There isn't really anything like One Piece. From its cast to its world and overarching mystery, One Piece stands as a unique experience that has left a huge mark on the anime and manga industries. With it inspiring so many series that came after it, you have to wonder what helped Oda make One Piece?
Inspiration comes from all around, and One Piece is no different. Oda is an incredibly creative and resourceful mangaka, crafting a world that millions of fans have come to love and become invested in over the years. But even he needed some inspiration to get things going.\
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Future Robot Daltanious
Oda has put out some incredible designs for One Piece's characters, with a myriad of different-looking pirates, marines, and everyone in between inhabiting the One Piece world. Obviously, Oda has different inspirations for different characters and events, but one genre some fans might not expect to see associated with One Piece is mecha anime. If it weren't for the little-known Future Robot Daltanious anime, we wouldn't have SMILE users in One Piece.
Oda explained in SBS Volume 99 that characters like Holed’em and other SMILE users' designs were influenced by Future Robot Daltanious, and how he admired the series' designs as a child. According to Oda, the whole reason behind his creating SMILEs was wanting to draw Holed’em and have a character with a lion on his belly, similar to the transformed version of the lion robot and a humanoid robot from the anime.
It's no exaggeration to say that SMILEs originated from wanting to draw this guy. A long while ago, there was this robot anime called Future Robot Daltanious. There a lion robot and a humanoid robot would transform and dock together, becoming a robot with a lion face on its chest!! It's something I also loved as a child because of how cool it was.
Kinnikuman
Though it didn't necessarily inspire the main series, Oda's love for Kinnikuman is what we have to thank for having one of manga's great gag characters; Pandaman. Oda originally designed Pandaman in 1998 to be submitted as part of a Kinnikuman character creation contest. Yudetamago's Kinnikuman has a very unique style, and you can definitely see what Oda was going for with Pandaman's design.
Though not a major part of the story or made to be taken seriously, Pandaman has appeared throughout the series as a background character and easter egg. From his name being written on the Poneglyph in Alabasta, to being included in the background during various events in the anime, Pandaman is a staple of the series. He's even ranked fairly high at times in fan popularity polls, finishing 19th during the 2nd poll and 31st during the 3rd.
Dragon Ball
Look at any modern shonen anime, and you'll see Dragon Ball's DNA somewhere in there. Akira Toriyama's worldwide hit influenced a myriad of aspiring mangaka back in the day, with Oda and the other 'Big 3' mangaka all taking inspiration from Goku's adventures. For One Piece, Oda's inspiration seems to be more general instead of having specific characters/elements inspire his work.
Goku's strong moral code, cheery attitude, and charisma are all traits we see in Luffy. Shonen staples, like insane powerscaling, powerful mentors, and various character archetypes, are all in there as well. It might sound cliché, but One Piece wouldn't be what it is without Dragon Ball. Sure, the series stands out on its own as well, with its worldbuilding and Oda's ability to set things up years before they pay off, but these two series will always be connected in some way.
Vicky the Viking
You wouldn't expect something so obscure to have inspired the biggest anime and manga franchise of all time, but people can find inspiration from anything and everything. Most anime fans will have never heard of Vicky the Viking. Why would they? The series aired from 1974 to 1976, and was based on a children's book series by Runer Jonsson. As obscure as it is, if it weren't for Oda watching this series as a kid, we wouldn't have One Piece today.
Oda stated in an interview that the series came to mind when he was brainstorming ideas for One Piece. A main character who admires a certain way of life and wants to emulate it, a grand adventure at sea, and a large cast of characters who support each other on their journey are all elements the two series have in common.
As a child I really liked an anime series called Vicke the Little Viking. It was about a little kid who admires Vikings, and his dream is to become one of them when he grows up. As I did research on pirates for One Piece, I realized that Vikings are a type of pirate. I feel that it’s awesome to have friends on your team, just like in the Vicke series. It may not be the best comparison, but I feel like that series’ spirit is carried on within my work.
It took him a while, but with the Elbaf Arc in full swing, Oda will finally get to fully explore the Viking theme that he seemed to love so much in his youth.
The Mysterious Cities of Gold
Like Vicky the Viking, The Mysterious Cities of Gold is not a series most One Piece fans will be familiar with. But some fans have realized that the French-Japanese co-production has some striking similarities to everyone's favorite pirate manga. Unlike Vicky the Viking, The Mysterious Cities of Gold hasn't been confirmed as an official inspiration by Oda, but the more you look into it, the more you find that both series have in common.
For starters, the series protagonist, Esteban, is said to be the "Child of the Sun". That sounds awfully similar to the Luffy/Sun God Nika connection. But that's not where the similarities end. When he was a child, Esteban was saved by a navigator named Mendoza, similar to Luffy being saved by Shanks. Mendoza leaves Esteban with an important amulet similar to Shanks giving Luffy his Straw Hat.
During his travels, Estaban meets a girl named Zia, who is from an old tribe capable of reading a forgotten language. Sounds a lot like Robin, right? Zia's tribe was also wiped out, similar to what happened to the people of Ohara. Understanding this language is the key to finding the fabled City of Gold, just like Robin reading the Poneglyphs is the key to finding the One Piece.
There are other things that are similar to One Piece, like Esteban encountering a tribe of Amazons, and there being a total of four secret locations that lead to the City of Gold. Oda hasn't mentioned the series in any interview, at least none that we know of. Maybe he never saw it, and this is all one big coincidence, but it does seem like The Mysterious Cities of Gold influenced him in some way.
One Piece
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga's popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Number of Episodes
- 1122
- MyAnimeList Score
- 8.72
