Baleno and One Piece Collaboration

Baleno is a famous clothing franchise in Hong Kon
g and Taiwan (not really sure if it also has stores else where). It has been collaborating with cartoon/anime companies to produce shirts with cartoon characters like Doraemon, Disney, Toy Story, etc. Two or three years ago, when I was still in high School, it started its collaboration with One Piece. Below are some images
of Baleno's spring collection, being sold in Taiwan.

Again, why is One Piece successful in Japan, and as this collaboration shows, in Taiwan and Hong Kong (perhaps other parts of Asia, too), but not in the USA? The answer is probably still the difference in culture. People from Japan's neig

hboring countries probably have deeper understanding of its culture than Americans do on general, although I still find it hard to find the Japanese cultural element that could be incomprehensible to US audience.

If I were to think of a theme in One Piece that is not common in American culture, I will say the teamwork

of the crew. Normally, in a American movie or cartoon, most notably Hollywood Blockbuster or Marvel Comic books, the hero always fights alone and rarely does he (also note that hardly is a woman a hero) need the help from the others. Think about Superman, Spiderman, Ironman and Batman. They are all way too strong to need any partner. It would be well enough for them to handle any enemy.

Okay, I know one may be inclined to argue that in all Spiderman, Ironman and Batman, there are supporting casts. Spiderman has his lovely girlfriend, Mary Jane, and also teams up with his friend-and-foe Harry osborn in Spiderman 3 the movie. Ironman, Tony Stark, has his whole company and its cutting-edge technology. Batman has Robin. However, in all these, the protagonists are still obviously the strongest and are only very rarely helped by the supporting crew; whereas in One Piece, every member on the pirate crew has his or her own purpose. In the very first episode, Luffy set out to sail on the journey on his own, but he couldn't even get anywhere because he lacks the technique to stir a boat. So if there was no Nami, he couldn't even have reached the New World (where they just arrived in last week's Shonen Jump).

The other crew members also help Luffy and each others in all sorts of ways. In this sense, they all rely and depend on each other that they can't really live the way they do right not if they lack any of their comrades.

So is there a tendency in American kids to favor the one-man trend instead of teamwork? The answer is, I would say, maybe. Perhaps this is why Naruto is doing way better than One Piece outside of Asia. Although the protagonist Naruto has his friends, classmates, teachers and seniors to guide him and color his life, he does not stick with any one of them for the whole of the plot. At different stages, he trains with different people and learns new ninjutsu. So, in this sense, the spotlight of the story has always been on Naruto and not he and his friends.

This is me trying to act funny in Chopper's Hat that was sold in one of the Baleno chain in Taipei, Taiwan two years ago.

Top left image is from the HK Baleno site: <http://www.baleno.com.hk/EN/whatsnew_2.asp?id=118>

All others, except for the last one featuring me is from the TW Baleno facebook page: <http://www.facebook.com/Baleno.tw>

Sponge Bob Square Luffy

I am not sure if this is a fan art or an official collaboration, but it certainly looks like it was done by the original maker of Sponge Bob. In the states, generally when you go around asking people if they know One Piece, the answer is normally no, but if you ask them if they know or have seen Naruto, many people will say yes. I am not sure if One Piece is broadcast on TV (it probably is, as it can be found on Hulu), but I have never seen it once on TV in LA. However, I did see Naruto a couple of times. In some stores that sell J-Pop products in LA, you can find the manga books of both in English. Therefore we should consider why is One Piece more popular in Japan, but not in LA, if not the whole USA? I did ask some people (Taiwanese and Japanese) why they do not read or watch One Piece, but are into Naruto. They said that the reason is because One Piece is way too long, and they do not feel like catching up. Thinking back, I remember I once had the same thought. Back in 6th grade, Naruto only had some 15 volumes when One Piece already had 10 or a dozen more.

If this mash-up picture was done by the original anime-maker of Sponge Bob through a legal collaboration, we should consider how much impact it will have in the USA. First, since One Piece is not as popular as Naruto, maybe hardly anyone will notice that it is a mash-up between Sponge Bob and One Piece; perhaps people are just going to think it's Sponge Bob and his friends in funny clothes. Conversely, it could be a promotion of One Piece in the USA for people who knows Sponge Bob, which probably makes up 99% of the American population. Through this photo, or mash-up products (if there is any), American people might start gaining interest in One Piece.

Last night, while I was studying for the final, and reading the "Japanamerica", I found another point that is interesting in this image. The author quoted a Japanese guy saying that they never understand American jokes and what American kids like. Sponge Bob is one of those examples that people find it funny in the USA, but never really got it going in Japan. In the same way, One Piece is also popular in its homeland, but not the USA. In this sense, this picture is a combination of two works that is not popular in each other's country, even though I still do think Sponge Bob has more reputation in Japan than One Piece does in the US. However, just like Prof. Alisa said in the class, jokes are really hard to translate across languages, so perhaps there are some jokes or cultural factors in One Piece that American audience may find hard to digest.

I found this mashup on the blog: http://9gag.com/gag/148325

Can't really imagine this pirate crew getting anywhere in the New World.

Chopper being the "spokesdeer" of different towns in Japan

Whoever came up with the idea is a genius! I love just how each Chopper displays a famous attraction in each of the towns. The words on the top says "Let's look for your favorite Chopper!"

