Eiichiro Oda’s 5 One-Shots Compilation Manga “Wanted!” To Receive English Translation By Viz

Before One Piece was born, series creator Eiichiro Oda wrote six one-shots. These were: Wanted!, God’s Gift for the Future, Ikki Yako, Monsters and Romance Dawn Versions 1 & 2.

5 of these one-shots are set to receive official English translations by Viz in the form of a single volume called “Wanted! Eiichiro Oda Before One Piece”. The 208-page volume is slated to be out in bookstores in Fall 2024.

Announcement: Set sail with a collection of early work by the creator of the international mega-hit One Piece! Featuring Romance Dawn–the one-shot that would become One Piece, Wanted! Eiichiro Oda Before One Piece releases Fall 2024. pic.twitter.com/mhTJoprNPU

— VIZ (@VIZMedia) February 2, 2024

For those who don’t know, Wanted! is a collection of short stories written by a teenage Eiichiro Oda long before his work with One Piece. Later, Oda used some of these stories’ elements in his other works, including One Piece. The 5 stories are:

• “Wanted!”: Gill Bastar is an extremely skilled gunslinger who has killed a lot of men, all of them in self-defense, and now has to deal with the ghost of a vengeful bounty hunter who needs him dead.
• “God’s Present to the Future”: Bran is a skilled pickpocket, so incorrigible that God himself decided to kill him by dropping a meteor on him. But he writes down the name of a large shopping mall instead. So it’s up to Bran to prevent a disaster and find a solution.
• “Demon’s Night Parade”: The young monk Guko is looking for his master, a wise and powerful demon-hunting monk. However, the residents of a remote village ask him to assist them in fighting the evil Cannibal Ghoul that is infesting the area’s woods.
• “Monsters”: The young samurai Ryuuma aims to be the strongest swordsman in the land. He encounters a young waitress, the mysterious knight Cyrano, and a legendary horn that can summon a dragon.
• “Romance Dawn” (Version 2): A prototype of One Piece, where Monkey D. Luffy has to help the young girl Anne to save her pet bird, Baloon, from the wicked captain Spiel the Hexagon.

Wanted! was released in Japan on November 4, 1998, and after 30 years, it’s finally receiving an official English translation.

Oda wrote the following message on the volume:

“This is a 「masterpiece collection」. No matter what any of you say, this is a 「masterpiece collection」.

You could say these 「masterpieces」 are some of the few successful successors of the will of the countless one-shots out there that have been left to rot. To simply call them “short stories” would be such a shame.

Oh … but wait, on the cover, the sub-title says “Collection of short stories by Oda Eiichiro”…….!!

Ah, whatever.”

About One Piece

One Piece manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda.

It has been serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine since July 1997. And has compiled a total of 107 tankobon volumes as of November 2023.

The manga spawned a media franchise, having been adapted into a festival film by Production I.G. and an anime series by Toei Animation, which began broadcasting in 1999.

Additionally, Toei has developed fourteen animated feature films, one original video animation, and thirteen television specials.

The latest entry in the franchise, One Piece Film Red, premiered in Japan in August 2022.

It is the 8th highest-earning film of all time in Japan and also topped Japan’s box office for the year 2022 in terms of both yen earned and tickets sold.

One Piece Anime Synopsis:

The tale of One Piece takes place on a parallel Earth when the ‘Golden Age of Pirates’ is in full swing.

The seas are ruled by ruthless pirates, and only the strongest can claim the legendary ‘One Piece’ fortune left behind by the greatest pirate of them, Gol D. Roger. Years after Gol D. Roger’s death, Monkey D. Luffy dreams of establishing his own crew, locating One Piece, and becoming the Pirate King. Luffy has incredible strength and agility after eating a devil’s fruit that turns his body into rubber. He leaves Foosha Village in East Blue on his epic expedition to become the next Pirate King.

Source: Viz Media Twitter Handle, Tvtropes