Eiichiro Oda Admitted the Real Reason He Was “a little concerned” With the One Piece Anime

SUMMARY

• Eiichiro Oda revealed that back when One Piece was selected for an anime adaptation, he was pretty concerned about the situation.
• He wanted to know the people working on the anime as well as suitable voice actors.
• Oda had always wanted Mayumi Tanaka to voice Luffy and his wish did come true.

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Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is one of the best-ranking anime of current times. The manga itself has seen a steady rise in popularity ever since its debut. But the introduction of the Enies Lobby arc gave the series an impetus. By the time the Marineford Arc rolled by, people were already jumping on the bandwagon left and right.

You would think that all this popularity must have made Oda feel pretty good, and normally, that would be the case. However, an interview revealed that Eiichiro Oda was, in fact, nervous about One Piece receiving an anime adaptation.

Eiichiro Oda was Concerned About Who Would Create the One Piece Anime

Luffy exhausted in One Piece | Credits: Toei

In an interview, Eiichiro Oda was asked how the decision to make One Piece into an anime had hit the author. Toei took up the series after just two years of its serialization, so it must have been thrilling news. Eiichiro Oda’s answer, however, reveals a deep-seated concern.

Eiichiro Oda answered that while people might have expected him to be excited about the anime adaptation, the truth was completely different.

Just, I was a little concerned and curious about what kind of people would be making it so I really hoped they would let me meet with the director and producer as soon as possible.

It is normal for authors to be nervous before their work is turned into an anime. After all, it might become the make-or-break decision for the series. If the anime tanks, it might reflect on manga sales as well. Thankfully for Oda, Toei did not mess up with One Piece and it continues to be one of the most popular Shonen anime.

Luffy and Shanks in One Piece | Credits: Toei

In a later interview, Oda also expressed his confidence in the anime staff. He considered that the One Piece anime had a well-rounded director and was happy with the outcome. He also admitted that the slight changes brought to the series also intrigued him, such as episode 1 featuring Alvida from the get-go and Shanks being introduced later, contrary to the manga.

Eiichiro Oda Manifested Luffy’s Voice Actress

Not only was Eiichiro Oda worried about the anime adaptation of One Piece, he also wondered who would voice the main characters, especially Luffy and the Straw Hats. Given that they are the central characters, getting the voices right is the most crucial job.

Luffy in Romance Dawn | Credits: Weekly Shonen Jump

The author then revealed that he had been thinking about potential voice actors for One Piece characters for a long time. Ever since he was an assistant for Rurouni Kenshin‘s author, Nobuhiro Wakatsuki, and was creating the Romance Dawn manga (precursor to One Piece), he thought about appropriate voice actors for the characters he had created.

Actually, with regards to the voice actors, ever since I was an assistant, from the time I wrote Romance Dawn I thought about a lot things and Mayumi Tanaka being good for  Luffy was one of them. When it was decided that she would really be doing it I was pretty excited.

Mayumi Tanaka is an extremely well-known figure in the anime industry. Before One Piece, she played major roles in Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump, Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, and more. Thus, casting her must have been like a dream come true for Oda.

One Piece manga is available to read on Viz Media, and the anime is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Written by Aaheli Pradhan

Articles Published: 411

Aaheli is an anime content writer at FandomeWire. With four years of experience under her belt, she is a living, breathing encyclopedia for anime and manga. She believes in living a slow life, surrounded by incomplete art projects and her beloved cat.