One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has announced that the first 12 volumes of the original One Piece manga will be available for free. In celebration of the new live-action adaptation on Netflix, fans will be able to enjoy the first arc on Read Me!.
The free volumes include the full East Blue Saga, which is the first story arc of the manga. The long-running series currently stands at 106 volumes.
Manga was the original form of One Piece, having been serialized in Shueisha’s shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump since July 1997. Its chapters were compiled into 106 volumes (called “tankōbon”) in July of this year. The anime version came a couple of years after the manga, in October 1999. Both are ongoing, with the anime racking up over 1,000 episodes already.
The release of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the story on August 31 means that One Piece is now concurrently releasing in three separate mediums.
The live-action One Piece has been given widespread praise by fans. With the SAG-AFTRA strike still ongoing, it is not currently known whether the series will get a second season — though one could reasonably assume so, given its popularity — or, if it did, how soon production could move forward.
The free manga volumes are being made available in 21 languages. According to Oda’s X (formerly known as Twitter) post, however, the Japanese version is not being made available in this release.
Oda’s work is already incredibly well known in Japan, so it can be assumed that the giveaway is intended to give new One Piece fans from the Netflix show a peek at the rest of the franchise, where they can get an idea of what to expect in potential future seasons. The East Blue Saga contains all the characeters that appear in the first season of the Netflix series, making it a perfect introduction to the wider One Piece world.
Not yet seen the live-action adaptation, or curious to read more about it? Check out our spoiler-free review of the season here!
