Why Did Eiichiro Oda Tell an Editor to Die for One Piece?

David Senra says Eiichiro Oda told a new editor to be prepared to die for One Piece. A former editor remembered the greeting as die for One Piece, and took it to mean that anyone working with Oda had to show the same commitment Oda demanded of himself. Another editor said he might someday meet a writer more talented than Oda, but doubted he would meet anyone who worked harder.

The schedule matches that demand. In a 2016 interview Oda said he went to bed at 2 a.m. and woke at 5 a.m., and that he had kept the schedule for roughly 15 years. An extra hour of sleep meant losing an hour of work, and planning to sleep four hours made him dread wasting that hour. When he was younger he slept about two hours every 48 hours, broken into 15-minute naps. After a manuscript he allowed himself a day of longer sleep. Looking back at his 20s, he said he was willing to miss a parent's funeral if it conflicted with the manga. In a 2022 interview he said he saw his family about once a week, because that time was so relaxing it pulled him out of the work.