One Piece Episode α. Pencils by Boichi, storyboard by Ishiyama, is obviously, taken from the original story by Eiichiro Oda. All beautiful, all very interesting. All beautiful, all very interesting. But let’s use the excuse of these two volumes to talk about One Piece, more specifically, its future or what many, including us, hope is the future. It is not a mystery that the story must end ; many point the finger at the thirtieth anniversary as the ending date, but after that? One Piece is one of those IPs that will continue to live without a shadow of a doubt, between the live action series by Netflix, the classic animated series and the imminent reboot of the same ; we will continue to have content for many years after Oda puts down his pencil.
More than a prediction, ours is a wish. One Piece is full of characters and their stories that are almost always introduced with flashbacks or other narrative methods. It is also not uncommon to see some windows on characters left in previous sagas and find them again in their little adventures. In fact, manga has the peculiarity of spoiling the reader with small paragraphs with mini narrative arcs on secondary characters. So why not expand? From our point of view, it would be nice to see some “branches”: to see entire volumes dedicated to the before, during, and after. The great thing? In the “SBS” (Shitsumon or Boushū Suru translated I answer questions), the author is famous for gifting us more information.
For example:
Imagine a volume about Nico Robin who arrives in Arabasta from West Blue, meets Crocodile, and the two unite out of necessity and survival. Imagine a volume about Nico Robin who arrives in Arabasta from West Blue, meets Crocodile, and the two unite out of necessity and survival. Now, imagine having these and other volumes in your hands: mini dedicated stories 1 volume long, or less, each. And maybe, why not? Each volume drawn by a different author. 1000 characters, 1000 stories, 1000 authors.
Cool, right?
This is our dream.
This is our One Piece.
