I am Really a Superstar

“The birth of a new national comic!”

“One Piece breaks sales records for first volume debuts!”

“Teacher Aoi becomes the most sought after cartoonist in Japan!”

“Teacher Aoi’s identity a mystery?”

“One Piece creates phenomenal buzz!”

On the Japanese Internet.

“This is amazing!”

“1.01 million copies sold! My God!”

“Where did this cartoonist pop out from?”

“Yeah, I can’t believe that this was drawn by a rookie artist!”

“I can imagine One Piece leading the entire comics scene for the next few years!”

“With these sales figures and popularity, there’s no other series in the comics industry that can compete with it. Moreover, this series looks like it can probably go on for at least three to five years!”

What was a national cartoon?

It meant that it was liked by people of all ages, regardless of their age. Although One Piece was still very “young,” it had already achieved this. And those who had read One Piece knew that this was actually a comic that gradually became popular. It was the type that would get much more exciting and interesting later on. So even though not a lot of time had passed, the title of being a national cartoon was bestowed upon it. Furthermore, there was hardly anyone who raised an objection to that. A lot of people had very high hopes for One Piece!

There was a flurry of heated discussions!

The sales figures were off the charts!

However at this moment, another exciting piece of news came through!

Shōnen Publishing announced then and there that they would be partnering with an animation studio to start production work!

One Piece’s animation would soon be released!

The Japanese people were anticipating this greatly.

“It’s finally coming!”

“This is great!”

“The cartoon! The cartoon!”

“I want to watch it so badly!”

…

On this day.

In China.

Early in the morning, Zhang Ye had gone out to the market to shop for groceries.

A stall owner smiled and said, “Teacher Zhang, you’re here again?”

Zhang Ye smiled. “Yes.”

The female owner asked, “What are you getting today?”

“Do you have ground pork? I’d like to buy some to make dumplings.”

“Sure, I’ll chop some up for you. I won’t use the machine, so it’s guaranteed to be fresh.”

As soon as he left the market after buying groceries, he saw a few middle school students in their school uniforms walking past him in laughter. The school was close by.

“Xixi, let me recommend a comic to you.”

“What comic?”

“One Piece.”

“Ah, I’ve heard of it before. It seems like it’s really popular. Is it good?”

“It’s amazingly good. Go read it for yourself when you get home. The cartoon will be airing soon as well.”

“Then I’ll just wait for the cartoon. It’s too tiring following the comics.”

“What do you know? The comics are where the essence is.”

“Are you serious?”

“You’ll know when you read them. I’ve recommended it to a lot of people and they say that it’s good too.”

“Alright, I’ll have a look then.”

Zhang Ye was slightly taken aback as he gazed around. He smiled and gave them a few more glances. This was the first time that he heard anyone talking about One Piece back in his own country.

After reaching home.

He placed the groceries down in the kitchen and took his laptop out to the yard. There, he sat down on the bench, basking in the sun, while checking the Internet. When Zhang Ye saw it, even he was shocked. At some point in time, a Tieba for One Piece had been set up. Moreover, the extent of the bar was huge too!

He did a detailed search.

Comic resources.

Scanlations for download.

Story discussions.

All sorts of One Piece-related information was everywhere.

Online, a lot of people were chasing updates.

“Is the latest chapter out yet?”

“It’s been released.”

“Link please!”

“Translations please!”

“This comic is like a drug! When I first started reading it, I felt that the character design was atrocious. But the further I read, the more interesting it became!”

“Right, comics like this rarely appear in Japan in recent years.”

“It’s such a joy to read. I started reading since the fifth chapter and have been catching up to the latest chapter.”

“The crucial thing is that this Aoi updates really quickly. Other authors do a weekly release, but this fellow actually does double releases every week. He’s unflappable. I believe he should be hailed as a model worker of the comic world!”

“The animation will also be released soon.”

“It’s going to start showing next week. I’m looking forward to it!”

“Fucking awesome! Release more chapters!”

Zhang Ye couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that. However, he was smiling at the same time. This is great. The comic’s influence has spread to China? Oh yes, what about the other Asian countries?

Korea was also going through the same situation.

The discussions regarding One Piece were increasing.

“This is a really good comic.”

“It’s rare that we can get such a new and unique setting.”

“Yeah, it’s no wonder that it became so popular.”

“This comic has already been labeled as the new generation of national comics in Japan.”

“I like to read this.”

“I hope that the animated version won’t let me down.”

…

With the great anticipation of the masses.

On this day, the first episode of One Piece’s animation was broadcast.

In Japan, a lot of people were waiting at their televisions.

The atmosphere at Shōnen Publishing was like one of celebrating the new year. The editors were all in the office with their eyes glued to the screen. They were all waiting to witness this important moment.

Online.

“It’s starting!”

“Wow, it’s not bad.”

“It’s just as I imagined!”

“Great, it doesn’t deviate from the comic’s storyline!”

“I find Luffy even more adorable now!”

“The voice talents are all top-class!”

“That’s Aiko’s voice! Luffy is voiced by a woman!”

“What an extravagant lineup. It matches the expectations really well!”

The reception from the Japanese viewers was fantastic.

Across the sea, netizens from the rest of the Asian countries were also waiting.

“Is it out yet?”

“I need a link!”

“Requesting a download link, requesting subs!”

“Hurry up, I can’t wait!”

“Where can we download it?”

“Where’s the subbing team?”

The results of One Piece’s first episode were revealed very quickly!

When the television station announced the viewership ratings, the industry blew up once again!

It exploded!

Another record had been broken again!

The viewership ratings for the first episode of One Piece had steamrolled all the other popular Japanese dramas and variety shows during the same time period. It took the top spot for that day’s time slot viewership ratings! In China, if the ratings of a cartoon had outnumbered that of other television shows? Such a scenario was simply unthinkable. But in Japan where the comics and animation industry was extremely advanced, such a thing was very possible. At least, One Piece managed to do it!

And not only that!

Not only in Japan!

If the comic helped One Piece make a name for itself in other Asian countries, then the animation was what truly lifted One Piece up onto the altar. Outside of Japan, it was clear that the animation’s influence and spread were much quicker and wider.

China.

Korea.

India.

The downloads of One Piece’s animation continued to soar!

10 million!

30 million!

50 million!

A 100 million!

A lot of people had been captivated by it!

More and more people started joining the camps that kept chasing updates!

One Piece was becoming extremely popular all across Asia at an astonishing rate!

After the buildup from the comic’s serialization, One Piece had blown up almost overnight. No one expected that One Piece would become so popular in Asia. Remember, this comic was almost dropped by the editorial department at Shōnen Publishing right at the beginning!

Shōnen Publishing did not expect it!

Zhang Ye’s Studio did not expect it!

Zhang Ye himself also did not expect it!

A lot of people were shocked silly by the explosiveness of this comic series!