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Is Roronoa Zoro Getting A Light Novel Prequel To One Piece Series? Here's What Report Suggests
One Piece manga will release a prequel titled ZORO - Josho Sasakaze. Here's everything we know so far.
Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga will release a prequel, ZORO - Josho Sasakaze. The news was shared on social media platform X. The light novel will focus on former Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro's past, examining his early adventures before joining the Straw Hat Pirates.
One Piece is one of Shueisha’s best-performing shonen titles and has released over 1000 chapters. Meanwhile, one of the key reasons for a novel that is dedicated specifically to Zoro could be because of his popularity. He is considered a fan favorite and is certainly one of the most loved characters on the show, second only to the series protagonist, Luffy.
Roronoa Zoro is getting a Light Novel prequel
Jun Esaka, a renowned light novel writer, will write the Zoro light novel, featuring illustrations by Nakamaru. Esaka has previously worked on Naruto, including Naruto Shinden and Naruto Retsuden series. He also wrote the female-driven One Piece novel HEROINES and the upcoming One Piece Odyssey literary adaptation for the Nintendo Switch. Nakamaru will also be an illustrator on the light novel adaptation.
ONE PIECE Magazine Vol. 18 will feature a special Wings feature for Zoro and Sanji, featuring a poster, character information, and stickers. Sanji, the playboy chef of the Straw Hat Pirates, has a spinoff manga called One Piece: Shokugeki no Sanji, available in English by Viz Media. The manga explores Sanji's life before and after becoming a pirate, including his history at Baratie restaurant and his perspective during the Arabasta Arc.
Before ZORO - Josho Sasakaze, the One Piece series explored Zoro's past through the anime adaptation of Monsters. Monsters is a one-shot manga by Oda set in the world of One Piece, years before Luffy becomes King of the Pirates. It tells the story of legendary samurai Shimotsuki Ryuma slaying a dragon.
Ryuma, a zombie manipulated by Gecko Moria, is introduced in the One Piece modern timeline. Zoro defeats Ryuma and receives a "Black Blade" sword, Shusui. Oda reveals Zoro is a descendant of Ryuma and the Shimotsuki clan from Wano Country. The connection between the two is further explored in the Netflix anime, narrated by Kazuya Nakai, the Japanese voice actor for Zoro.
A brief about Zoro
Zoro is a main combatant of the Straw Hat Pirates, one of their two swordsmen, one of the Senior Officers of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, and is publicly recognized as the right-hand man of his crew's captain Monkey D. Luffy. Formerly a bounty hunter, he is the second member of Luffy's crew and the first to join it, doing so in the Romance Dawn Arc.
Born in the East Blue, Zoro is the son of Tera and Roronoa Arashi, the grandson of Shimotsuki Furiko and Roronoa Pinzoro, and the grandnephew of Shimotsuki Ushimaru, making him a descendant of both the Shimotsuki Family of Wano Country and the legendary samurai, Shimotsuki Ryuma.
As a master of Three Sword Style, a swordsmanship style which he created during his childhood training in Shimotsuki Village, Zoro is one of the three most powerful combatants of the Straw Hats, alongside Luffy and Sanji, who are referred to as the Monster Trio. Its dream is to become the greatest swordsman in the world, in order to honor a promise he made to his deceased childhood friend and distant cousin Kuina.
In addition to his infamy as one of the Straw Hats and as a former bounty hunter, his sizeable bounty upon arriving at the Sabaody Archipelago caused Zoro, along with Luffy to be included among the eleven Super Rookies, pirates who simultaneously reached the Red Line with bounties of over Beli100,000,000 shortly before the Summit War. He, the other ten Super Rookies, and Marshall D. Teach would go on to be referred to as the Worst Generation.
Zoro is a muscular, tall man with lightly tanned skin. He carries three swords, one of which is the Wado Ichimonji, with a green haramaki over his right hip for easy drawing. His swords have evolved over time due to being destroyed and replaced with better ones. Zoro's right hand can pull his swords out before sitting down. He wears three gold earrings on his left earlobe and a black bandana tied around his left bicep for serious fighting. His right hand is usually seen resting over them.
Zoro's body is covered with scars from his many battles, most notably the massive scar stretching from his left shoulder to his right hip that he acquired during his loss against the world's greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, at Baratie.
His other visible scars are the scars he inflicted upon his ankles in a desperate attempt to free himself from Mr. 3's Tokudai Candle Service Set by trying to cut his feet off at Little Garden. After the timeskip, he gained another scar over his left eye, obtained through unknown means. Zoro's other remarkable feature is his cropped green hair, which Sanji often teases him about by calling him marimo due to its resemblance to one.
ALSO READ: One Piece Live-Action Season 2: New Showrunner on Board; All We Know So Far
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