It has been quite the journey for Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat pirates. To think it was only yesterday that I heard the 4Kids intro blaring through my tv in the early 2000’s not grasping the scope and impact the series would have 2 decades later.
To celebrate a monumental occasion like becoming one of the largest and most serialized series of all time publishers Shueisha have created many ways to celebrate the life and adventures of the iconic Straw Hat Pirates with the “One Piece 1000 Logs” promotion that will be taking over several spaces and publications through various campaigns over the coming year.
© Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha
One of the events taking over the world in 2021 will be the “WT100” campaign, a worldwide popularity contest pitting every character from One Piece against eachother to finally decide who the most popular character is. Will Ace touch enough hearts to reach number one or will Luffy’s longstanding presence perservere? Only one way to find out is to stay tuned and make your vote heard through the official voting site.
“World Top 100 – Who is Your Number One?”
The international sensation and highest-selling Japanese manga of all time ONE PIECE has reached another milestone with the publication of its 1000th chapter!
We’re celebrating by asking the world: Who is your ichiban? Picking just one character won’t be easy — will it be a giant? a Tontatta? one of the fish-people or a cola-loving cyborg? Perhaps you’ll choose a cheerful reindeer or a lively skeleton. Maybe your ichiban…is a certain pirate made of rubber. Whether you think your ichiban is the strongest, cutest, or kindest, the choice is yours. So grab your phone or even an envelope because we’re gathering votes from the cities, the forests, the deserts, the ports, and, most importantly, from you. What surprises await us? As countless values and ways of thought converge to create the WORLD TOP 100, which character will emerge as the one and only ichiban? To find out, we’ll have to band together.
Let’s show the world: WE ARE ONE
Fans will be able to vote once per day when voting begins on January 3rd 2021 and continue through February 28th, 2021 so be sure to make your vote heard and rally behind your pirate(or character)!
© Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha
Fans were also treated with a special letter from the creator himself, Mr. Eiichiro Oda:
“1000 Chapters!!
I, uh, wow…Words pretty much fail to describe the whirlwind these past 23 years have been. Literally half
of my life has revolved around the almighty ‘WEEKLY SERIALIZATION’ hehe. But it’s not just me, Luffy
and the Strawhats have navigated themselves to so many different islands and found themselves caught
up in so many adventures. At this point, even I’m not sure how many lives they’ve touched along the way!
But it’s thanks to them that so many special people have entered my own life; first and foremost among
them being my family. All of these people have supported me through the years and I am deeply indebted
to each of them. Meanwhile, my readers have been leading their own bustling lives. There’s a certain
theory that exists for long-term readership in the entertainment world that states, “A given pool of readers
will rotate out of a series after five years.” And so for a while now, I’ve avoided calling my readers, ‘fans’.
It’s like they say, “Pride cometh before a fall.” I convinced myself that I shouldn’t get too full of myself
because my readers would eventually leave the series and move on with their lives. Let me say that all of
you have put me to shame for thinking such a thing. Your belief in Luffy has led me to believe in all of you,
and that is what allows me to continue drawing exactly the kind of manga I want to draw. So here we are,
ready to dip our toes into the final stages of the story. It’s taken us a long time to reach one thousand
chapters. However, it’s because I’ve completed a thousand chapters that you must believe I’ll take us to
the end. The story waiting for you will defy expectations! I mean it!!
I have a favor to ask. This is for everyone with whom —by some means or another— I’ve managed to
create a bond, in other words, the ONE PIECE FANS of the world! My story is a long one. But for just a
while longer, please watch over Luffy and his crew as they continue their adventure!
January 2021 Eiichiro Oda”
© Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha
Alongside the festivities there will be several features in publications including New York Times and Shonen Jump! The cover for Shonen in particular will feature a collaboration between fellow creators of other Shonen Jump mangas with their respective character standing alongside a One Piece character.
These creators include Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro’s(BUILD KING) version of Gaimon, Kohei Horikoshi’s(My Hero Academia) version of DonKrieg, Boichi’s(Dr. Stone) version of Ace, and Gege Akutami’s(Jujutsu Kaisen) version of Arlong among others.
© Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha
This issue has also been confirmed to be history making as it includes the largest poster in Shonen Jump history:
The two issues will also include posters that, when combined, will be the biggest insert poster in Weekly Shonen Jump history (847 mm x 620 mm).Fans can enjoy newly drawn art by Author Eiichiro Oda. The back of the poster will include all of the memorable moments up until their 1000th episode.
And lastly, and certainly not least, if you have always wanted to climb ‘the Mount Everest of manga’ that is One Piece but too intimidated to know where to start from then fear not as chapters 1-71 will be free on the Shonen Jump and ZEBRACK apps following the Straw Hats adventures through their East Blue and Dressrosa arcs.
For more information on events and festivities be sure to keep an eye out for the official One Piece website for more details.