One Piece

One Piece (ワンピース) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, with an anime adaptation produced by Toei Animation. It focuses on a ragtag crew of heroic pirates, formed and led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy's greatest ambition is to obtain the world's ultimate treasure, One Piece, and become Pirate King.

Plot
A boy named Monkey D. Luffy, inspired by his childhood hero Red-Haired Shanks, sets out on his journey to find One Piece and be the new Pirate King, with a powerful crew to back him up. To accomplish this, he must reach the end of the most deadly and dangerous ocean: The Grand Line.

Characters
One Piece has a large amount of characters, many of which are either pirates or marines. The main protagonist is Monkey D. Luffy, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. He leads a crew of eight other pirates: Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Nico Robin, Franky, and Brook. Each member has their own dream that is furthered by joining the Straw Hats.

Production
The One Piece manga began its run in issue #34 of Shueisha's Shonen Jump magazine on August 4, 1997, while the anime adaptation produced by Toei Animation premiered on Fuji TV on October 20, 1999.

The first animated version of One Piece was an OVA produced in 1998 by Production I.G known as One Piece: Defeat The Pirate Ganzak!.

The names of many special attacks and certain terminology in the manga consist of a form of punning, in which phrases written in kanji are paired with an idiosyncratic reading, usually mixing other languages (as with Luffy, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, and Franky's techniques) and possibly involving a joke (a number of Zoro's sword techniques, for example, are fearsome when read by sight but sound like kinds of food when read aloud). Eisaku Inoue, the animation director, has said that the creators did not use these kanji readings in the anime since they "might have cut down the laughs by about half." (While fighting the CP9, Zoro has one of these kanji symbols appear)

The development of the anime has also influenced the progression of the manga in a number of ways. Manga artist Eiichiro Oda did not initially intend to make Tony Tony Chopper the kind of "cute mascot" he became for the series, but the anime's use of voice actress Ikue Ohtani for the role influenced the character's design substantially. In the opposite vein, the author wrote the character of Franky with the voice of Kazuki Yao (who had previously voiced Jango and Mr. 2 Bon Clay) in mind.

In contrast with many serialized manga-to-anime adaptations, author Eiichiro Oda works closely with the producers of the anime, providing ideas and feedback for original characters and scenarios added to the TV show, as well as keeping the producers abreast of future plot developments that cut down on internal contradictions in filler material (with some rare exceptions, such as the use of a non-existent naval rank and Zoro's cutting of iron during the Warship Island arc). Konosuke Uda, the director, said that the he believes that the creators "made the anime pretty close to the manga."

Eiichiro Oda originally planned One Piece to last five years, and he had already planned out the ending, but he found himself enjoying the story too much to end it in that amount of time, and now has no idea how long it will take to reach that point. Nevertheless, the author states (as of July 2007) that the ending is still the one he had decided on from the beginning, and he is committed to seeing it through to the end, no matter how many years it takes.

Manga
The One Piece manga, written and illustrated by Oda, is originally published by Shueisha in Japanese-language for sale in Japan. In the west, the English-language adaptation is published and distributed for sale in North America and Australia by Viz Media in both the form of the American Shonen Jump magazine and graphic novels. There are currently 40 volumes of the One Piece manga.

Anime
The anime debuted in 1999 in Japan on Fuji TV. It was localized into English and brought over the Pacific in 2004, where it debuted on 4Kids TV. The series migrated to Cartoon Network's Toonami block, helmed by FUNimation. Cartoon Network's Toonami block has recently cancelled FUNimation's dub of One Piece, and no other network has yet to air it.

As of June 01, 2008, One Piece has had a total of 356 TV episodes. Episodes from 207 onwards have been broadcast in high-definition at 1080i resolution, in addition to standard definition. One Piece episodes air at an average of four episodes a month or, in some cases, air as several back-to-back episodes followed by a break of several weeks.

In the fall of 2006, the Toei Company produced a series of five recap episodes, retelling the back stories of each of the Straw Hat crew members using clips from old episodes, tied into the current storyline by framing the recaps as flashbacks each of the characters were having just before storming the Tower of Justice. The recaps also marked a change in the series' time slot.

In Singapore, the anime is licensed by Odex, who produced an English dub which lasted 104 episodes. It was produced in two 52 episode seasons, with some of the original actors leaving in between seasons. Luffy and Sanji's names are pronounced differently; Luffy's is pronounced similarly to the word "fluffy" (which sounds like "Luh-fee" as opposed to "Loof-y"), and Sanji's name is pronounced with the "an" sounding similar to how it would be used in the word "sand" ("San-gee" as opposed to "Sahn-ji").

The anime was adapted by 4Kids Entertainment and previously shown on Cartoon Network's Toonami, and "reruns" are airing on Cartoon Network's online broadband service Toonami Jetstream in the United States and on networks in many other English-speaking countries around the world. The 4Kids version debuted in the US on the Fox network as part of the Fox Box block on September 18, 2004. This version of the show varied considerably from the original Japanese series. In an attempt to appeal to their target audience, 4Kids severely edited the series to make it more appropriate for children's television. 4Kids announced in December 2006 that they had cancelled production of their dub. This cancellation has been rumoured to have been forced on 4Kids, because the Original Japanese Licensers no longer approved of the 4Kids version and thus pulled out of the agreement, effectively preventing 4Kids from dubing more episodes. As of September 2007, 104 English-dubbed episodes have been produced from the first 143 Japanese episodes of One Piece; and a variety of sources explain that 4Kids had dropped the license afterwards, such as Anime Newtype Magazine. The anime's naming conventions were used in One Piece-related media in North America, such as the English version of the fighting game One Piece Grand Battle for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Gamecube. The TV version of the FUNimation dub continues to use most of these names to date.

