One Piece (ワンピース Wan Pīsu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since July 19, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 74th volume released as of June 2014. One Piece follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a young man whose body gains the properties of rubber after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit, and his diverse crew of pirates, named the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy explores the ocean in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as One Piece in order to become the next Pirate King.
The chapters have been adapted into an original video animation (OVA) produced by Production I.G in 1998, and an anime series produced by Toei Animation, which began broadcasting in Japan in 1999. Since then, the still continuing series has aired over 600 episodes. Additionally, Toei has developed eleven animated feature films, two OVA's, and five television specials. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising such as a trading card game, and a large number of video games.
