One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has been accused of copying others before. So please don’t be surprised that people online in Japan are doing that today.
Above you can see the cover for One Piece Chapter 526, which was titled “Adventure in the Great Prison” and released in 2008. 2008? Goodness.
And now years later, it seems, someone on 2ch, Japan’s largest online forum, has gotten around to posting an compilation image that shows how the cover totally copies the great Japanese artist Kawanabe Kyosai.
Below, you can see how Oda was supposedly inspired by the 19th century artist, blatantly stole from him, or a bit of both.
On 2ch, some people seem to think this is OK — that this is an homage — and chided folks for hating on Oda. Defenders pointed out that, sure, the composition was similar, but it wasn’t a copy. “It’s not like he’s tracing,” one commenter wrote. Others, however, thought it was indeed a rip-off.
Previously, Oda was called out for “copying” Disney cartoons. And there, there was that compilation of real-life people who might have inspired One Piece characters.
Copying or not, these comparisons certainly add another level to Oda’s work: You can see where he’s pulling from. Or that is, where he might be.
Still, you’d think the guy could at least fully recover from his illness before people on 2ch started accusing him of this! That’s the price one pays to rule the manga world, I guess.
尾田栄一郎ついに浮世絵までパクリだす [2ch]
Comments
5 responses to “Did One Piece’s Creator Rip Off This Japanese Art? Or Is It An Homage?”
Yeah, it’s pretty obviously an intentional reference. Not a rip-off.
Just another example of the internet being full of conspiracy theories, hate, rage and trolls.
You couldn’t have said it better anon. The Creation of Adam, The Scream, Mona Lisa.. how many times have we seen all of these works spoofed / copied for homages. This really isn’t any different.
hey, good artists copy, great artists steal
Seems intentional, especially since that isn’t the style of the manga One Piece.
It’s clearly stylized towards this.
Oda makes a lot of references to others; especially their characters – a lot of them are homages to real-life people.
This is ridiculous. We do that in the west aaaall the time with stuff like Michelangelo’s The Creation of Man and DaVinci’s The Last Supper. It’s called a pop-culture reference. Some people *sigh*
lol how stupid is the person who wrote this article? Are you 12? Are you so idiotic you actually think Oda copied hoping no one would know? It’s called referencing, any Japanese reader will know just like anyone in the west would know when someone is referencing the mona lisa.
HOW STUPID DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO WRITE THIS ARTICLE????