finally, he stressed that, although One Piece It is a long journey that is not yet finished, it has exceeded more than half of history. From now on they will be known deeper details of the story that will surely delight the fans. So hope everyone enjoys what’s to come.
We concluded the interview by thanking Shinji Shimizu for his time and showing him our desire to see what is to come from One Piece that, although I have not been able to give many details, it is very promising.
