Eiichiro Oda

Eiichiro Oda (尾田栄一郎, Oda Eiichirō), born January 1, 1975 in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan, is a Japanese manga artist, best known as the creator of the manga and anime "One Piece".

History
As a child, Oda was inspired by vikings and aspired to become a manga artist. As a child, he submitted a character named Pandaman for Yudetamago's classic wrestling manga Kinnikuman. Pandaman was not only used in a chapter of the manga but would later return as a recurring cameo character in Oda's own works. At the age of 17, he submitted his work "Wanted" and it won several awards. Joining the staff of the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump, he began working as an assistant to several mangaka, including Shinobu Kaitani's manga Suizan Police Gang, Masaya Tokuhiro's series Jungle King Ta-chan and Mizu no Tomodachi Kappaman, and Nobuhiro Watsuki on the manga Rurouni Kenshin. During this time, he drew two pirate-themed one-shot stories, called "Romance Dawn". In 1997, "One Piece" appeared for the first time in the magazine Shonen Jump and promptly became one of the most popular manga in Japan. His biggest influence is Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump.

Cameos and Guest Appearances

 * He voiced the character "Odacchi" in the "Dream Soccer King!" short that aired with the third One Piece movie, " Chopper's Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals". "Odacchi" is Oda's nickname, and he played soccer when he was younger.
 * Oda once played the role of Shanks for the JUMP Festa 2008 in the absence of Shūichi Ikeda when the voice actors acted out the Mugiwara High School short. He wore a hot pink wig for the part and explained he would only do this because One Piece was in its tenth year.
 * Strangely, in a recent Japanese Fan Poll, Eiichiro Oda is currently ranked the 31st Most Popular Character in One Piece, despite the fact that he has never included himself in any issue of the manga (except the SBS).
 * Oda's name often appears on the spine of books in the anime.

Trivia

 * Eiichiro Oda is married to Chiaki Inaba, who had played Nami during Jump Festa One Piece stage performances.
 * When Eiichiro Oda was the assistant of Nobuhiro Watsuki, his colleague was Hiroyuki Takei. Therefore, Oda has a strong respect in Takei.
 * Oda is a fan of rapper Eminem, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton
 * Oda's 3 favorite movies are Seven Samurai, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Young Guns.
 * Oda's favorite real pirate is Blackbeard (Edward Teach).
 * According to Oda in an interview for Shonen Jump, his favorite villain in One Piece is Buggy the Clown (he joked that he literally threw him together). Oda has also claimed if he could eat any of the Devil Fruits, he would eat the Bara Bara no Mi.
 * Oda is a fan of Mexican food.
 * One trait that Oda is renowned for is inserting Easter Eggs in his One Piece manga for fans to spot. These include the character Pandaman and the logo Doskoi Panda.
 * Oda was seen on the verge of tears (but he held them up) after the Straw Hats' VAs asked the audience to say "Odacchi, itsumo arigatou" in a Jump Festa event. He then asked did they plan that just now. Mayumi Tanaka (Luffy's VA) and Kappei Yamaguchi (Usopp's VA) responded that they planned that just now, when Oda was still blindfolded after a certain game they played.
 * On that same day, Oda was wearing a fish head on his head, known as his other trademark (other than Pandaman).
 * Oda's role model is Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragonball.