Eiichiro Oda's iconic shonen manga One Piece is steadily approaching the start of its next major arc, which will involve the Straw Hats journeying to an island populated by Viking-like warriors. Recently, a One Piece fan uncovered a statement from Oda that sheds light on why he developed an interest in Nordic warriors and has incorporated them into One Piece.

Pew (@pewpiece), whose X (formerly Twitter) page centers primarily around One Piece content, recently shared a series of author comments published in 1998. Here, Oda explained that his interest in pirates and Vikings began with a certain anime from his childhood. "When I was a kid, I used to enjoy watching an animated TV series called "Little Viking Vicke" [Vicky the Viking]. It aired over 15 years ago. That's probably why I started liking pirates." Additionally, Oda mentioned that Vikings are actually his favorite type of pirate, and that he would...