Share and Follow
One Piece‘s creator has revealed the reason why Zoro’s character has three swords, showcasing another example of Eiichiro Oda’s self-admitted childish leanings.
Per @pewpiece, the popular One Piece fan account on X, Oda said, “In Japan there was a real-life swordsman named Musashi Miyamoto who was regarded as the greatest ever, and he was known for using two swords. My childish idea was to simply make Zoro even greater by giving him one additional sword.” Oda’s association with the fabled swordsman was seen again when he drew Miyamoto from Takehiko Inoue’s iconic Vagabond manga, a fictional retelling of his life. The artwork can be seen below.
These Anime Dominated Nikkei Entertainment’s Top 30 Most Popular Brand Rankings
Nikkei Entertainment’s Top 30 Most Popular Brand Rankings are dominated by these acclaimed anime series, powered by their diverse demographic of fans.
One Piece’s Zoro Was Partially Inspired by the Real-Life Musashi Miyamoto
Miyamoto is considered one of the greatest swordsmen in Japanese history. A BBC article documenting his history reveals his proficiency at fighting from the young age of 13, when he killed a man with a stick. At age 16, Miyamoto left home to become a warrior, defeating numerous swordsmen. While he was known for his violence, he became more temperamental later on, and his iconic two-sword style died with him, with his students unable to master it.
Oda first revealed the inspiration behind Zoro’s three-sword style in an interview with Netflix Tudum following the live-action’s successful debut. He also provided a similarly ridiculous reason why Nami has orange hair, stating, “It’s simply because there were no other characters in manga that had orange hair at the time. I just don’t want to do something that’s been done before.” Sanji’s kicking style stemmed from being a chef by trade, while Usopp’s slingshot stems from his cowardly nature. “He’d want a weapon that would allow him to attack from a distance,” Oda said. “Considering the modest village where he grew up, a gun would be too dangerous, and a slingshot seemed to make the most sense. Each of their fighting styles always needs to feed into their respective characters.” Oda’s sketches of Gear 5 Luffy also featured an explanation for why Luffy is always laughing.
Official One Piece Animator Slams AI Art Comment With the Best Possible Comeback
An animator for the official One Piece anime has the perfect response to the creator of a viral AI art thread on social media website X (Twitter).
In the interview, Oda continued his trend of revealing his inspirations, echoing how Western films, such as Tarantino’s titles, inspired One Piece, adding to interesting trivia such as why One Piece doesn’t kill off characters — with the answer stemming from his experience watching Studio Ghibli’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
One Piece
Created by Eiichiro Oda, the One Piece franchise explores the adventures of pirate Luffy D. Monkey and his crew, the Straw Hats. Since the manga first debuted in 1997, One Piece has been adapted into an ongoing anime that has seen multiple movies. Most recently it was adapted into a live-action series by Netflix.
- Created by
- Eiichiro Oda
- First TV Show
- One Piece
- Latest TV Show
- Netflix’s One Piece
- First Episode Air Date
- October 20, 1999
- Cast
- Mayumi Tanaka , Kazuya Nakai , Colleen Clinkenbeard , Christopher Sabat , Kerry Williams , Kappei Yamaguchi , Sonny Strait , Hiroaki Hirata , Eric Valette , Ikue Ootani
Source: Netflix Tudum via Pew on X (formerly Twitter)
