‘One Piece’ Eiichiro Oda Takes Issue With Modern Manga, Why?
Eiichiro Oda, the creator of the popular Japanese manga series One Piece, recently expressed his disappointment with modern shonen manga. In a joint interview with Gosho Aoyama, the creator of Detective Conan, Oda talked about how today’s shonen manga has become overly serious.
One Piece Creator Displeased With Modern Shonen Manga
The first part of the interview was recently published in Weekly Shonen Jump, a manga magazine that serializes One Piece. The second part, which is also the final part of the interview, will appear in Weekly Shonen Sunday, which serializes the manga, Detective Conan.
[Source: YouTube]
Translated highlights from part 1 of the interview have now been posted by user @WSJ_manga on Twitter.
Both mangaka go through a long talk about their respective anime series and voice actors, and later get into more in-depth discussions regarding their latest movies.
Oda really enjoyed 'The Bride of Halloween', and Aoyama says his favourite ONE PIECE movie is 'FILM GOLD'. pic.twitter.com/uXrhZQUOHl
— Shonen Jump News (@WSJ_manga) July 22, 2022
During the interview, One Piece’s creator expressed his displeasure with the present-day shonen manga that has become overly serious. As per CBR.com, He also stated that he wishes to keep One Piece from following the same trend.
[Source: YouTube]
As the interview reached its end, Oda & Aoyama asked one another what they felt was a decisive point in their respective series. Aoyama picks an intense confrontation from his Detective Conan series that happened between two prime characters in Chapter 1009. On the other hand, Oda picked a moment from One Piece Chapter 1044 where Gomu-Gomu No Mi’s true name is revealed. He also picked the moment when Luffy’s body transforms via the power of Gear Fifth.
Why Does Luffy’s Character Maintain Goofy Look Post Transformation?
Even after a dramatic transformation in Luffy’s character, he still sports a goofy-looking facial expression. And Oda explained why he continued to maintain the goofy look for his character.
He mentioned, “I drew this because I really want to have fun, and I think that it’s okay if people don’t like it.”
“Since I was an assistant, I have felt that expressions that were so characteristic in manga have been gradually lost. Putting a light bulb in a character’s head… or making the character’s legs go in circles when they’re running, for example,” he added.
[Source: YouTube]
Aoyama agreed with the fact, and Oda described his feelings in-depth, including his observations regarding modern-day manga action series.
He described, “I have always loved those symbolic expressions, but they keep disappearing,”
“Battle manga has to keep getting more and more serious to keep up with readers’ expectations, and I honestly hate that. I definitely don’t want my work to become a serious manga like that,” he concluded.
One Piece Creator Compared Gear 5th Design With Tom & Jerry
As Aoyama expressed how much he loved Gear 5’s design, the Japanese manga artist replied, “You can think of it as if it suddenly became Tom and Jerry.”
[Source: YouTube]
Oda is currently working on the final saga of his manga. The first chapter is due for release on July 25, 2022. VIZ Media will also release an English version of the same. Fans who wish to stream the anime version can check out the same on Crunchyroll or Netflix.
Do you agree with Eiichiro Oda? Has modern shonen manga become overly serious? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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