One Piece is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since July 1997, with its individual chapters compiled into 98 tankōbon volumes as of February 2021. The story follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy whose body gained the properties of rubber after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit. With his crew of pirates, named the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy explores the Grand Line in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as "One Piece" in order to become the next King of the Pirates.
The manga spawned a media franchise, having been adapted into a festival film produced by Production I.G, and an anime series produced by Toei Animation, which began broadcasting in Japan in 1999. Additionally, Toei has developed fourteen animated feature films, one original video animation and thirteen television specials. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising and media, such as a trading card game and numerous video games. The manga series was licensed for an English language release in North America and the United Kingdom by Viz Media and in Australia by Madman Entertainment. The anime series was licensed by 4Kids Entertainment for an English-language release in North America in 2004, before the license was dropped and subsequently acquired by Funimation in 2007.
One Piece has received praise for its storytelling, art, characterization, and humor. Several volumes of the manga have broken publishing records, including the highest initial print run of any book in Japan. The official website for Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga announced that the manga has set the Guinness World Record for "the most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author". As of February 2021, the manga had over 480 million copies in circulation in 43 countries worldwide, making it the best-selling manga series in history. It became the best-selling manga for the eleventh consecutive year in 2018. One Piece is also one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
Premise
The series focuses on Monkey D. Luffy, a young man who, inspired by his childhood idol and powerful pirate "Red Haired" Shanks, sets off on a journey from the East Blue Sea to find the titular treasure and proclaim himself the King of the Pirates. In an effort to organize his own crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy rescues and befriends a swordsman named Roronoa Zoro, and they head off in search of the One Piece. They are joined in their journey by Nami, a navigator and thief; Usopp, a sniper and a pathological liar; and Vinsmoke Sanji, a womanizing chef. They acquire a ship named the Going Merry and engage in confrontations with notorious pirates of the East Blue. As Luffy and his crew set out on their adventures, others join the crew later in the series, including Tony Tony Chopper, a doctor and anthropomorphized reindeer; Nico Robin, an archaeologist and former assassin; Franky, a cyborg shipwright; Brook, a skeletal musician and swordsman; and Jimbei, a fish-man helmsman and former member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Once the Going Merry becomes damaged beyond repair, the Straw Hat Pirates acquire a new ship named the Thousand Sunny. Together, they encounter other pirates, bounty hunters, criminal organizations, revolutionaries, secret agents and soldiers of the corrupt World Government, and various other friends and foes, as they sail the seas in pursuit of their dreams.
