Shohei Sato’s devotion to the pirate manga “One Piece” culminated in a wedding themed on the series, and he’s not the only superfan obsessed with its intricate plots and swashbuckling characters, IgbereTV reports
The Japanese comic-book saga began 25 years ago and is one of the biggest-selling mangas of all time, with more than 500 million copies sold globally.
It follows straw hat-wearing Monkey D. Luffy and his team as they hunt for treasure, and has grown into a sprawling cultural franchise — now riding even greater waves of popularity thanks to a new hit film and an upcoming live-action Netflix series.
Since childhood, 29-year-old Sato estimates he has spent “well over 10 million yen ($67,000 at current rates), if not 20 million” amassing merchandise and crisscrossing Japan to attend “One Piece” events.
So the office worker’s friends weren’t surprised when he and his bride Junna had a pirate-ship cake at their wedding in July and posed for photos beside a giant poster of Luffy and his gang in formal attire.
“They told me, ‘Shohei, it was so you,’” Sato told AFP at his home in Tokyo, where plush toys of the reindeer-like character Chopper sit next to bookshelves packed with “One Piece” volumes.
“I’ve lived my whole life alongside ‘One Piece’, so I wanted my wedding to honour it.”
The latest movie in the franchise, “One Piece Film: Red”, was released in August and is already Japan’s highest-grossing film this year.
Sato has seen it 21 times