Hachikou is my favorite.

Personally, I am as crazy as to collect all One Piece peripherals, but there are definitely fans who do that, especially when the product is limited, just like these figures shown in the picture, it will definitely gain popularity.

Again, like I said in the last post, I have to emphasize how important Chopper's existence is to the whole success of One Piece. Out of all the characters, Chopper is definitely the one that appears the most outside of the manga and anime. Animal, unlike human characters, can easily be lovable just like most people would think pets are cute (if not like them).

There are only these peripheral products only because the original story (either manga or

anime) is successful. This caused businessmen to produce these small toys, decorations, dolls, food, etc, which in terms gain more popularity for the original just because some consumers may not have read or watched the story before. In the end, there follows a snowballing effect, of which the original helps the sales of the products, and the products also helps the popularity of the original. Thus is why One Piece is, by far, the most popular manga in Japan today.

All images above were self-taken.

Chopper X "Herro" Kitty

Look who's at this crazy Hello Kitty shop in Odaiba Aqua City. Oh! It's our cutest and most huggable Chopper in One Piece! I have to admit that I am not a big fan of the mouthless cat, but she sure makes a perfect hat on Chopper.

On the board in the picture, it says that the concept of this teaming up between One Piece and Sanrio is that Kitty and the pirates take a stroll in each other's world.

The character Chopper is also one of the reason why One Piece is so popular in Japan. In class, we talked about how Kitty is successful because one does not need to know her story to like her. You can just like her big eyes, round face, red ribbon or mouthless, innocent look. I think in these peripheral products, whether it's clothes, bags, straps or anything else, Chopper is just the same as Kitty in the sense that Chopper is also a simple cute animal figure that can be drawn in a few strokes. Children or even adults who do not read the story of One Piece can immediately find Chopper cute without understanding its background story. In fact, there might be readers who only started reading because they see a cute Chopper figure somewhere, and then become interested in reading the actual story.

In fact, if we compare One Piece and Naruto, in Naruto, there is no cute figure like Chopper. There are only ninjas (humans which normally cannot out-cute animals) and tail-monsters (animals which are way too powerful and scary to be cute). The tail-monsters in fact are like Godzilla in the sense that nobody would think they are cute, but the only difference is that Godzilla is a classic and it sells, but in Naruto the story does not center around the monsters, but the humans.

This image below is from the blog: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/10/31/link-ink-pumpkin-tardis-stuffed-beartato-and-joseph-gordon-lev/

I wonder how many people can really handle this much pink. According to the blog, there are going to be many more One-Piece-Hello-Kitty mash-up products coming out soon.

The first picture was taken by myself.

Peripherals in Odaiba Joypolis

First, since this is my first post, I would like to briefly explain why I am blogging on One Piece. Ever since middle school, I have been a super huge fan of One Piece, and after I came to Japan, I am constantly shocked to see the peripheral products everywhere. Even when I went to a waterfall in Nikkou, where you need to take an elevator down to B80 something floor, or when I went up to a mountain near the Fujisan area on a cable car, or even when I went to the indoor amusement park, Joypolis, in Odaiba, I am confident enough to say perhaps 80% of the Japanese population have at least heard of, if not read, One Piece. I want to explore why it is and has been so popular for so long, perhaps the No.1 hit on Shonen Jump right now.

Also, I also intend to explore One Piece influence overseas. In Asia, it seems to be a very big deal, along with Naruto. However, whereas most Japanese people would agree that Naruto has become a bit bored and favor One Piece more, it is certainly not the case in USA, or at least LA, where I lived in for two years before coming to Japan.

In the first few posts, I will discuss about One Piece in Japan, and in the later ones, the discussion will move onto One Piece in USA,

Taiwan and Hong Kong.

This is the indoor amusement park Joypolis in Odaiba. The place is owned (or partially) by SEGA, and I have no idea how SEGA has

Jump, but there is a whole shop dedicated to One Piece in

￥500. People normally don't know how much they are. In fact, when I bought one for the X'mas gift exchange event of my circle, the recipient looked so down because "it is only a freaking sticker." there. Out of all the Jump manga, why One Piece, but not Naruto or Bleach or any other? Clearly, different from in the States, One Piece is way more influential than any other Jump manga. Displayed here is a bunch of One Piece stickers that you can stick onto a phone, PC, ipod, any electronic system or anywhere you like. Don't underestimate these, they each cost at least ￥500.

Here are some cellphone straps

displayed in the photo. I am not quite

sure what the thing on the right is, but it certainly looks like some kind of decoration, too; maybe something to hang on a backpack.

If I can only pick one thing that makes One Piece way more successful than all the other manga/anime these few years, it has to the character design. Each and every one of Luffy's crew memb

ers look very different and have very distinguishable personality. This provide reader to easily find a character that is perhaps

similar to oneself.

Basically, in the crew, you can basically get all the kind of characters

you want. There is a stupid but always-optimistic captain, a cool and macho swordsman, a lady's man cook, a wimp sniper, a sly and sexy navigator, a mature and elegant archaeologist, a cute pet, a comedian robot and a musically-talented skeleton. The characters all have such obvious trait and habits that are very different from those of the others, so for those fans who love doing fan art, the characters provide them with such a great medium to exploit on.

Look! They were even selling chocolate crunches!

All pictures taken by myself.