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The story
In a project where several manga artists sent messages of encouragement to kids who dream of becoming manga artists themselves, most contributors wrote heartfelt words of support — but One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda (51) stood out by leaning into the financial perks instead, writing: “At home I BBQ block meat (whole slabs, not the thin pre-sliced kind) and gacha to my heart’s content, because I’m a manga artist.” The response blew up on 5ch. Thread reactions split between those calling it embarrassingly out of place next to everyone else’s sincerity, and those defending it as endearingly lighthearted for a manga legend — with some directly comparing it to Takehiko Inoue’s earnest message.
What people said
Yet you act all high and mighty toward anyone poorer than you.
Feels like we've entered a phase where people just pile on regardless of the actual content.
On this one he clearly wrote something that invites mockery.
It's a lousy answer both as encouragement for wanting to be a manga artist and as advice — this is supposed to be the spot for actual advice on becoming one.
Odacchi hangs out with celebrities all the time though.
If it's just about the money, there are plenty of jobs outside manga that pay off more reliably.
Almost sounds like he's saying it straight at Oda.
Doesn't sound like the age of the great, generous manga master is coming anytime soon.
How is it "clearly" that?
Re: #14
I don't think it's really off the mark for an encouragement-and-advice post…
People are calling it out because the advice has no real substance and misses the point.
It's not weird.
Just tacky.
Readers range from people specifically chasing an award to people just casually skimming.
There are probably more of the latter, and it could still work as a spark to get someone started.
People who actually want to win an award start by bringing their work to a publisher and getting advice from an editor.
I actually kind of like that someone guaranteed a spot in Japanese manga history can still say something this childish.
Lol, that's basically making fun of him.
He's always pushed the idea that being a manga artist is a dream job that can pay off big.
It comes from wanting more people to become manga artists. I trust that more than someone who's making bank but stays quiet about it.
Then all the more reason he didn't need that "at my place" bit.
To use that comparison, it'd be like getting asked for advice at a youth soccer tournament and saying, "Become a pro and you can get filthy rich, so give it your all!"
Yeah, actually not weird.
Wasn't that more of an old-school baseball player thing?
The sincere answers are obviously helpful too, but still.
You never know what's going to resonate with who.
There have been cases before of someone who started out just chasing money turning out to actually have talent and making it big — more so than someone earnestly aiming to become a manga artist.
Coming from someone currently drawing a flagship series, in a setting like this, this comment feels like it could kill the dream rather than inspire it.
Unless we're talking crime-level or "force-feed someone poop"-level stuff, I don't think you necessarily need to tie the work to the person's character, and I think people like that can exist — but this just feels tasteless in a bad way.
I'm totally fine with a genius saying tactless things or making the occasional gaffe, it's more the direction of this one that bugs me.
At the point he made this comment, it was still funny though.
Judging by the "Ruffy" spelling (an old early-translation rendering of Luffy's name), this must be after the New World, right?
That's already after it had gone downhill.
This period's around the tail end of Dressrosa through the Zou arc, right?
Wano onward is better than now, but honestly everything post-New-World just isn't that interesting.
Background and Key Points of the Debate
The source appears to be a project in which multiple manga artists sent messages to kids who dream of becoming manga artists. While other creators, including Takehiko Inoue, wrote sincere words of encouragement, it became a talking point that Eiichiro Oda alone gave an answer foregrounding the financial appeal — “At home I BBQ block meat, gacha to my heart’s content.” On the thread, negative takes (“he’s the only one standing out awkwardly, it’s embarrassing,” “there’s no real substance as advice”) were roughly matched by positive ones (“it’s actually nice that a legend can be this lighthearted,” “money as a motivator is fine, it can still be a spark”). Comparisons were drawn to soccer and baseball players who talk up flashy lifestyles to give kids something to dream about, broadening the discussion into the more general question of whether it’s appropriate for public figures to play up an exaggerated image of success. What’s easy for readers to misread is that this remark isn’t malicious criticism of Oda personally — the debate is purely over differing opinions on tone, namely whether the answer was too flippant given the point of the project.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyō G) thread “One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda, 51: “At home I BBQ block meat! Gacha to my heart’s content!! Because I’m a manga artist!!!”“.
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