the animated version of “One Piece” celebrates its 25th anniversary

Since 1999, two years after the creation of Eiichirō Oda’s famous Japanese manga, more than 1,100 episodes have retraced the adventures of Luffy and his pirate crew.

The phenomenon One Piece is still talked about. The animated version of the famous Japanese manga celebrates the 25th anniversary of its hero Luffy on Sunday May 5, with a series of events in Europe. The more than 1,100 episodes, broadcast by the Toei Animation studio at the rate of one per week since 1999, adapt the story imagined by Eiichirō Oda. The adventures of Luffy and his pirate crew captivate millions of people around the world, and particularly in France. Fans, who read and watch the manga, are far from being tired of this seemingly endless saga.

“The atmosphere of the anime is greatsays Félix, 23, who discovered One Piece for more than ten years, with the colors, the dubbing of the characters, the music… Each time, it’s something that always makes you enjoy it!” The young man continues to faithfully follow the manga, which he reads in his own way: “When I read online today, I listen to the music from the anime at the same time. I put on slightly sad playlists when it’s flashbacks, or when it’s fights, I put combat playlists”he describes.

Like him, many fans navigate between different media, in books, online or in anime. Gabriel is 35 years old and discovered One Piece Nearly 20 years ago, he preferred manga to anime. “I didn’t really care because I found that the pace was a little uneven and the quality of the drawing and animation tooi, he explains. And then an anime, an episode, lasts around 20 minutes and corresponds to around one chapter. And a chapter can be read in five to ten minutes, so I still preferred to focus on the manga which is more faithful to the author.”

“We do everything we can to respect the work and vision of the author, in order to offer fans an experience that remains faithful to the original manga, down to the smallest details.”

Isabelle Favre, from Toei Animation Europe

at franceinfo

The studio which adapts the work of Eiichirō Oda strives to be as faithful as possible, assures Isabelle Favre, marketing and content director of Toei Animation Europe: “The animation created by our studio in Japan is entirely based on and adapted from the manga of the same name created by the original author, Eiichirō Oda.”

“A bountiful work”

The whole saga One Piece is in fact based on the Japanese mangaka. At 49 years old, Eiichirō Oda writes and draws the chapters, but he also supervises the anime as well as the Netflix series. So fans are starting to wonder: will he manage to finish his sprawling story? Or will he die prematurely like Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Balldisappeared on March 8?

Benoît Huot, the French publisher of the manga at Glénat, is reassuring: “In the beginning, when Oda embarked on One Piece, he thought he would have it for ten years, he’s going to be on it for almost 30 years. And it’s a series where he always adds elements. Even if he knows that he is in the final part of his saga and we feel that the stakes are particularly high in terms of confrontations, One Piece is a work which is so abundant, which has so much creativity that obviously, from the moment the author wants to add things, he will add them for his pleasure. In any case, he will see it through to the end while being aware that the idea is not to draw the line. The idea is to be able to finish in style.”, assures Benoît Huot. The quest of Luffy and his crew still has many volumes and episodes ahead of it.