Video games[edit]
Main article: List of One Piece video games
The One Piece franchise has been adapted into multiple video games published by subsidiaries of Bandai and later as part of Namco Bandai Games. The games have been released on a variety of video game and handheld consoles. The series features various genres, mostly role-playing games—the predominant type in the series' early years—and fighting games, such as the titles of the Grand Battle! sub-series.
The series debuted in Japan on July 19, 2000 with From TV Animation - One Piece: Become the Pirate King!.[67] As of 2013, there are currently over 30 games based on the franchise. Additionally, One Piece characters and settings have appeared in various crossover games, such as Battle Stadium D.O.N and Jump Ultimate Stars, which feature characters from other Shonen Jump franchises.
Music[edit]
Main article: One Piece discography
Myriad soundtracks were released to the anime, films and the games. The music for the One Piece anime series and most of its films were directed by Kohei Tanaka and Shiro Hamaguchi. Various theme songs and character songs were released on a total of 49 singles. Most of the songs are also featured on six compilation albums and on 16 soundtrack CDs.
As of 2013, the One Piece anime series uses 35 pieces of theme music; sixteen opening themes and nineteen ending themes. Since episode 279, the ending themes were omitted and the opening themes, starting from episode 326 onwards, were extended by 40 seconds. In the first 206 episodes of Funimation's English-language release of the series, the opening and ending themes were dubbed into English by various voice actors, before returning to the Japanese versions for episodes 207 onwards. The 4Kids English adaptation uses an alternate score as well as its own opening theme.
Light novels[edit]
A series of light novels was published based on the first OVA, certain episodes of the anime TV series, and all but the first feature film. They featured art work by Oda and are written by Tatsuya Hamasaki. The first of these novels, One Piece: Defeat The Pirate Ganzak!, based on the OVA, was released on June 3, 1999.[68] On July 17, 2000, followed One Piece: Logue Town Chapter, a light novel adaptation of the anime TV series's Logue Town story arc.[69] The first feature film to be adapted was Clockwork Island Adventure.[70] The book was released on March 19, 2001. On December 25, 2001, followed the second and so far last light novel adaptation of an anime TV series arc in One Piece: Thousand-year Dragon Legend.[71] The adaptation of Chopper's Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals was released on March 22, 2002, and that of Dead End Adventure on March 10, 2003.[72][73] Curse of the Sacred Sword followed on March 22, 2004, and Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island on March 14, 2005.[74][75] The light novel of The Giant Mechanical Soldier of Karakuri Castle was released on March 6, 2006 and that of The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta on March 7, 2007.[76][77] The newest novel adapts Episodes of Chopper Plus: Bloom in the Winter, Miracle Cherry Blossom and was released on February 25, 2008.[78]
Art and guidebooks[edit]
Five art books and five guidebooks for the One Piece series have been released. The first art book, One Piece: Color Walk 1, released June 2001,[79] has also been released in English on November 8, 2005.[80] The second art book, One Piece: Color Walk 2, was released on November 4, 2003,[81] the third, One Piece: Color Walk 3 – Lion, was released January 5, 2006,[82] and the fourth art book, subtitled Eagle, was released on March 4, 2010.[83] The fifth art book, subtitled Shark, was released on December 3, 2010.[84] The first guidebook, One Piece: Red – Grand Characters was released on March 2, 2002.[85] The second guidebook, One Piece: Blue – Grand Data File, was released on August 2, 2002.[86] The third guidebook, One Piece: Yellow – Grand Elements, was released on April 4, 2007,[87] and the fourth guidebook, One Piece: Green – Secret Pieces, was released on November 4, 2010.[88] An anime guidebook, One Piece: RAINBOW!, was released on May 1, 2007, and covers the first 8 years of the TV show.[89]
Other media[edit]
Other One Piece media include a trading card game by Bandai named One Piece CCG and a drama CD centering around the character of Nefertari Vivi released by Avex Trax on December 26, 2002.[90][91]
One Piece's Chopper gets a new Hello Kitty-esque style in the newly released previews of the new One Piece and Hello Kitty collaboration. For this collaboration, One Piece takes a journey, crossing over into the world of Hello Kitty.[92]
The characters of One Piece have also featured in cross-over episodes with the anime adaptation of Toriko. The first of these episodes, which marked the beginning of Toriko's anime adaptation, aired on April 3, 2011.[93] A second crossover episode, also featuring characters from Dragon Ball Z, aired on April 7, 2013.[94]
Reception[edit]
Manga[edit]
One Piece is the highest-selling manga in the history of Weekly Shōnen Jump[1] and has received wide critical acclaim, primarily for its art, characterization, humor, story and its length. As of 2013, the series has over 345 million volumes in print worldwide, of which 300 million were sold in Japan alone.[4][5]
One Piece is also the first manga to increase Weekly Shōnen Jump's sales in eleven years.[95] Volume 61 holds a manga publishing record in Japan, with 3.8 million copies published in its first printing alone, breaking its own previous records established by volumes 57, 59 and 60 (at 3.0, 3.2 and 3.4 million copies respectively).[96] In addition to that, it also broke Japan's all time first print publishing record of all books, passing the previous record of 2.9 million copies, held by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.[97] Overall, the series has re-written Japanese record for first print manga publication 9 times with Volumes 24, 25, 26, 27, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61 and 63.[96] The first week sales of volume 60, at 2,094,123 copies, also broke the Japanese all-time sales record for all books in its debut week, and is currently the only book to reach the 2 million mark in its first week. It is also currently the highest selling manga series of all time in Japan with over 290 million copies sold,[98] and the fastest manga series to reach sales of 100 million in four years (2008-2012)[30]
A life-size reproduction of the main characters' pirate ship, the Thousand Sunny.
