Was Oda forced to extend the story in One Piece?
One Piece is a Shonen action-adventure manga written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda, serialized in the anthology Weekly Shonen Jump. Set in a fantasy world dominated by pirates, it mainly depicts the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a headstrong young captain with the power to stretch like rubber.
Premiering in July 1997, One Piece has currently published over 1000 chapters (collected into over 100 tankōbon volumes) and generated a global franchise, including an anime adaptation from Toei Animation, numerous feature films, a live-action drama and countless other pieces of merchandise. Since the late 2000s it has been recognized as Japan’s most popular manga, even being commemorated by the Guinness World Records as the world’s best-selling single-author comic book.
One Piece is divided into two halves: Sea of Survival: Super Rookies Saga, and The Final Sea: The New World Saga.
There has always been the thought that the editors forced the authors to lengthen the most popular manga, creating new sagas even when it was clear that the main course was now over, so as to keep them in publication even longer and be able to earn more.
Have you ever wondered if Shueisha forced Oda himself to extend One Piece? Even if perhaps the author intended to finish his story long before the scheduled time?
Here, Oda himself answered this question, reviving and also expanding certain doubts related to this story:
“I’ll put and end to One Piece when the time has come no matter what Shueisha asks me to prolong the series. It totally depends on my own desicion.
Dragon Ball and Yu Yu Hakusho were prolonged contrary to the authors’ intention. Torishima, former Dragon Ball editor, regretted it.”
