why eiichiro oda is a genius?

this is not an easy question to answer and to answer it we need to look at all the elements that make one piece the greatest manga ever created

we begin with the one piece world and the party that rules over this world is the world government. the concept of a world government has been mentioned throughout history, dating back to ancient egypt, china and japan and was even a concept championed by albert einstein himself.

the concept is exactly as it sounds, one governing body gaining control of the entire world through violent world domination or through a collective of many countries electing an authority and delegating power to that authority.

in the case of the one piece world we see both examples, a seemingly violent takeover, during the void century and a collective of nations assembling in the case ofthe 20 kings. the latter is reinforced by the reverie taking place every four years but the existance of the gorosei and im sama suggest that this collective is just for show

the world government controls the justice system in the one piece world in the form of the marines and cipher pol, until recently in the story,they also maintained full control of the media in the form of the world economic times newspaper and the visual transponder snails we see during the war at marineford

the world government on the whole is seen as a pillar of justice, the marines are essentially the police force with the vast majority beliving that those who break the law are evil criminals who need to be stopped and punished. however it is made clear to the reader that this is not necessarily the case as we see through their involvement in the underground black market and the repression of the history in the void century as well as enabling of the celestial dragons.

the genius of this system within the story lies in the politics behind it which reflect on real world issues such as racial discrimination, inequality, corrupt governments, civil war, and slavery. it is in effect a microcosm of the real world.

opposing the world government are the pirates of the world and just like within the world government we see objectively good or bad people on both sides

while the straw hats are the protagonists and seen as objectively good and seek only adventure there are many pirates vying for wealth, fame and power through whatever means necessary.

moving on, i believe we must mention the geography of the one piece world. with an impassible wall around the circumference of the planet acting as a base from which the world can be controlled by the leaders of the world government and two perpendicular lines made impassible by the lack of any wind or current to propel a vessel across, not to mention vicious sea monsters that would attack any vessel that tried. the calm belt that exists on either side of the grand line makes a perfect barrier preventing free travel between the four blues and the grand line. making it nearly impossible to stand against the world government who can freely travel through all the seas. in the one piece world geography is truly everything (shoutout tekking101)

next lets talk about the technology in the one piece world.

To move from one island to another in the Grand Line, a log pose or an eternal pose is needed. For long distance communication, you have a special type of snail called den den mushi or transponder snail, this in particular showcases oda's intelligence as he has found a way to use modern technology in a way that doesn't leave the reader questioning why more modern technology such as air travel or internal combustion is not used commonly.

the many uses of seastone, a rare mineral used by the world government allow them greater control over the seas and the ability to combat devil fruit powers.

and the devil fruit itself allows oda to create interesting abilities for his characters without limits

which nicely segways us into characterisation.

seemingly every character in the story has thier own unique backstory, oda even gave a name and backstory to the bug iron fist fullbody put into his soup during the barattie' arc. oda never lets the reader forget a character, with many characters returning to the series hundreds of chapters after the were introduced and some we may have thought of as minor characters later playing a major role in the story. great examples of this are mr 2 and mr 3 from baroque works, wet hair caribou or buggy d clown.

every story oda tells is so well thought out, every character in every arc, every ship, crew and enemy has been so meticulously planned that we can't help but to fall in love with them, if you weren't a one piece fan could you ever see a grown man being brought to tears over the destruction of a fictional boat?

you'd have to be a sociopath to not be moved by "sogeking, shoot down that flag" or robin's "i want to live"

finally i want to talk about a few things within the story before i conclude this post.

haki: many fans believe oda came up with haki to write himself out of how invincible he made logia fruits seem to be. that shanks simply stared down the lord of the coast in chapter one, there was no mention of haki until at least jaya and that oda has just retconned really well.

i disagree with that, if you look at chapter one you see that oda had already planned on many of the story elements that wouldn't be mentioned for almost 20 years, shanks already had his scar over his eye with the claw marks, that implies oda had already planned at least some of blackbeards story.

mihawks black blade during the barattie' arc implies that he at least had the basics of haki and the stare down of the lord of the coast is far too similar to every use of conqueror's haki to have been coincidental, oda made a point to show us that instead of having shanks slice up the lord of the coast.

we see mantra introduced in skypeia, we see rokushiki introduced in water 7 and enies lobby, luffy even mentions that it shouldn't hurt him because he's rubber.

just because we don't get an explanation of haki earlier doesn't mean it wasn't planned.

pacing: while many agree the story was slow to start but the payoff is worth it, i would have to disagree, oda took as much time as necessary to set up the story and seemed to work hard to fit everything in up until this point, the reason we skip over what seem to be some important fights are to allow oda to hit his goals. i know i've mentioned this alot but oda seems very deliberate in the chapter numbers of major story events. it's as if he has set out to reach certain point's within the story for certain chapters so he knows how much detail he can put into the world he created. he planned to reach the start of the grand line by chapter 100 he planned the reveal of luffy's gear second and third so he could reveal gear fourth and fifth in the reverse chapter numbers. he planned to end skypeia in chapter 300 so he could reveal the ancient weapon poseidon and set up gol d roger's journey with the poneglyphs in 301. rayleigh was introduced in chapter 500, chapter 700 had doflamingo with the mera mera fruit 800 saw the grand fleet form and i don't need to mention chapter 1000 do i?

It has been over two decades since the One Piece series began, and during that time, numerous mysteries have been resolved, while many others still await answers. Crafting such an intricate world and developing in-depth characters is not a task for an ordinary person.

The creator of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, was recently recognized as one of the top 10 most influential people of the current era. One of Japan’s most prestigious universities, the University of Tokyo, conducted a survey to select the top 10 geniuses of the Reiwa Era (2019-present).

The university, known for producing notable alumni across various fields, collected responses from 137 students, and the results were announced on Fuji TV.

Among the diverse list of athletes, actors, and businessman, only one manga artist made it to the list, and that artist is none other than One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda.

Also Read: That Time the ‘One Piece’ Creator Revealed Which Manga He Was Most Jealous Of

Here is the list of the top 10 geniuses of the current era:

In the demanding world of manga, where artists, known as mangaka, face immense pressure to meet deadlines and produce weekly content, many often fall ill and require extended breaks. However, Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, is a notable exception. Remarkably, he rarely takes breaks from drawing (apart from a 1-week scheduled break in a month), and the fact that he has maintained this level of dedication and productivity for nearly 25 years is truly astonishing.

One Piece, a Japanese manga series created by Eiichiro Oda, has been published in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump since July 1997. As of March 2023, 105 tankōbon volumes have been released.

The popular manga inspired a media franchise, including a Production I.G festival film, an ongoing Toei Animation-produced anime series since 1999, fourteen animated movies, one original video animation, Netflix live-action series, and thirteen TV specials. Viz Media licensed the series for English release in North America and the UK, while Madman Entertainment handles it in Australia.

Eiichiro Oda's commitment to his craft has earned him a spot on the University of Tokyo's top 10 geniuses list, thanks to his influence on the world of manga. The world of manga is vast and diverse, with countless creators contributing to its rich tapestry of stories and characters.