One Piece was the best-selling manga series during 2008 in Japan with 5 volumes sold. Volumes 50, 51 and 49 placed first, second, and fourth, respectively, on Oricon's list of best selling manga volumes, with sales of 1,678,208, 1,646,978, and 1,544 copies sold respectively.[99] Additionally, Oricon conducted a popularity survey with Japanese male and female readers between with ages ranging from ten to forty to determine the "Most Interesting Manga of 2008". In that survey, the four One Piece volumes published that year, volumes 49, 50, 51, and 52, placed first with an approval rating of 45.9%.[1] In ICv2's list of "Top 25 Manga Properties Fall 2008", One Piece made a 15th place.[100] In 2010 One Piece had improved to 2nd in ICv2's list of "Top 25 Manga Properties—Q3 2010".[101]
According to Anime News Network, which gathers its rankings for Oricon, One Piece maintained its top spot in 2009 with 14,721,241 copies sold, more than second [Naruto] and third place [Bleach] combined.[102] The four volumes released during that time frame 53, 54, 52, 55 ranked 1–4 respectively for single volume sales.[103]
In 2010 One Piece again maintained its top spot with 32,343,809 copies sold, more than second Naruto, third Kimi ni Todoke, fourth Fairy Tail, fifth Bleach and sixth Fullmetal Alchemist combined.[104]
ANN comments that the art style of the One Piece manga requires "time to get used to" with its "very simple" artwork and its designs, which appear "very cartoonish" at first. They also note that the influence of Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball) shines through in Oda's style of writing with its "huge epic battles punctuated by a lot of humor" and that, in One Piece, he creates a "rich tale" without focusing too much on plot.[105] Active Anime describes the art work in One Piece as "wonderfully quirky and full of expression".[106] Splashcomics comments that Oda's "pleasantly bright and dynamic" (German: "angenehm hell und dynamisch") art style suits the story's "funny and exciting" (German: "witzigen und ... spannenden") atmosphere.[107]
EX lauds Oda's art for its "crispy" monochrome pictures, "great use of subtle shade changes" on color pages, "sometimes exquisite" use of angles, and for its consistency.[108] Shaenon K. Garrity, who at some point edited the series for Shonen Jump, said that, while doing so, her amazement over Oda's craft grew increasingly. She states that "he has a natural, playful mastery of the often restrictive weekly-manga format", notes that "interesting things [are] going on deep in the narrative structure", and recommends "sticking through to the later volumes to see just how crazy and Peter Max-y the art gets."[109] Mania Entertainment writer Jarred Pine comments that "One Piece is a fun adventure story, with an ensemble cast that is continuing to develop, with great action and character drama." He lauds Oda's artwork as "imaginative and creative" and comments that "Oda's imagination just oozes all of the panels". He also comments that "Oda's panel work [...] features a lot of interesting perspectives and direction, especially during the explosive action sequences which are always a blast", though he complains that the panels can sometimes get "a little chaotic".[110]
The North American releases of the English translation of volumes 39–43 in 2010 debuted at #5–9 on the New York Times Best Seller Manga list.[111]
One Piece's 60th volume held the fastest selling record until February 2011, the manga beat its own record with its 61st volume, selling 2,086,080 copies in 3 days after its official sale (Feb 4–6). The manga again beat its own record with its 66 volume, selling 2,275,453 copies (April 30-may 6).[112] Full page ads were purchased in newspapers in all 47 prefectures of Japan along with the New York Times and China Times to celebrate the series selling 300 million copies in total this November. [113]
Anime[edit]
In a review of the second DVD release of 4Kids Entertainment's dub, Todd Douglass, Jr. of DVD Talk called its adaptation a "shabby treatment" resulting in an "arguably less enjoyable rendition". Douglass said that the 4Kids original opening was "a crappy rap song" and that the removal of whole scenes leaves a "feeling that something is missing". He later went on to say that "Fans of the 'real' One Piece will want to skip picking [...] up [4Kids Entertainment's One Piece DVDs] until an uncut release is announced", and also stated that "kids may get into this version because it's what they have seen on TV."[114] Margaret Veira of Active Anime praised the TV series' "great" animation, stating that "It gives life and stays true to the style and characters of the manga." and noting the fight scenes in particular as having "a lot of energy to them".[115] Patrick King of Animefringe comments that the art style of One Piece is "very distinctive and fresh".[116] In a review of the first Funimation DVD release for Mania Entertainment, Bryce Coulter comments that One Piece is "not your typical pirate adventure" and that mixed with "the right amount of random fun along with a shonen style storyline" it becomes "an appealing and fun romp".[117] In a review of Funimation Entertainment's second DVD release for Mania Entertainment, Bryce Coulter comments that "You can tell that they are giving One Piece the attention that was neglected by 4Kids" and that "One Piece is a great tale of high-seas fun that will leave you wanting more!"[118]
In Indonesia, Global TV was reprimanded by the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) for airing the anime TV series. Nina Armando, member of the KPI and lecturer at the University of Indonesia, said the show should not be aired at times when children are likely to watch.[119]
Awards[edit]
Manga[edit]
The manga was a finalist for the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize three times in a row from 2000 to 2002,[120][121][122] with the highest number of fan nominations in the first two years.[123]
The German translation of its 44th volume won the Sondermann audience award for international manga category, a yearly comic award given for 7 categories by the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Frankfurter Rundschau, Spiegel Online and Comicforum since 2004, on the Frankfurt Book Fair Comics Centre in 2005.[124][125]
In a 2008 poll by Oricon, Japanese teenagers elected it the most interesting manga.[126]
