Manga Creator Tells Staff Member – “Die For One Piece”

Eiichiro Oda is Willing to Die for his Creation, and Expects his Staff to Keep Up

Those of us who are familiar with the manga and animation industry know that it is fraught with extremely harsh work conditions.  Animators and artists work long hours for low pay, to the degree that this is causing a lot of pain in and for the industry as a whole.

In that world of hard circumstances and Japanese work ethic, Eiichiro Oda (the mangaka/creator of One Piece) is in particular famous for his effort and dedication to his work.  Here’s a quote from CrunchyRoll to put it in perspective:

Famously he gets only three hours of sleep on average (2 am to 5:am) with zero holidays. Naoki Kawashima, an editor who worked with Oda on One Piece says that the mangaka has a stark way of putting this.

“The thing I remember most when I took over [as editor] was Oda telling me, ‘Die for One Piece.’” Though Kawashima initially laugh, be found Oda to be serious about the assertion.

“Because, in fact, Oda is that resolute in drawing the manga,” Kawashima added. “At that time he when he said those words to me, I was like, ‘woah, really?’” Kawashima explained that he was ultimately moved by what Oda said.

That’s right.  “Die for One Piece.”  This kind of thinking probably comes as a culture shock to a lot of people in the western world.

Oda has somehow managed to stay alive and retain a sufficient amount of his health so far, but what does the future hold for him (and for the anime industry as a whole?).

Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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