Hey folks. Just finished reading the Kimura-Oda interview published in the fashion magazine Men's Non-No that went on sale today. Some of you may recall that this is Oda's second big interview in the magazine, his first corresponding with the release of Strong World where he drew Luffy for the cover.
Oda's interview this time around is with Takuya Kimura of SMAP fame. Not sure what SMAP is? Here's a good starting point to learn about them:
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So about the interview, what's in it? Well, as someone who's been trying to promote OP overseas for almost a decade now, it was actually a bit of a frustrating read. The first half of the interview features a section where Oda thanks Kimura for essentially, 'making it okay for OP fans to publicly admit they like OP'.
I was a little shocked by the comment as it's something of a slap in the face to those of us around the world in our own respective languages working hard as we can to promote One Piece in our home countries. But bruised ego aside the interview did open up a few other interesting personal ideals of both Oda and Kimura.
Kimura relates when he was doing a TV-associates job in areas affected by the earthquake making meals for the homeless after the earthquake (probably for the annual '24 Hour Television' charity event) and he was greeted by a boy around high school age that said, "I bet I love OP more than you."
When Oda heard that from Kimura he said he was extremely happy because as a manga author he can't ask for anything more. He discusses again the importance of his work connecting people.
When Kimura suggested Oda would be a great writer for TV dramas or film Oda said he couldn't be which is something he learned during the Strong World process, he can't just write lines. When he creates, he creates lines and pictures at the same time. So he has to draw them out before he can proceed. As that's not the case when writing for a film, he doesn't feel he can handle that.
Oda confirms what he heard earlier in the year on Real Scope that nobody around him calls him 'Oda-sensei'. He doesn't want a wall between them. He says a manga artist could be very charismatic if they just shut up and draw but he doesn't want that. He prefers to be closer to his readers. That's why he does things like those hyper introductions to the volumes on the front flaps.
We learned that Oda drew Kimura in Shanks style (WITH AN ARM) and that image will be released in a photo album going on sale on September 30th called 'Takuya Kimura X Men's Non-No ENDLESS'.
We also learned via Kimura that veteran Japanese comedian Sanma Akashiya isn't all talk when it comes to his occassional One Piece blurts. He's a real fan catching up with the series. Kimura sent him a text saying he was the Whitebeard of Japanese comedy with bucked-teeth instead of a 'stache. And Sanma sent back an e-mail saying that must mean Kimura was a Shanks with an arm. Thus somewhat of a coincidence with Oda's depiction of Kimura.
Those are pretty much the big points. The images are great to look at as we get a very close look at a recent version of Oda's desk looking VERY clean and updated! You can see those pictures at our FaceBook page and maybe Zach or someone can edit this later to include links to full-size pics.
