Eiichiro Oda, the creator behind the One Piece manga series, revealed an "annoying" piece of advice he once received from an editor.In a translated interview by sandman (sandman_AP), Oda talked about how an editor he was working with told him none of his female characters were "cute." "Before One Piece started, I got annoyed when my editor said, 'None of your female characters are cute!' Oda said. "It is the most shocking advice I have ever received from my editors. I couldn't sleep and kept drawing female characters through that night." The editor in question was Kaoru Kushima. Oda worked with Kushima in 1994, when he began his career as a manga artist.
Fans of One Piece were shocked to hear the questionable criticism of Oda's female character designs. While some fans equated the comment as another example of sexism in the anime and manga industry, others used the opportunity to open up about their favorite female One Piece characters. The One Piece fandom has celebrated the women of the series through various artistic mediums, such as fan art and cosplays. Nico Robin, Boa Hancock and Uta are only a few examples of anime cosplayers portraying their favorite female One Piece characters through terrific hand-made costumes.
Oda's Thoughts on the Autonomy of Female Characters
Oda also shared his stance on why he doesn't indulge in sexually explicit "fanservice" images in his artwork of the One Piece manga. When a reader asked Oda if there was a censorship policy of not showing any "underskirt panty shots," Oda answered: "It's just something I'm not interested in myself lol." He continued: "Ever since I was a child, there's been many manga that feature fanservice scenes, but most of the time it's done against the consent or will of the female characters... so, I feel that having females show their sexuality out of their own volition such as like with 'happiness punch' is a much-needed revolution for the representation of heroines in manga."
One Piece is available on multiple streaming platforms like Crunchyroll and Netflix. Viz Media handles the English release of the manga.
Source: Twitter