One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda is lending his creative juices to a new spin-off featuring the women of the beloved adventure manga/anime. The spin-off, titled One Piece: Heroines, is a collection of prose short stories accompanied by illustrations, and was announced by publisher Viz Media through social media.
While Oda is listed as "creator" of One Piece: Heroines, it will actually be written by Jun Esaka, with art by Sayaka Suwa. It's unclear exactly how Oda fits in, but he's definitely putting his name front-and-center on Heroines. We're assuming that means he's going to at the very least be a guiding hand in the creative process, so fans can rest assured that One Piece's original creator is overseeing the spin-off.
"Follow Nami, Robin, Vivi and Perona as the heroines of One Piece go off on their own adventures in this collection of prose short stories!" reads Viz Media's announcement of One Piece: Heroines. "One Piece: Heroines, written by Jun Esaka, created by Eiichiro Oda and illustrations by Sayaka Suwa, releases Spring 2025."
One Piece is of course the story of Luffy D Monkey and his quest to become the Pirate King. The blockbuster manga-turned-anime-turned-live action show (and video game, and toys, and, and, and…) is one of the most popular media franchises in the world. But it's about to go out at the height of its popularity, with creator Eiichiro Oda planning the series' impending conclusion - including the reveal of what the fabled 'One Piece' that serves as the story's title actually is.
There's not much more info to go on yet, but there's still a bit of time before One Piece: Heroines debuts in spring 2025.
One Piece's latest twist is a perfect encapsulation of the series - and something that Eiichiro Oda has been building towards from the start.
