The mangaka of Naruto is Masashi Kishimoto. He revealed in an interview which Jutsu he liked to draw the most. Coincidentally, it is exactly the Jutsu that Eiichiro Oda, the mangaka of One Piece, has adopted in his manga.
Which Jutsu is it? In the fourth data book of Naruto, Kishimoto revealed which Jutsu he liked to draw the most (via tumblr.com). It is the “Baika no Jutsu” from the Akichimi clan. With this technique, Chouji and his relatives can vary the size of any body parts.
Well-trained ninjas can grow their entire bodies into giants. However, enlarging body parts consumes a lot of calories, which is why the clan members are often busy eating.
Kishimoto stated that he enjoyed drawing the technique because it didn’t require many details. He found drawing the large bodies fun. For this reason, Eiichiro Oda, the mangaka of One Piece, likely copied this technique for his pirate adventure.
Here you can watch a trailer for the Naruto movie:
Luffy applies a technique from Naruto
Where does it appear in One Piece? In his Gear 3, Luffy learns to enlarge parts of his body to a gigantic size. For instance, he inflates his arm to strike with a huge fist.
As Oda confessed in an interview in the Naruto guidebook “Michi”, he borrowed the technique from Naruto (via pirateboard.net). He reveals:
It was surprising to see that, and when I introduced the Giant Pistol move, I let him know: “Hey, I’m kind of copying your style here. Sorry.”
For Kishimoto, however, that was not a big deal. When someone told him that Naruto was like One Piece, he knew he had no chance of competing with Oda. But Naruto is still one of the best mangas today:
- Naruto is more popular abroad than One Piece. According to the editors, this is because the story is easier to understand.
- It’s no wonder that Naruto ranks No. 1 worldwide among the most popular children’s series.
- Even Google celebrates Naruto’s anniversary with its own action.
Therefore, both mangas are among the most popular stories of all time. Together with Bleach, they are known as the Big 3 of anime.
What is the current situation? The manga of Naruto has now been completed. The sequel Boruto revolves around the adventures of Naruto’s son, who follows in his father’s footsteps. In contrast, One Piece shows no signs of ending yet. MeinMMO has attempted a prediction: When will the story of One Piece end?
