Eiichiro Oda

Hometown: Kumamoto, Japan

Blood type: A

Favorite Animal: Big gentle dogs

Favorite Mangaka: Akira Toriyama

Favorite Music: '70s soul music

Favorite Real-Life Pirate: Edward Teach (Blackbeard)

Favorite Video Game: Puyo Puyo

Before One Piece took over his life, Oda worked as an assistant to some heavy hitters—he cut his teeth under Nobuhiro Watsuki and Hiroyuki Takei, then also assisted Shinobu Kaitani. These days he's married to Chiaki Inaba, who actually played Nami during the Jump Festa One Piece stage performances back in the day.

Oda's taste in entertainment is pretty eclectic. He's into rappers like Eminem and filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton. His three favorite movies are Seven Samurai, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Young Guns—a mix that says a lot about the guy. He's also got a thing for '70s soul and apparently loves Puyo Puyo enough to make it his favorite video game.

There's a weird fun fact floating around: in a recent Japanese fan poll, Oda himself ranked as the 48th most popular character in One Piece, even though he's never actually drawn himself into the manga proper. That's pure fan enthusiasm right there.

He voiced a character called "Odacchi"—his own nickname—in a soccer-themed short that came with the 3rd One Piece movie. Turns out he played soccer as a kid. When asked about his favorite One Piece villain, Oda went straight for Buggy the Clown and joked that he literally threw that character together without much thought.