Eiichiro Oda facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eiichiro Oda
尾田 栄一郎 |
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|---|---|
| Born | January 1, 1975 Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan |
| Occupation | Manga artist |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Notable works | One Piece |
| Notable awards | Grand Prize at 41st Japan Cartoonists Association Award |
| Spouse |
Chiaki Inaba
(m. 2004) |
| Children | 2 |
| Signature | |
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Eiichiro Oda (Japanese: 尾田 栄一郎, Hepburn: Oda Eiichirō, born January 1, 1975) is a famous Japanese manga artist. He is best known for creating the world-famous manga series One Piece.
One Piece is the best-selling manga in history. It is also one of the best-selling comic series ever made. More than 520 million copies of One Piece have been sold all over the world. This makes Oda one of the most successful writers of all time. His work has had a huge impact on the history of manga.
Contents
Early Life and Inspiration
Eiichiro Oda was born on January 1, 1975, in Kumamoto, Japan. When he was only four years old, he decided he wanted to be a manga artist. He thought it would be more fun than getting a "real job."
His biggest inspiration was Akira Toriyama, the creator of the popular series Dragon Ball. Oda also loved stories about pirates. He thinks his interest in pirates came from a TV cartoon he watched as a kid called Vicky the Viking.
Career as a Manga Artist
Getting Started
Oda's career started when he was just 17. He entered a contest with his short manga story called Wanted! and won several awards. This success helped him get a job at the famous Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine.
At first, he worked as an assistant for other manga artists. He helped with series like Suizan Police Gang and Jungle King Tar-chan. Later, he assisted Nobuhiro Watsuki on the famous manga Rurouni Kenshin. Watsuki even said that Oda helped him create one of the characters in the series.
The Birth of One Piece
While working as an assistant, Oda drew two short pirate stories. Both were called "Romance Dawn." These stories featured a hero named Monkey D. Luffy. This character would later become the star of One Piece.
In 1997, One Piece officially began as a series in Weekly Shōnen Jump. It quickly became a huge hit in Japan and around the world.
Incredible Success
One Piece is not just popular; it's a record-breaking series.
- By 2005, it had sold 100 million collected volumes, called tankōbon.
- By 2011, it had sold over 200 million.
- As of 2017, 430 million copies were in circulation worldwide.
Individual volumes of One Piece also set records in Japan. For example, in 2010, Volume 57 had a first printing of 3 million copies. This was the highest ever for any book in Japan at the time. Later volumes broke that record, with Volume 67 printing over 4 million copies at once.
In 2013, the series won the Grand Prize at the 41st Japan Cartoonists Association Award.
Working on One Piece Films
Oda has also been very involved in the One Piece animated movies. For the film Strong World, he created the story and drew over 120 pictures to guide the animators. He also helped produce other hit movies like Z, Gold, Stampede, and Red.
Personal Life
In 2004, Eiichiro Oda married Chiaki Inaba, who was a model and actress. He met her in 2002 at a festival where she was dressed as the One Piece character Nami for a stage show. They have two daughters.
Oda is known for being a very hard worker and a perfectionist. His editors have said that he often sleeps only three hours a night to keep up with his work schedule.
He is good friends with other famous manga artists, including Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto. When the Naruto manga ended, Oda included a hidden message in a One Piece illustration to congratulate his friend. Kishimoto also paid tribute to One Piece in the final chapter of Naruto.
In 2018, Oda showed his generous side by donating ¥800 million (about 8 million US dollars) to his home region of Kumamoto Prefecture. The area had been damaged by an earthquake in 2016. Part of the donation was made in the name of Luffy, the main character of One Piece.
Major Awards
Eiichiro Oda has won many awards for his work. He won his first major award, the Tezuka Award, in 1992 as a teenager. His series One Piece has won many prizes, including the Sondermann Award in Germany and the Grand Prize from the Japan Cartoonists Association Award.
He holds a Guinness World Record for "the most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author." He first earned this in 2015 and broke his own record in 2022 with over 516 million copies printed worldwide.
Main Works
Manga
- Wanted! (1992)
- Romance Dawn (1996) - The original story that led to One Piece.
- One Piece (1997–present)
- Cross Epoch (2007) – A special story that combined characters from Dragon Ball and One Piece, created with Akira Toriyama.
Films (as Producer and Designer)
- One Piece Film: Strong World (2009)
- One Piece Film: Z (2012)
- One Piece Film: Gold (2016)
- One Piece: Stampede (2019)
- One Piece Film: Red (2022)
Other Projects
Oda has also worked on other fun projects. He designed a character for the video game Gaist Crusher and monsters for the game One Piece Odyssey. He also worked with the fashion brand Gucci on a special project featuring Luffy and Zoro. In 2023, he was one of the executive producers for the live-action One Piece series on Netflix.
See also
In Spanish: Eiichirō Oda para niños
