Reflection of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey Pattern in the One Piece Manga Illustration

One Piece manga was published in Japan by Shueisha Publishing and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda in 1997. Eiichiro Oda is a Japanese manga artist who began his career in 1992. His one-shot cowboy manga, Wanted, won second place in the coveted Tezuka Manga Awards.
One Piece is a shonen manga, and the number of its episodes has surpassed one thousand. Manga has become a cultural symbol of Japan. One Piece manga is globally popular, and an anime adaptation was created by Toei Animation Studio. The primary purpose of this research is to recognize the reflection of Joseph Campbell's hero's journey pattern in the illustration of One Piece manga. The main research question is how Joseph Campbell's hero's journey pattern is reflected in the illustration of One Piece manga. This research was conducted using a descriptive-analytical method, with data collection taking place in library form.
The hero of One Piece, named Monkey D. Luffy, starts an adventure to find One Piece and become the Pirate King. Luffy is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. They reach Wano Country and save it from ruthless pirates. Luffy is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, which includes Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, and Jimbei. The archetype of the hero's journey shares many similarities with the story of the main character of this manga, a hero who begins his journey around the world to discover the unknown and achieve absolute freedom. Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist, describes the pattern of the hero's journey and mythological stories in the book 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces'; this pattern consists of three general stages: departure, initiation, and return. Resources related to One Piecee manga aren't available in Persian, and Iran has few resources related to manga and anime. Due to this issue and the increasing popularity of manga worldwide, this research studies One Piece manga from chapter 1 to 1057, analyzing the hero's story theme based on Joseph Campbell's pattern.
The results show that Joseph Campbell's hero's journey pattern in One Piece manga is reflected in the literature and illustrations of this manga, including character designs, facial expressions, and the background. Monkey D. Luffy's emotions and anatomical design align with Joseph Campbell's pattern. The hero, through his journey, has gained inner peace, freedom, and more acceptance in life. His worried and sad face in childhood has transformed into a happy and relaxed one. Soft, smooth, and curved lines are used in the design of Luffy's face, resembling the sun god; these lines show gentleness, flexibility, and change. Luffy's clothes reflect his free personality, and the color red in his clothes shows joy, passion, power, and courage.
Other characters, including the mentor, the goddess, and the father, are illustrated based on Joseph Campbell's pattern, evident in their faces, anatomy, and personalities. One Piece manga characters related to Joseph Campbell's pattern were described and analyzed in this article. Shanks' character is a primary symbol of the forces that have entered the game to help the hero. Shanks gives his valuable straw hat to Luffy and encourages him. Shanks's character design has sharp lines, and multiple hatches are used to show seriousness and strength. The anti-hero character Kaido followed the patterns of Joseph Campbell's hero's journey. Kaido is a mean pirate who brings destruction and misery to the land of Wano; he has the role of the father. Kaido will be defeated by Luffy, and the people of Wano Country become free and happy. Kaido's character design has sharp lines, and triangle shapes are used as a sign of stubbornness, and darkness and hatches have helped to show the cruelty and pride of this character. Joseph Campbell believes that the goddess is the standard of all beauty; Boa Hancock's character has the role of the goddess. This character is beautiful, young, and powerful with feminine elegance. The mentor in One Piece is depicted as an old man named Silvers Rayleigh with high abilities and powers. Many lines are used in the design of his face to show his old age. The design of the glasses on Rayleigh's face shows his intelligence, and his muscular body shows his physical strength.