Eiichiro Oda was extremely happy after Vagabond Mangaka’s words became his biggest motivation to create one piece

Eiichiro Oda has always been one to draw inspiration from other sources while inspiring others. Starting A piece Decades ago, he saw the benefit of witnessing eras that change and evolve with time. There are many famous mangakas who are openly giddy about the ideas that have come about thanks to Oda’s contributions to the anime and manga industry.

Many of these include Gege Akutami (Jujutsu Kaisen), Yuki Tabata (Black Clover) and Kohei Horikoshi (My Hero Academia). In this widespread reach, there was one specific comment from Takehiko Inoue that struck Oda the most. So much so that it in turn became an inspiring moment, making him want to write and draw more A piece.

Eiichiro Oda has made a fanboy’s dreams come true

Eiichiro Oda, during a conversation with Takehiko Inoue in 2009 about the latter’s exhibition in Kumamoto, talked about the first time Inoue encountered A piece.While having a conversation, Oda shared an anecdote about how the Slam Dunk The writer’s comments changed a lot for him.

“Around the time One Piece had just started serialization, I saw a survey in a magazine asking famous people which comics interested them. In that survey you had chosen One Piece and said: ‘The creator really believes in his work.’ I almost literally jumped for joy, I was so happy. I have had a copy of that page hanging in my workplace for a long time.”

Oda stated that it was in the early days of the war A piece when he received a survey magazine about its response. Because it was so new, any criticism was important to the author. It was Inoue’s comment that surprised him in the best way possible.

He was so pleased with the appreciation that the copy of the page ended up on the wall where he worked. It became a driving force that he often looked back on.

Eiichiro Oda impressed Takehiko Inoue

During the conversation, Takehiko Inoue also confirmed this A piece was the only manga that offered him a change of pace that he had so desperately hoped for. This made him feel eager and wanted to know more about the story.

“I was in Los Angeles around the time One Piece started and I was sent Shonen Jump. When I read chapter one of One Piece, I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is the start of a really good comic.’ I thought it was a piece that should not be missed. I hadn’t thought about a comic like that in a while, so I made sure I followed it.

Inoue noticed the path in which Eiichiro Oda’s work was taking place and immediately knew that the work required great appreciation. As such, he started following it chapter by chapter.

As a result, A piece found an admirable fan in the form of Slam Dunk And Wanderer writer Takehiko Inoue.

A piece is available to watch on Crunchyroll and read on Viz Media.