Believe it or not, the One Piece manga has been going strong for about twenty years and counting. Now that anime has returned, fans can also enjoy their favorite scenes fully animated. Eiichiro Oda’s magnum opus is nothing short of phenomenal. With all these mind-blowing characters, Devil Fruits, and other ideas, one must wonder where Oda draws inspiration from.
The man has been drawing since his teen years and even worked with some legendary mangaka as well, which means he consumed plenty of manga before committing Luffy to paper for the first time. This then begs the question "What manga influenced him when he created One Piece?" Wonder no more as here are five popular manga's that influenced Oda and five more that are not so famous, but are still highly important to him.
10 FAMOUS: Sailor Moon
Transformation sequences are a big part of anime and manga, and have been for a very long time. One Piece maybe a pirate series, but Oda still manages to sneak in transformations. Franky the Cyborg is a prime example of this. In the later chapters of the series, Sanji’s family, Germa 66, makes an appearance, during the Whole Cake arc. They have transformations as well, and it's very similar to those of Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon has been around since the early '90s, so it's likely One Piece some inspiration from it. The pirates' uniforms (or Raid Suits) are always flashy and colorful, which is reminiscent of the Sailor Scouts uniform. Moreover, they become more powerful once they transform, just like the Sailor Scouts.
9 NOT SO FAMOUS: Ranma ½
It safe to say that Luffy's powers are peculiar, right? His rubber powers are not the type of ability one expects from a Shonen protagonist. The same can be said for the main character from the series '90s series Ranma ½, where the protagonist can change into a woman when doused with cold water.
Ranma garners this odd ability by accidentally falling into hot spring. As a child, Luffy obtains his powers through an accident, too. He unknowingly eats a mysterious fruit, which grants him rubber powers. Both characters unknowingly obtain weird abilities through jarring circumstances.
8 FAMOUS: Lupin The Third
Oda’s character designs seem to take inspiration from Lupin The Third. The notorious thief, Lupin, is a rather lanky individual and is always wearing high water pants. Moreover, Lupin The Third is a narrative about the life of a notorious thief. One Piece is a series about pirates - not exactly the same profession, but lovable rogues nonetheless.
In addition, the cast of characters has very similar archetypes. For instance, there's Lupin (leader), Goemon (swordsman), Jigen (the gunman), and Fujiko (thief). In the beginning of One Piece, it originally consists of Luffy (leader) Zoro (swordsman), Usopp (the gunman), and Nami(thief). More than likely, Oda favored writer, Monkey Punches characters, and chose to imitate it.
7 NOT SO FAMOUS: Kinnikuman
While its art style makes it incredibly recognizable, Kinnikuman is a moderately successful manga, which began serialization in the late ’70s, in Weekly Shonen Jump.
The manga follows a clumsy foolish protagonist, Suguru Kinniku, who sets out to prove himself as the world's greatest intergalactic wrestler after recently discovering he was a long-lost prince of a Prestigious planet of superheroes. Judging how odd and ridiculous this series is, it shouldn't be too surprising to see its unique combat and humor bleed over into One Piece. For one, Monkey D. Luffy is just as clumsy and foolish as Suguru.
6 FAMOUS: Rurouni Kenshin
Rurouni Kenshin is a popular manga series that rose to fame in the early '90s. Seeing that Oda was an intern for the creator of Rurouni Kenshin, he most certainly incorporated those experiences into his manga - both in art and story.
On the surface, One Piece and Rurouni Kenshin are different from one another but they cross paths in more ways than one. Rurouni Kenshin takes place in feudal Japan and consists of samarai. Its most obvious influence on One Piece can be seen in the Wano arc, which takes place in a pastiche of feudal Japan.
5 NOT SO FAMOUS: Akira
Before its popular film adaptation hit theaters in 1988, Akira began as a manga that saw popularity in a niche audience. Oda, in fact, cites the Akira manga as one of his major inspirations.
Akira takes place in a rather dystopic future. The citizens of Neo-Tokyo are fed up with the government and want to dismantle it. One Piece is widely known for its world-building, which was influenced by that of Akira. For instance, the World Government basically runs the entire world, hence the name.
4 FAMOUS: JoJo's Bizzare Adventure
In all fairness, Hirohiko Ariki’s beloved Jojo's Bizarre Adventure has had an influence on the entire manga industry in ways that are impossible to count. One of the most obvious contributions it made were the Stand Users, who are known to have the oddest abilities. The Devil Fruit abilities in One Piece are just as weird and at times, very similar to these Stands.
Josuke’s Stand Crazy Diamond, for instance, encompasses the ability to break any object apart or revert it back to its normal state. In addition, he can also heal injures. Trafalgar Law's from One Piece, Devil Fruit, the Ope Ope No Mi grants him the ability that is something very similar.
3 NOT SO FAMOUS: Dr. Slump
Before the famous Dragon Ball ever made its way into many fans' hearts, there was the early 80’s Dr. Slump. Created by Dragon Ball mastermind Akira Toriyama, Dr. Slump is a comedy about an inventor who goes by the name Senbei Normaki and his creation Arale Normaki. The series centers around them getting into all types of crazy shenanigans around their little town, Penguin Village.
This is another work Oda cites as a major influence in his work. Considering Dr. Slump is a comedy, it is not surprising this is one of Oda’s influences. After all, One Piece is one of the funniest manga ever created.
2 FAMOUS: Dragon Ball
The masterpiece Dragon Ball is one of the most revered mangas of all time. Many mangaka passionately express how Dragon Ball influenced them in one way or another, and Oda too has stated this on many occasions. The original Dragon Ball series primarily focused on action, adventure, and finding mystical artifacts. Unsurprisingly, One Piece follows a very similar premise.
Oda also cites Toriyama's writing style and sense of humor as one of his influences, and this is pretty clear to anyone who's followed One Piece. The characters Oda and Toriyama created are abstract at best, which leads to a lot of parallels - both intentional and otherwise. Luffy’s and Goku’s personality mirror each other quite well.
1 NOT SO FAMOUS: Outlaw Star
Outlaw Star is a lesser-known space opera manga which began serialization in 1996 that's also arguably better known as an anime. The narrative is about a group of outlaws that head out on a quest in space, to find fabled treasure known as the Galactic Leyline. The main character Jean Starwind steals a ship he later coins the Outlaw Star, which is designed to find it.
Does that sound a little familiar? One Piece borrows other themes from this classic, such as freedom, political corruption, identity, reasoning to live, etc.