Shonen Jump almost rejected One Piece, but one person convinced them otherwise

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece has been the face of Shonen Jump for years now, so it’s difficult to imagine that the manga was once rejected by the publishing giant.

One Piece was first released in 1997 in Shueisha’s Shonen Jump and ever since then, it’s been reigning as the company’s bestseller for nearly three decades now. Judging by its current popularity, it’s safe to say that the manga will keep its crown for years to come.

However, its journey hasn’t always been smooth sailing. In a recent interview, Sheisha’s well-known former editor Kazuhiko Torishima shared the story of how One Piece found its home in the Shonen Jump.

The editor revealed how the magazine faced a major dip in sales after Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball was finished. Torishima – who served as Dragon Ball’s editor during the early years – later took the position of Shonen Jump’s editor-in-chief.

How onepiece saved Shonen jump ?

Kazuhiko Torishima’s latest interview He revealed how One Piece almost didn’t make it to serialization and how it ended up saving Jump after Dragon Ball. Torishima shared that the magazine was in a tough spot with plummeting sales and a lack of… pic.twitter.com/SJKVSpov6m

— Pew (@pewpiece) September 14, 2024

A few years later, One Piece was pitched by an editor who was on the verge of transferring. Torishima and the other decision-makers weren’t sold on the idea at first, keeping the discussion going on for hours, but after seeing the editor’s passion for the story, they eventually decided to publish Oda’s manga.

And as they say: the rest is history. One Piece not only single-handedly stopped Shonen Jump’s plummeting sales, but it also became the first of many great shonen manga to come. Eventually, Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter and Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto were also taken up by the magazine.

This story is proof of how far One Piece has come and fans are inspired to know the struggles it had to go through to reach its status. As one wrote on X, “One Piece really is the backbone.” 

“The VALUE speaks for itself… No matter how much people hate on it … One Piece is just GOAT!!!” agreed another. 

“Believe in Oda in terms of making a masterpiece, big-hit fiction in history,” added a third. 

One Piece’s success is now higher than ever. While the manga is finally entering the Elbaf Arc with Chapter 1126, the anime show is wowing viewers with one great episode after another. Netflix is also all ready to charm us with both The One Piece anime reboot and live-action One Piece Season 2.