Romance Dawn

Romance Dawn refers to three separate manga chapters drawn by artist Eiichiro Oda between 1996 and 1997, culminating in the first chapter of the ongoing series One Piece. The first volume of this series is also called "Romance Dawn;" for this, please see One Piece manga releases: Vol. 1.

"Romance Dawn" represents the slow progression of the author's ideas in his desire to create a manga about pirates, whose inspiration was drawn largely from his own childhood interests. While a first-year junior high school student, he began sketching out ideas for a pirate-themed manga in a notbeook, in pencil. Years later, as an assistant to Rurouni Kenshin author Nobuhiro Watsuki, he began refining his ideas into what would become "Romance Dawn," and later, One Piece. All 3 versions were published in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, with the final incarnation published exactly one year after the first. The author made significant alterations to the premise and plot over the course of the three chapters, which will be examined in-depth below.