Popular manga One Piece saw a release of a limited edition single volume that is being called the longest book to exist.
With 21,450 pages and over a thousand chapters, it is safe to say it is in fact the longest book in existence. First published in 1997, the anime of the same name aired two years later. The anime has crossed the thousand-episode mark. That doesn’t even crack the top ten anime with the most episodes amazingly.
One Piece
One piece was written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda and has been published in the Japanese magazine Shōnen Jump since 1997. This limited edition book is being credited as the work of Ilan Manouach, the artist who designed the limited edition volume.
If you wanted to read this book than you are out of luck because it has been deemed as an “unreadable sculpture that takes the shape of a book – the largest one to date in page numbers and spine width – that materialises the ecosystem of online dissemination of comics.”
Sold Out in a Matter of Days
You might be wondering who would buy something that is unreadable? Quite a few people as the limited edition run of 50 copies was sold out in a matter of days since its release on September 7.
Manouach created this (one) piece because of the “profusion of available online content and the rampant digitisation of the comics industry” which “challenges the state-of-the-art of comics craftsmanship”, according to his publisher.
The artist printed out all the pages of Once Piece and bound it together for his art piece. Part of this sculpture is to comment on the dual existence of manga and comics as literature and a collector’s item that is never read but collected.
What Does the Creator of One Piece Think?
If you are wondering if the creator of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, might sue for copyright infringement, then you are not alone. The art piece’s French publishers JBE do not think that will happen since this artwork is deemed unreadable.
“This piece is about Manouach’s work around ecosystems of comics, here as a sculptor who uses online dissemination as source material, not reading copyrighted content,” said a spokesperson for JBE. “There could be no infringement of copyright, the publisher believes, because it is physically impossible to read the book.”
No Permission Given
Keita Murano, who is a member of the international rights staff at Shueisha, the Japanese publisher of Oda’s manga, confirmed that JBE has not consulted them about the unreadable book.
“The product you mentioned is not official. We don’t give permission to them. Our licensee in France which publishes One Piece is the publisher Glénat.”
Only time will tell if this will head to the court. While JBE does make a good point that it is unreadable, they are still using the One Piece name and artwork to make a profit. That alone seems like a copyright infringement.
Conclusion
What do you think of this unreadable book? Should it even be called a book if you can’t even read it? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
With that binding? Yes it’s unreadable. But I say it’s possible for someone out there.