When did One Piece start?

One Piece is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It was first published and hit the market in July 1997, serialized under the Shounen manga’s flag. Since its first publication, it hasn’t looked back since.

The series began with its first chapter, “Romance Dawn: The Dawn of Adventure”. It introduced some of the most beloved characters in the series including the likes of Monkey D. Luffy and the infamous pirate, Red-Haired Shanks.

One Piece follows the story of a young pirate, Monkey D. Luffy, and his adventures. Luffy, along with his pirate crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, sail through the Grand Line in search of the legendary One Piece, the treasure of Gol D. Roger, the King of the Pirates, which is of unimaginable value and lies at the end of the Grand Line. Luffy sails through the Grand Line in search of adventure and the One Piece, with the dream of becoming the next King of the Pirates one day.

Luffy is a young pirate but is the total opposite of what one might imagine a pirate to be. He is a young and skinny boy, who started his pirate life at the tender age of 17. Foremost, he is a kind and fun-loving soul who laughs all the time, unlike the popular image of a pirate who is a rather cruel person wearing an eye patch.

With its interesting approach to the life of a pirate and lovable characters with their peculiar personalities, One Piece soon gained fame and dominated the manga industry. Its huge success earned it a place in The Big Three in its community. Following its huge success, One Piece got an anime adaptation under the production of Toei Animation. Its first episode premiered on 20 October 1999 on Fuji TV. It is currently an ongoing manga and anime series, with 1057+ manga chapters and 1030+ anime episodes as of August 2022. With these huge numbers, it is one of the longest-running series of all time, still far from a conclusion.