Eiichiro Oda, the author of the popular manga “ONE PIECE” serialized in “Weekly Shonen Jump” (Shueisha), released his autograph comment on the official Twitter of the same work on July 18. It has been announced that “ONE PIECE” will be suspended for regarding a month from issue 30 of the same magazine released on June 27, and will enter the final chapter from issue 34 released on July 25, when serialization will resume. Mr. Oda commented, “From here is ONE PIECE !! (Eh !! Laughter) I will draw all the mysteries of this world that I have hidden so far. It is interesting.”
Mr. Oda said, “I imagined it when I was a kid. I want to draw the most exciting manga at the end …! I wonder if I can draw it … !! It took 25 years (laughs), but it’s okay to read from here. Because … this is ONE PIECE !! ” He sent a message to his fans, “Please fasten your seat belts. Thank you !!!!” The comment will be published in the 33rd issue of “Weekly Shonen Jump” released on July 19th.
“ONE PIECE” is a manga depicting Luffy, a young man with a straw hat whose limbs stretch like rubber, adventuring in the ocean with his friends aiming to become a pirate king. The serialization began in 1997 with “Weekly Shonen Jump” and reached 1000 episodes in January 2021. In July of this year, we will enter the 25th anniversary of the serialization.
The first edition of the 57th volume of the comic released in March 2010 has a record circulation of regarding 3 million, which is the highest in the history of Japanese publishing. Volume 67, released in August 2012, was the first edition with regarding 4.05 million copies, breaking the self-record. In June 2015, it was certified as the Guinness World Record for “The Most Published Comic Series by a Single Author”. The comics have been released up to Volume 102, and the cumulative circulation worldwide is over 490 million. The latest 103 volumes will be released on August 4th. TV animation started in October 1999 and reached episode 1000 in November 2021.
It is also talked regarding that the new movie version animation “ONE PIECE FILM RED” (directed by Goro Taniguchi) will be released on August 6th.
◇ Full comment by Eiichiro Oda
I imagined it when I was a kid. I want to draw the most exciting manga at the end …! Can you draw …! !! By the way, I will close the “Wano Country Edition” in a little while, and the preparation will be almost finished. It took 25 years (laughs), but it’s okay to read from here. Because … From here is ONE PIECE! !! (Eh !! Laughter) I will draw all the mysteries of this world that I have hidden so far. It’s interesting. Please fasten your seat belt. thank you! !! !!