Romance Dawn

Romance Dawn refers to two stories written by Oda before One Piece but set in a similar world. While a first-year junior high school student, he began sketching out ideas for a pirate-themed manga in a notebook, in pencil. Years later, as an assistant to Rurouni Kenshin author Nobuhiro Watsuki, he began refining his ideas into what would become "Romance Dawn", and later, One Piece. All 3 versions were published in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, with the final incarnation published exactly one year after the first. The author made significant alterations to the premise and plot over the course of the three chapters, which are examined in-depth below.