A little-known Viking anime inspired One Piece

In an interview with namely, One Piece mastermind Eiichiro Oda spoke about how he influenced the creation of the epic saga. When asked by the publication what was the inspiration for writing a manga about pirates, the author replied: “Since childhood, I liked pirates. As a child, I really liked the anime series called Vike’s Little Viking. It was about a little kid who admires the Vikings and his dream is to be one of them when he grows up. When I researched pirates for One Piece, I realized that Vikings are a type of pirate.”

According to Central nostalgia, Viking’s Little Viking, also known as Viking Viking depending on the country in which it aired, ran for 78 episodes after it premiered in 1974, mostly on Japan’s longtime Fuji Television network. The series is hard to find on both streaming and DVD platforms, but random episodes can be found on YouTube under the more common name “Wiki Viking”.

Oda went on to discuss how the spirit of the animated series contributed to many of the dynamics that he continued to explore in his series. “I feel like it’s great to have friends on your team, like on Vike,” explained Oda. “It may not be the best comparison, but I feel like the spirit of this series has been carried over into my work.” Because “One Piece” inspired so many, they now have an idea of ​​how it all happened.