On April 12, 2007, FUNimation Entertainment announced it had acquired the license of One Piece and is currently producing the English version from episodes 144 to 167, which premiered on Cartoon Network on September 29, 2007, though is currently on hiatus, replaced as of March 22, 2008.

FUNimation will also distribute the series in unedited bilingual DVD box sets, which will retail for US$ 49.98 and contain 13 episodes each. The DVD box sets will also feature unedited video & English audio track. The unedited English language track will restore character and objects renamed in the dub to their original names. These changes were not made in the TV edit to allow continuity in the English broadcast of the TV series. FUNimation officially released the DVDs on May 27, 2008 FUNimation has also released Episode of Alabasta: The Desert Princess and the Pirates on DVD on February 19, 2008 and in select theaters across the United States from February 7 through February 10. The movie is set to air on Australia's Cartoon Network on Friday May 30th.

Movies
Since the debut of the series on television, Toei Animation has also produced nine One Piece feature films, released each spring since the year 2000. In typical fashion for movies based on serialized manga, the films feature self-contained, completely original plots with animation of higher quality than what the weekly anime allows for. Additionally, three of these movies have had special "featurette" shorts, showcasing the characters engaged in various activities unrelated to the series (specifically dancing, playing soccer, and playing baseball). These movies, and their attached features, are as follows:
 * 1) One Piece: The Movie (ワンピース) - The crew comes across an island that is said to be the location of an amazing collection of gold, but they are not the only ones after it.
 * 2) Clockwork Island Adventure (ねじまき島の冒険) - When their ship is stolen, the Straw Hats come across a thief duo that claims it was stolen by the Trump Pirates, who have taken over Clockwork Island. To make things even' worse, the Trump Pirates kidnap Nami so she can marry their leader. The Straw Hats have to stop them before it's too late.
 * 3) * Featurette: Jango's Dance Carnival (ジャンゴのダンスカーニバル) - Jango hypnotizes an entire island, including the Straw Hats, into dancing so he may escape the Marines.
 * 4) Chopper's Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals (珍獣島のチョッパー王国) - The crew searches for the "Crowning Treasure", but as they approach the island it is said to be on, they are sent into 'the air, separating Chopper from the group. On the island, the animals declare Chopper their king. However, there are people besides the Straw Hats looking for the Crowning Treasure.
 * 5) * Featurette: Dream Soccer King! (夢のサッカー王!) - The Straw Hat Pirates challenge various enemies from the show to a penalty shoot-out.
 * 6) Dead End Adventure (デッドエンドの冒険) - In order to gain money, the crew enters a pirate race called the Dead End Race.
 * 7) Curse of the Sacred Sword (呪われた聖剣) - An old friend of Zoro's is possessed by an evil sword, and due to a favor Zoro owes him, he joins his side. The Straw Hats will have to find a way to seal the sword before its true power is unleashed.''
 * 8) * Featurette: Take Aim! The Pirate Baseball King (めざせ! 海賊野球王) - The Straw Hats face the Arlong Pirates in a game of baseball, with Buggy and Mr. 2 Bon Clay as announcers.
 * 9) Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island (オマツリ男爵と秘密の島) - The crew lands at a resort owned by Baron Omatsuri, who challenges them to a series of games. However, there is more to Omatsuri and his friends than meets the eye.
 * 10) The Giant Mechanical Soldier of Karakuri Castle (カラクリ城のメカ巨兵) - The crew searches for the treasure known as 'the Golden Crown on Mecha Island, a technologically advanced island filled with amazing machines, which is ruled by a man named Ratchet.
 * 11) Episode of Alabasta: The Desert Princess and the Pirates (エピソードオブアラバスタ 砂漠の王女と海賊たち) - An edited version of the Alabasta arc with new animation.
 * 12) Episode of Chopper Plus: Miraculous Sakura, Blooming in Winter (エピソードオブチョッパー＋　冬に咲く、奇跡の桜) - A retelling of the Drum Island Arc featuring Franky, Nico Robin, and the Thousand Sunny. Eiichiro Oda himself participated in the writing.

Artbooks
Three artbooks for the series have been released in Japan. The first artbook, Color Walk 1 has also been released in English. The second and third books have yet to be released in North America.
 * Japanese title: Color walk 1
 * Release date: June 2001
 * ISBN 978-4-08-859217-6


 * Japanese title: Color walk 2
 * Release date: November 4, 2003
 * ISBN 978-4-08-859376-0


 * Japanese title: Color walk 3~LION
 * Release date: January 5, 2006
 * ISBN 978-4-08-859538-2

Data Books

 * Japanese title: Red grand characters
 * Release date: March 2, 2002
 * ISBN 978-4-08-873211-4


 * Japanese title: Blue grand data file
 * Release date: August 2, 2002
 * ISBN 978-4-08-873358-6


 * Japanese title: Yellow grand elements
 * Release date: April 4, 2007
 * ISBN 978-4-08-874098-0

Reception
One Piece is the third highest selling manga in the history of Weekly Shonen Jump, (behind Kochikame and Dragon Ball) and is currently their most acclaimed and all-time third-best-selling title in Japan. The manga is the first to increase the sales of Weekly Shonen Jump in eleven years. Volume 27 of One Piece holds a manga sales record in Japan, with 2,630,000 units sold in its first printing alone; as of volume 46, the series has sold over 140,000,000 copies domestically, and is the fastest manga to reach sales of 100,000,000.