ONE PIECE
One Piece (ワンピース Wan Pīsu
?) is a Japanese
shōnen manga series written and illustrated by
Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in
Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in
tankōbon volumes by
Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 69th volume released as of March 2013. One Piece follows the adventures of
Monkey D. Luffy, a young boy whose body gains the properties of rubber after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit, and his diverse crew of pirates, named the
Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy explores the ocean in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as One Piece in order to become the next Pirate King.
The chapters have been adapted into an
original video animation (OVA) produced by
Production I.G in 1998, and an
anime series produced by
Toei Animation, which began broadcasting in Japan in 1999. Since then, the still ongoing series has aired over 595 episodes. Additionally, Toei has developed eleven animated feature films, an OVA, and five television specials. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising such as a trading card game, and a
large number of video games.
In 2008, One Piece became the highest-circulating manga series. In 2010, Shueisha announced that they sold over 260 million volumes of One Piece manga so far; volume 61 set a new record for the highest initial print run of any book in Japan with 3.8 million copies (the previous record belonging to volume 60 with 3.4 million copies). Volume 60 was the first book to sell over two million copies in its opening week on Japan's
Oricon book rankings. One Piece is currently ranked as the best-selling manga series. It enjoys a very high readership, with more than 280 million volumes of the series sold in Japan as of 2012. One Piece has received wide critical acclaim from reviewers, primarily for its art, characterization, humor and story.
PLOT
The series begins with the execution of
Gol D. Roger, a
man known as the King of the Pirates (海賊王 Kaizokuō
?). Just before his death, Roger announces that his treasure, the One Piece (ひとつなぎの大秘宝 (ワンピース) Wan Pīsu
?), will be up for the taking, causing the Great Pirate Era (大海賊時代 Dai Kaizoku Jidai
?) to begin. As a result, countless pirates set out to the Grand Line to look for the treasure.
Twenty-two years have passed since Roger's execution, and
Monkey D. Luffy, a young pirate inspired by his childhood idol and powerful pirate
Red Haired Shanks, has since set off on a journey from the East Blue Sea to succeed Roger and find the legendary treasure. In an attempt to organize his own crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, he befriends a swordsman named
Roronoa Zoro and together, they sail off to find the One Piece. They soon meet
Nami, a navigator and thief;
Usopp, a sniper and a liar; and
Sanji, a womanizing chef; leading to confrontations with
Buggy the Clown,
Captain Kuro and
Don Krieg. Later, Luffy encounters
Arlong, a fishman and member of the former Sun Pirates who thinks that fishmen are superior to humans. After Luffy defeats Arlong, Nami joins Luffy's crew and the
Navy places a bounty on Luffy's head. After making their way through the Grand Line, the group meets
Nefeltari Vivi, a princess who wants to help save her country, the Alabasta Kingdom, from the crime syndicate
Baroque Works. They later befriend the doctor and anthropomorphized reindeer
Tony Tony Chopper while in Drum Island.
The Straw Hat Pirates make their way to Alabasta, leading to battles with Baroque Works and their leader,
Sir Crocodile. Luffy eventually defeats Crocodile and liberates Alabasta. Soon after,
Nico Robin, an archaeologist and former member of Baroque Works joins Luffy's crew. They soon meet
Blackbeard, whose dream is also to become Pirate King. After going up to the floating island of Skypiea, the crew gets involved in a war between the Skypieans and the Shandorians, leading to a confrontation against the island's ruler Eneru, who has the power of lightning. Luffy defeats Eneru to save Skypiea and end the war. The crew soon meets the navy admiral
Aokiji, who reveals that Robin was involved in searching for Poneglyphs, which are stones with markings left by an ancient civilization. The group goes to Water 7, confronting the cyborg shipwright
Franky. However,
Cipher Pol No. 9, the
World Government's intelligence agency captures Robin, and the Straw Hat Pirates team up with Franky and declare war on the
World Government, resulting in battles between CP9 and its minions. The final long battle with CP9 ends when the crew saves Robin, and Franky joins their crew. Soon after, the crew helps a musician skeleton named
Brook find his shadow, which has been stolen by
Gecko Moriah.
The crew later prepares to sail off to the New World, the second half of the Grand Line, after landing at the Sabaody Archipelago. While there, they befriend
Silvers Rayleigh, a former member of Roger's pirate crew who plans to coat their ship so they can travel underwater. The crew eventually gets separated during a battle with Bartholomew Kuma at the Sabaody Archipelago, with Luffy being sent to the all-female island Amazon Lily. When he learns that his older brother
Portgas D. Ace has been detained at the government prison Impel Down, Luffy goes there and liberates several people from the prison, including the fishman
Jimbei. Luffy soon learns that Portgas D. Ace is at Marineford to be executed. However, war breaks out between the Navy and a group of pirates led by the legendary pirate,
Whitebeard. In the ensuing chaos, Whitebeard and Ace are killed. At Rayleigh's suggestion, Luffy has the Straw Hats undergo rigorous training regimens, some under the tutelage of prominent figures.
Nearly two years later, the crew regroups at Sabaody Archipelago and journeys to Fishman Island to enter the New World. During this time, a group of fishman pirates appear, seeking supremacy against humans, and hold a
coup d'état to decide the fate of the island. However, after Nami forgives Jimbei for releasing Arlong into the East Blue, the Straw Hats defeat the fishmen pirates, saving the island. The Straw Hats leave Fishman Island and finally reach the New World, but not before starting a feud with one of the four strongest pirates in the New World, Big Mom. Entering the half-burning and half-freezing island, Punk Hazard, the crew encounters
Trafalgar Law, and they form an alliance to take down the four strongest pirates in the New World before being drawn into a battle against Caesar Clown, who plans to use a weapon of mass destruction. After Caesar's defeat, the alliance goes to Dressrosa, a kingdom ruled by Don Quixote Doflamingo, in an attempt to destroy the Smiles factory as the next step to take down another one of the four strongest pirates, Kaido.
After arriving on Dressrosa, Luffy decided to enter a tournament in the Corrida Colliseum, where the prize is his brother Ace's Devil Fruit, the Flame-Flame Fruit.
