Why One Piece is the Most Popular Manga of all time

Anyone who knows anything about the world of manga, certainly has heard of One Piece, even if he or she hasn't read it. With over 470 million copies in print worldwide, One Piece is, by a large margin, the most sold manga of all time. The next highest is Dragon Ball, with around 300 million copies. The popularity is not just in Japan. Even outside Japan, as much as 80 million copies are in print. One Piece was started by Oda Eichiro in 1997, and is still running. This makes it the longest running Manga of all time as well.

Why is One Piece this popular? And why does it continue to draw more and more fans even 22 years after it first began?

One Piece follows the story of Monkey D Luffy, a 17 year old boy who sets out to become a pirate king and find the treasure of the former pirate King, Gold Roger. Roger, just before his execution, said that he left all his treasure in One Piece. This declaration, incidentally, started the Great Pirate Era, with a number of people setting out to become pirates and find the One Piece.

Luffy sets out to be a pirate. Alone. On a single boat. If you think that's kinda weird, there's more to come. Luffy is a rubber man. As in, due to eating a mysterious devil fruit, his entire body (umm... yes... entire body....) is made up of rubber.

And yet, despite the ridiculous premise, it works. One piece has a number of gags. But it is not merely a gag shonen like so many others. And that is where Oda's genius lies.

One Piece is a shonen manga. And like all shonen manga, the reader naturally roots for the main character. But the main character in our case is a pirate, who is generally considered a criminal. And that forms a brilliant set up to raise several questions on morality. Who is right? Who is wrong? This moral dilemma is an ongoing theme in One Piece. In addition to that, One Piece deals with some other very heavy themes, such as racism, gender, authority, the idea of freedom, the idea of dreams. You could go on and on.

Oda is also a genius storyteller. I am not talking about themes and genres. He is able to tell a gripping story that has kept readers hooked on to the story for years. That is not by using cliffhangers alone. He cleverly uses cliffhangers occassionally. And yet a story that spans 20+ years would grow tiresome if it only used cliffhangers.

All this is to say that One Piece is arguably one of the greatest manga of all time. Sure, it may not be everyone's cup of tea (or sake). For starters there are more than 900 chapters, and the end of the story is still not close. And yet, chances are high, once you start reading, you're going to find it difficult to stop.

So give it a go. If you're stuck at home this quarantine not knowing how to pass the time, join the One Piece crew as they set out on the world's greatest adventure!