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Eiichiro Oda, the author of manga One Piece, touched upon his health issues in a recent interview published on July 25, 2022.
In the joint interview, which was carried out along with Detective Conan author Gosho Aoyama, Oda said that it was getting harder to draw battle scenes as he got older.
“The older you get, the harder and more tiring it is to draw battles, isn’t it?,” Oda said.
Oda mentioned this while describing how he drew the battle between Luffy and Kaido, including the Tom & Jerry inspiration. He said that he needed way more breaks these days and that he has become more health conscious as he grows older.
The author also talked about his weight related issues, saying that he started to get fat as soon as he started serializing One Piece. And in order to control it, Oda used to not eat for 2-3 days at a stretch.
“When it comes to mangaka, there are those who lose weight and those who gain it. From the moment I started the series, I started to get fat. It was common for me not to eat for 2-3 days, and I didn’t even have time to eat because I felt sleepy while at it. That’s why I usually don’t eat as much as other people, because otherwise I can eat a lot. Your body starts to feel weak and threatened, so it absorbs anything you ingest,” Oda said.
This is not the first time Oda talked about his insane schedule as had previously said that he had no time to bathe, shave, or enjoy dinner while drawing manga.
“I can push myself working without eating or sleeping for days thinking about rewarding myself when the work ends to an invitation to a luxurious dinner or barbecue schedule,” Oda had stated then.
In the recent interview, Oda then went on to express his frustration at not being able to manage his weight and added that he really doesn’t enjoy talking about these things.
“Still, I don’t eat, I gain weight and I just lose at everything. …I really don’t enjoy talking about this hahaha.”
Being out of shape also forced Oda, who was once a soccer club member, to abandon the sport completely. According to him, the soccer was too tough on his body.
“Before Coronavirus, I used to gather some friends to play soccer together, but with time I have realized it’s a little too tough of a sport for my body. I also used to be in the soccer club, but I’m so out of shape now I have completely abandoned that career hahaha,” Oda said.
Oda started serializing One Piece in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on July 22, 1997. As of July 25, the manga has published 1054 chapters and released 102 volumes.
The joint interview between Oda and Aoyama will be published in two parts. The first part was published in issue #34 of Weekly Shonen Jump. The second part will be published in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday on July 27, 2022.
One Piece was the best-selling manga for eleven consecutive years from 2008 to 2018 and is the only manga that had an initial print of volumes of above 3 million continuously for more than 10 years.
It is also the only manga that has achieved more than 1 million copies sold in all of its 100 published tankobon volumes.
Source: Interview translations by WSS Talk Back
I wish Oda to be happy with himself as much as he is happy with his work. Oda, there are ways to get your weight and health issue under control you must research the truth of bad diets. Please Oda stop starving yourself for days and research what foods are destroying your body. You are putting your body through intense mental and physical strain and then not letting it have what it needs to heal. Please Oda listen to these words, we are not supposed to be eating certain things. Your body cannot deal with fat because it must remove sugar as priority first. The reasoning is that too much sugar in the system can be fatal toxic. No matter how hard you work yourself to bring us your gift if you drive yourself into a early grave doing so we will not have you anymore. 😞
P.S. look up “leaky gut syndrome” if the info is available in your nation and can access it perhaps the information may lead you to a healthier life. This info is public in the USA.