Weekly Shonen Jump’s Hiroyuki Nakano And Yuji Iwasaki Talk About ‘One Piece’ As It Reaches Its 100th Volume

What about it One piece The manga celebrating its 100th volume, I caught up Weekly Shonen Jump’s editor-in-chief Hiroyuki Nakano and One Piece’s editor Yuji Iwasaki to find out why this manga continues to endure.

Starting with Nakano, I wondered what drew him to work in manga in the first place.

“I am from Fukui Prefecture, which, as far as Japan goes, is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. As a child, I was a voracious reader, and not just of manga. I could spend hours sitting still in the library, reading away. My parents always said I was a pretty low maintenance kid.

“For as long as I can remember, I remember having copies Doraemon. Later, I remember the first manga I bought with my allowance was Captain Tsubasa and The ultimate muscle.

“I liked the books, I applied for a job in the publishing industry and luckily, Shueisha accepted me. After my training period, I was assigned the editorial of Shonen Jump. Out of all of Shueisha’s publications, Weekly Shonen Jump was the one I liked the most, and also the one I had read the most up to that point, so I was excited, but I also felt the conviction to do my best to make the magazine even more better .

“The most important task an editor has is to encourage the growth of their mangaka and help them create a hit, but this is not an easy job. It’s really heartbreaking to put everything you have into creating something you think is great, only to have the series run out of time and end.

“Of course, it’s great when a series you edit clicks with readers and gains popularity, both in Japan and globally. I’ve had the privilege of attending events outside of Japan several times, and it fills me with pride to see how popular the Jump titles are, including the many fans who play characters.”

Moving on to One pieceI was curious what Nakano considered the secret of his success.

“Simply put, I think it lies Eiichiro Oda’s the desire to do something really fun, which is attributed to his passion and strength as a creator. To add to that, I think its success can also be attributed to the fact that Oda broadened the readership of the series over time by targeting younger children first and foremost. It’s also a lot of that One piece a pioneer in the manga world, including the incredible synthesis of art and story, full of foreshadowing that connects the plot from beginning to end. In short, I consider its essence One piece to be a series that is an exciting read for anyone, at any time.

“One piece moves on to his latest saga. I’m sure readers will enjoy it and I think it will be a historic moment for the manga, so I’m excited to see it with fans around the world.”

To go deeper One Piece’s editorial process, I wanted to hear from Iwasaki and how he came to be in the role.

“I took over as manga editor in April 2020. I remember feeling a strange mixture of excitement that I had the opportunity to work on One piecea series I’ve loved since I was little, along with a sense of responsibility for the series to follow.

“I think most of it One Piece’s Success is Oda’s childhood curiosity. It’s as if he constantly has his antenna up looking for inspiration. I think it’s a truly incredible achievement that he can combine so many playful aspects into such an epic plot.

“Always seeing things from the reader’s point of view is difficult. One piece it’s the kind of series where the deeper you get into it, the more fun it gets. However, One piece it has both casual and die-hard fans, so accessibility is something that’s always on my mind.”

“All in all, it was an incredible experience to be able to observe the world’s greatest mangaka hard at work, up close and personal. I hope to use all the things I learned working with Oda to help the next generation of mangaka achieve their best.

“It fills me with joy to know how many people are enjoying it One piece worldwide. Thank you so much for all the support and I hope you enjoy the continuing adventures of Luffy and the crew!”

The Its 100th volume One piece available from online retailers such as Amazon for $9.99 and is published by Viz Media.

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