It doesn't take an award or a sales chart to get a manga noticed in Japan, sometimes a single line on the obi, the removable paper band wrapped around a volume's cover, is enough, especially when that line is signed by Eiichiro Oda.
Between February 2015 and November 2024, the One Piece creator agreed to write endorsement comments for six different manga. Interestingly, half of them were drawn by people who once worked as his own assistants. OtaHub runs through all six, in the order Oda spoke up for them.
Three creators who once worked under Oda
Hanakaku: The Last Girl Standing (Hanakaku)
Hanaka Ando is an ordinary high schooler until she's drawn into the world of MMA, where she has to learn how to take hits, lose, and get back up more than once before winning a real fight.
Author Katsunori Matsui was one of Oda's assistants before launching his own series. Oda's endorsement appeared on the obi of volume 3, released in February 2015, his first recorded manga endorsement. What sets Hanakaku apart from typical sports manga is how grounded the training arcs feel, with no instant power jumps.
Akane-banashi
Akane Suzumoto pursues rakugo, traditional Japanese comic storytelling, to reclaim the title unfairly stripped from her grandfather. Her journey doubles as a coming-of-age story and an introduction to an art form rarely explored in shonen manga.
The story is written by Yuki Suenaga, while the art comes from Takamasa Moue, another former Oda assistant. Oda endorsed volume 1 in June 2022, and the series later got an anime adaptation, one of the few Oda-endorsed picks to actually make it to television.
Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi (Akufuushi no Kiyoshi-kun)
Kiyoshi wields some of the strongest exorcism powers in the story, but he's so cowardly that his fights with demons routinely get derailed by his own clumsiness.
Author Shoichi Usui was a direct assistant of Oda's on One Piece. When volume 1 released in November 2024, Oda wrote a full endorsement on the cover: "Both Kiyoshi and the demons are cute!! Lol." CBR later called it "the next big Shonen Jump hit," crediting no small part of that buzz to the endorsement itself.
Three outsiders who still caught Oda's eye
The Promised Neverland (Yakusoku no Neverland)
Emma, Norman, and Ray live happily at the Grace Field House orphanage, until the night they discover the horrifying truth behind the place that raised them, and have to plan an escape.
This is the only entry on the list with no direct tie to Oda's own team: the story is by Kaiu Shirai, the art by Posuka Demizu. Oda endorsed volume 4 in July 2017, only about half a year after the series debuted, showing he was paying attention early, well before it became one of the most adapted and discussed manga of the late 2010s.
Tsurumoku Dokushin Ryo (Tsurumoku Dokushin-Ryō)
No magic, no superpowers, just the everyday life of single men living in an old dormitory, from office drama to the awkward stirrings of adult romance.
Author Eisaku Kubonouchi draws it as pure slice-of-life. Oda endorsed the Collector's Edition of volume 1 in October 2021. It's arguably the most surprising pick on this list, proof that the One Piece creator's taste isn't confined to battle or adventure manga.
2.5 Dimensional Seduction (2.5 Jigen no Ririsa)
Aria, an enthusiastic cosplay fan, drags Okina, a serious and reserved classmate, into her colorful cosplay world, where the line between two-dimensional passion and three-dimensional reality keeps blurring.
Author Yū Hashimoto weaves cosplay culture and Comiket, Japan's largest manga and anime convention, straight into the plot. Oda endorsed volume 8 in November 2023, suggesting he kept following the series for years rather than reading it once and moving on.
Where should you start?
If you want something close to One Piece's own pacing, Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi is the easiest entry point thanks to its action-comedy tone. If you prefer survival tension, The Promised Neverland remains the safest pick on this list. You can also revisit our review of One Piece's Egghead arc to get a sense of Oda's own storytelling instincts before trying the manga he endorsed.
Sources: CBR, GameRant, Tuoi Tre, Wikipedia, AniList. As of September 28, 2026.