Eiichiro Oda Wins The 18th Shin Watanabe Award as Producer for One Piece Film Red
The 18th Shin Watanabe Award ceremony was held by the Watanabe Foundation for Music & Culture on March 2, the birthday of its founder, Shin Watanabe. The 18th Shin Watanabe Award was presented to manga artist Eiichiro Oda, who served as the general producer for the 2022 anime film One Piece Film Red.
Shin Watanabe was the founder of Watanabe Productions, a pioneering entertainment agency in Japan. The Shin Watanabe Award was established as a new business activity of the Foundation on the occasion of the agency’s 50th anniversary. The award is given to a producer or creator who has created a major movement in the entertainment business and made a significant contribution to the development of popular entertainment culture.
Oda was given the award for his contribution to One Piece Film Red‘s huge success both in Japan and abroad. “He produced the film comprehensively from planning to production and strategic publicity, and attracted a great deal of attention even before its release, becoming an instant blockbuster as soon as it was released. It has been released in more than 120 countries and regions overseas, spreading the FILM RED whirlwind to the world.”
Oda has posted the following comments on the award:
I am honored and humbled to receive this prestigious award from such a distinguished list of names. I wonder how far the work of ONE PIECE, which started 25 years ago in a small room on a single sheet of paper, can entertain people. As someone who has seen it all, I feel that the film “RED,” released in its 25th year, was an embrace of the various factors and human factors of the past, as well as the challenge of doing everything I could now. If so, then there must be something entertainment can do beyond the achievements of our predecessors. Not content with this award, I would like to produce an even bigger “time-waster.” I am very happy that a manga artist was recognized from the angle of a producer. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to everyone involved in this award and to all who support OP (One Piece). Thank you!
Eiichiro Oda:
Source: Oricon News
©Eiichiro Oda/2022 “ONE PIECE” Production Committee
