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SJ Oda Interview
This interview was done by Shonen Jump and I pain-stakingly typed it out here FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. I have suscribed to this magazine since issue 1, so I encourage you to support Oda and suscribe! And just ignore all the “Zolos” and convert them into “Zoro”. XD.
Key:
S= Shonen Jump
O= Eichiro Oda
Hobbies and Interests
S: What were you like when you were in high school?
O: Exceedingly Normal. That’s why I now really understand the feelings of normal kids.
S: ONE PIECE takes mostly at sea, did you grow up near the ocean?
O: No, I grew up in the mountains.
S: How old were you when you first started drawing? What sorts of things did you draw?
O: I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. I drew things like animals from pictures in encyclopedias.
S: Can you tell us about some of your artistic influences?
O: I’m influenced by all of Akira Toriyama’s work.
S: When did you get to know his manga?
O: Around when I was in the third grade.
S: You worked as an apprentice to Nobuhiro Watsuki (creator of Rurouni Kenshin), and one of your coworkers at the time was Hiroyuki Takei (creater of Shaman King). Can you tell us about this period of your life?
O: There was a call from the editorial department to recruit assistants, and it was a title that I liked, so I applied. In the workplace, we discussed manga all the time.
S: When you were first preparing to be become a full-time manga artist, did you always focus on ONE PIECE and its predecessor Romance Dawn?
O: I drew many works with many main characters [some of which are printed in Oda’s Japanese “early works” collection WANTED!- Editor]. Even the ones which were rejected have come in handy in creating ONE PIECE.
S: When you created ONE PIECE, did you come up with teh idea of the main cahracter first, or the “world view” first, or did they develop simunltaneously?
O: The world came first. I wanted to draw about an era where pirates rampaged around doing as they pleased. Although I wouldn’t like it if it was like that in real life.
S: How did you come up with the idea for a main character with stretching powers, instead of another kind of technique or attack, such as projectile weapons?
O: I wanted the fighting style itself to be something silly, so that no matter how tense the situation gets, you can relax and read it without becoming too stressed out.
S: It seems that drawing a full-time manga could be very isolating- the work is so intense, and you have to stay in your studio for long periods of time. Do you find it difficult to keep your connections with other people and find new influences? If not, how do you do it?
O: If you think of it as intense, it’s the type of work that will seem endless. But if you seriously embrace the manga, you’ll increasingly become aware of the joy of drawing it, so it won’t be that much of a chore. To me, it’s more like I’m playing all the time than working.
S: Do you have the same partying lifestyle as your characters? If our readers could see you now, would you have a glass of grog in one hand and a chunk of meat in your mouth?
O: I can’t afford to do it every day like the pirates, but I do enjoy getting rowdy with a crowd of people, so I party whenever I get the chance.
S: Have you ever been on board a sailing vessel? If so, how was it?
O: I realized that sailing a ship isn’t as easy as it’s depicted in ONE PIECE, But that’s all right, since it’s a manga.
S: How did you become interested in Pirates?
O: I think it started with an anime TV show about Vikings [China na Viking Bikke (“Little Viking Bikke”), 1974-1975- Editor]
S: Of all the pirates that actually existed, who catches your fancy the most?
O: Blackbeard (Edward Teach)
S: Do you prefer Disney’s older movies (before the Little Mermaid) or their newer ones (after Little Mermaid)
O: I prefer the older ones.
S: Do you prefer Disney’s older movies (before the Little Mermaid) or their newer ones (after Little Mermaid)
O: I prefer the older ones.
One Piece
S: Your manga is incredibly detailed. Do you ever use reference material for the strange-looking clothing, weapons, ships, landscapes, and buildings which appear in your manga?
O: I am attempting to fuse the past and present eras, so I use a wide range of references.
S: Visually, one of the interesting things about your art is that the characters’ movements are very fluid-looking and rubbery (and I don’t just mean Luffy) in an exciting way. It’s similar to what is called the ‘Squash and Stretch’ effect in American animation. How did you develop this style?
O: I love the movements of Tom and Jerry. I used to watch it when I was little.
S: How do you come up with character designs? Do you start by lifting their form from real people or characters, or from abstract shapes or patterns? Have you ever drawn gag manga?
O:
I have never drawn gag manga. I do occasionally use interesting people around me for models. I often use a particular era, or country, when creating form.
S: Who is your favorite villain in the series?**
O: Buggy the Pirate. I threw him together.
S: Who is your favorite female character?
O: Technically Nami, but it’s a principle of mine not to create characters I don’t like.
S: One of the most interesting things about ONE PIECE is ththat the battles are really bloody, but hardly anyone dies. Is this part of the characters’ super-human powers, or do you feel that if people were dying left and right it’d change the happy-go-lucky tone of the manga?
O: It’s important what impression people will take away after reading the manga. Even if peace is attained after a battle, if there are dead people, it doesn’t feel good, so I don’t like it. I think one of the good things about manga is that you’re forgiven if you let your characters survive situations which would have killed real people.
S: In Chapter 1 of ONE PIECE, Luffy says “I’ve got to get a crew! I think about 10 men should do it.” Is this a clue that ONE PIECE will go until Luffy has a 10-person crew?
O: I think that’s something only Luffy knows.
S: In your question-and-answer sections and artists’ comments in your books you have a really crazy, weird, irrevertent sense of humor. Do you think this expresses a side of yourself that can’t get away with in th actual manga? How do you balance the “weirdness level” with the classic shonen manga elements of yujou, doryoku, shori (friendship, perseverance, victory)?
O: With regards to the reader’s corner, it’s not that I’m weird, but that the questions that come in are bizarre (laughs). In any case, there are a lot of questions posed to me in the fan letters, so I just want to respond to them as much as I can, making a forum for light-hearted exchanges between the readers and the author. So, I don’t really think about it too deeply.
Last Questions
S: You’re the #1 manga artist in Japan, and you’re still young. Do you think in 100 years people will think of ONE PIECE as your life’s work, or is just one of the manga manga you plan to draw in the future?
O: I don’t intend to continue this for so long that it will be considered my life’s work, but I do think it will become the representative work of my manga. There are some things other than manga I’d like to do in the future.
S: What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a manga artist?
O: All you need to draw manga is paper and a pen. As for the rest, it’s a world where those think more than other people survive. Good luck.
S: What if that person decides to become a manga artist by going from America to Japan in a rowboat and applying to become your assistant?
O: First of all, I would suggest that they become a boat racing competitor, and then if they insist on becoming my assistant, I would first have them learn Japanese. Since I can’t speak English.
The Development of One Piece
S: I understand that you created several different versions of Romance Dawn before you made the final one which became ONE PIECE. How many different versions did you make? Can you tell us a little about these early versions, and how the idea developed?
O: Romance Dawn is just the two one-shots. Rather than developing a lot of ideas, I actaully worked hard to save things and not reveal everything I wanted to do with One Piece in Romance Dawn’s Confined Space.
Shaza: PHEW I’m tired of typing. I feel sorry for the translators ;;. This whole interview and images are© of
