TV - Movies
How One Piece
Led To The
Success Of
Naruto
By JONAH SCHUHART
Debuting in the late ‘90s both “Naruto” and “One Piece” have become anime giants, but each series' success could not have been brought about without the other. "Naruto" author Masashi Kishimoto and "One Piece" author Eiichiro Oda were intensely aware of each others' work, and Kishimoto himself says that "One Piece" directly led to his success with "Naruto."
At a press event in 2015, Kishimoto talked about his relationship with Oda, "I was very envious in the beginning and yet, at the same time, I wanted to not only be like him, but I wanted to surpass him. In some ways I feel like the reason 'Naruto' was able to be published and was able to succeed was because of 'One Piece.'”
Kishimoto continued, “Perhaps we both kind of supported and bolstered each other over the years and led to both of our successes because we had that rivalry." Considering that both the anime and manga industries have a crunch-heavy, cutthroat reputation, it's no surprise that the two's escalating rivalry would translate into increasing levels of popularity.