Eiichiro Oda is one of the best mangaka in the history of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, popular for the long-running manga One Piece. Beginning its serialization in 1997, the manga is still going on, arguably featuring the greatest known adventure in fiction. Funnily enough, Oda's magnificent work on One Piece has earned him the title of 'GODA' among the fandom.
Oda started his journey in One Piece quite a long time ago, and surprisingly, One Piece isn't the only thing that he's ever worked on. Oda has several other pieces of works that you might know little about, and here's a complete list of things that the One Piece author is known to have worked on.
6 Wanted!
Eiichiro Oda began his journey as a mangaka with Wanted! This one-shot was written by the Japanese author back in 1992 when he was still in the senior year of high school. Interestingly, Oda wrote this one-shot under the pen name of Tsuki Himizu Kikondo. It was also submitted at the 44th Tezuka awards, where the one-shot managed to win Second Class, in the process of which Oda earned ¥500,000 and made an explosive entry to the manga industry.
The story of Wanted! is just as interesting as the one would imagine Oda's story to be. It features a bounty hunter named Wild Joe who is out looking for Gill Bastar, a wanted criminal. Interestingly, Gill's huge bounty is because of the fact that he ends up killing people while protecting himself, and when he faced Joe, he kills him too. However, Joe's spirit is unable to move on to the afterlife because he was killed in a shameful manner. With great conviction, Joe's spirit declares that it'll only pass when it faces Gill once again with honor or the day Gill dies.
5 God's Gift For The Future
Yet another one-shot manga, God's Gift For The Future was drawn by Oda a year after Wanted! in 1993. This manga one-shot got published in the October Issue of Monthly Shonen Jump Original. As expected, Oda's peculiar qualities shone here as well, which led to the one-shot receiving great praise throughout Japan. In 1998, God's Gift For The Future was reprinted in a compilation of Oda's stories that he did before One Piece.
Featuring a fantastic story of a man named Bran, God's Gift For The Future is an incredible experience for the readers, even more so if they're fans of One Piece. The story is based on a pickpocket who tries to correct his habit but fails every time. Even God deems his habit punishable, yet Bran's wits end up impressing God as well. Packed with a lot of wits, this remains one of the fans' favorites from Eiichiro Oda.
4 Ikki Yakō (Night Parade of One Demon)
One of Eiichiro Oda's best pre-One Piece works, Ikki Yakō was published back in April 1994 in the Shonen Jump Spring Special. As expected, the one-shot ended up bagging the first place in that year's Hop☆Step awards for manga. Just like Wanted!, Ikki Yakō was then compiled with the other one-shots written by Oda in 1998.
Once again, it goes without saying that Oda's work on this one-shot is nothing short of breathtaking. The story might just be the best piece of work that Oda has done pre-One Piece, and among the fans, this one-shot holds a special place. It follows the story of Guko, a monk who travels across a forest looking for a place to stay for the night. Attacked by a monster, Guko makes way to a village, the people of which want him to slay the very same monster which he encountered earlier. With no place else to go, Guko ends up taking the task on and attempts to think of a way to get the job done.
3 Monsters
A year after Eiichiro Oda published Ikki Yakō (Night Parade of One Demon), Oda came up with Monsters, yet another one-shot, a year later. Surprisingly, Oda revealed in SBS Volume 47 that Monsters is actually a part of One Piece, although the timeline isn't really the same. Along with all the other one-shots, Monsters was republished in 1998 as well.
It features the story of Ryuma, a character that the One Piece fans are familiar with already. The story is set a long time ago, and the one-shot does an incredible job of fleshing out Ryuma's character a lot more and depicting why he was renowned not only throughout Wano Country, but the entire world. The tail of Ryuma famously slicing apart a massive dragon is told in this one-shot as well. Fans of One Piece have mostly read it already, but if you haven't, get started on it right now!
2 Romance Dawn
Published by Eiichiro Oda in 1996, Romance Dawn was Oda's initial take on what ended up becoming One Piece later on. The one-shot was published in Shōnen Jump 1996 Summer Special, where the works on young and upcoming mangaka were displayed. A lot of the original One Piece manga is actually similar to Romance Dawn, and as such, it has already been adapted into an anime as well.
Just like One Piece, Romance Dawn features the adventure of a rubber-boy named Luffy who aspires to be more like Red-Hair Shanks, his idol. The story opens up with Crescent-Moon Gally attacking a nearby village and Luffy meeting Silk, an orphan from the village (likely Nami's prototype). Undoubtedly, this story is just as adventurous as One Piece itself and definitely something that everyone should read.
1 Romance Dawn Version 2
Published back in 1996's Weekly Jump issue #41, Romance Dawn Version 2 was Oda's last piece of work before he finally came up with One Piece. It was recently adapted into an anime episode as well in the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the One Piece anime. This one-shot also bears a lot of resemblance to One Piece, and once again, serves as a prototype for Oda's later work.
It follows the story of Luffy, a boy with Devil Fruit powers of the Gomu Gomu no Mi. Luffy's grandfather plays a significant role in the story, taking the place of Red-Haired Shanks as Luffy's inspiration as a pirate. Interestingly, his grandfather (Garp's prototype character) was the one who gifted the Straw Hat to Luffy. The story also features Ann (Nami's prototype) who is at odds with a villain named Spiel the Hexagon. The story, while short, is incredibly satisfying, and something that every One Piece fan should check out.