One Piece was first published in Weekly Shounen Jump in 1997 and was written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda. The first volume was later published in Japan on December 29, 1997. The manga became so popular that it was turned into an anime series in 1999. Both manga and anime are still continuing on a weekly basis in Japan and are also available to English-speaking audiences in North America. The manga, licensed by Viz Media, is published monthly in the English version of Shounen Jump and is later collected into volumes. The anime was licensed by 4kids Entertainment, began airing on FoxBox (now known as 4kids TV) in late 2004 and on Cartoon Network's Toonami block in early 2005.

The story of One Piece can be summarized as being about a boy named Monkey D. Luffy who, as a child, decides that he will follow his mentors footsteps and become a pirate. Not just any pirate, however... the king of pirates! Luffy sets sail from his hometown located somewhere in the ocean of East Blue, looking for a crew who will be strong enough to accompany him to the Grandline where the treasure "One Piece" was left behind by the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger.

Sure enough, Luffy picks up a group of people who are all considerably amazing in their own unique ways. First is Roronoa Zoro, an infamous pirate hunter and swordsman who uses a three-sword style fighting technique and dreams of becoming the world's strongest swordsman. Second is Nami, a sly thief who steals from pirates and also happens to be an excellent navigator, dreaming of creating a complete map of the world. Third is Usopp, a jack of all trades with a strength in lying and sharpshooting who dreams of becoming a great warrior of the sea. Fourth is Sanji, a renowned cook of East Blue and a skilled martial artist who dreams of finding the legendary ocean All Blue. With a crew of five, the "Straw Hat Pirates" make their way to the Grandline where they discover more crew mates, friends, adventures, obstacles and enemies!

Currently, there are 238 episodes, 6 movies, 3 TV specials, 1 OAV and 3 special shorts that were released along with some of the movies. The manga currently has 373 chapters that are serialized in 38 volumes, 2 complementary data books (One Piece Red and One Piece Blue), and 2 full-colour art books (Color Walk 1 & 2).