One Piece ( Wan Psu?

) is a Japanese manga series written and

illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shnen Jump since July
19, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankbon volumes by
Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 76th volume
released as of December 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 674 episodes. Additionally, Toei has developed thirteen 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. The manga series was licensed for an English language release in North
America by Viz Media, in the United Kingdom by Gollancz Manga, and in Australia by
Madman Entertainment. The entire anime series was first licensed by 4Kids, which
due to poor reception, shifted in 2007 to Funimation for an English-language release
in North America.

One Piece has received wide critical acclaim, primarily for its art, characterization,
humor and story. Several volumes of the manga have broken publishing records,
including highest initial print run of any book in Japan and the first book to sell over
three million copies in Oricon history. As of 2013, the series had over 345 million
volumes in circulation worldwide, making it the best-selling manga series in history.