Interview of creator and Producer Kohei Goto (Bandai) - One Piece Card Game

Published in the summer of 2022, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the license, the One Piece card game has caused a real sensation among fans. This collaboration between giants Bandai, Toei Animation, and Shueisha, currently available in two languages, Japanese and English, is already a success in terms of both esteem and commercial performance.

Kohei Goto, the producer and creator of the game, agreed to answer questions from Linternaute.

After 25 years of existence, One Piece, the adventure manga created by Eiichiro Oda, has become the best-selling manga in the world. It was likely that the publisher Shueisha would celebrate this anniversary in a grand manner. Among the many events that marked the year 2022, one in particular caught the attention of fans: the launch of the first One Piece collectible card game. This game came to life due to the desire of the publisher Shueisha, the animation studio Toei, and the toy giant Bandai to create a new card game around the license of the famous straw-hat-wearing pirate crew.

Kohei Goto, the game's producer at Bandai Card & Banpresto, agreed to answer questions from Linternaute.

Linternaute.com: Can you tell us the story of the birth of the One Piece Card Game?

Kohei Goto: It all started two years ago when Shueisha, Toei Animation, and Bandai began their joint project to produce a new card game.

© Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation, Bandai

Who came up with the idea?

There isn't a particular entity behind this project. It's truly a decision and teamwork.

How long did the design phase last?

The work on the game began from the project's launch. Designing the cards took about six months.

How did you decide on the type of game?

We created various game prototypes before settling on the one we used. As we wanted it to be easy for many people to learn, we kept the basic game system as simple as possible. We also wanted a lot of back-and-forth between players and many choices so that players could have fun using their imagination. In the One Piece series, a memorable onomatopoeia for fans is "Don!" which was also included in the game.

How did you come up with the idea of associating the player's life points with those of the chosen "captain"?

We decided to use a leader card in the game because it allows players to face off with different characters. It also distinguishes the game from others. Giving each leader a different number of life points broadens the uses; we also thought it would make it more enjoyable.

One Piece is a franchise with an incredibly rich bestiary. It's impossible to adapt all the characters at once. How did you choose the cards for the first edition?

From the beginning, we wanted "Straw Hat Crew," "Worst Generation," "The Seven Warlords of the Sea," and "Animal Kingdom Pirates" to be the first starter decks. We wanted any fan to recognize the themes of this first edition. Additionally, by offering players four different deck types right from the start, they can enjoy choosing their characters for battle.

What is the schedule for the upcoming editions?

In Japan, we have already released the 3rd booster and are currently working on the 6th.

The first booster was released after the 4 starter decks. The cards in this first expansion were designed with the intention of strengthening the starter decks. We chose the characters with this in mind. Of course, we also paid special attention to the release date. We included characters appearing in the arc that was ongoing in the manga and anime (Wano Country) so that fans could enjoy the current characters. The 5th starter deck was released around the same time as the latest film. So, we chose to focus on characters from the latest film and previous ones. The 6th starter deck then arrived; it features characters from the Marine. Therefore, for the second booster, we decided to emphasize the Summit War arc, in which the Marine played a significant role.

promo P 041 Monkey D Luffy 

What was the biggest challenge in creating this game?

We thought extensively about how to make this card game as fun as possible and what types of products would inspire One Piece fans to play. We studied previous card games and are confident that this is a game that card players will appreciate. Additionally, the game mechanics around the "Don!" cards and the different styles of illustrations will make it easy for One Piece fans to enjoy the game.

At what point in the creation of this game did you say, "That's it, we have the right concept"?

Bandai It's difficult to say at which stage it happened. Everyone was extremely anxious until the game was released, wondering if consumers would appreciate it and if they would play it.

The cards (beautiful) use illustrations from the manga, anime, and also original works by different artists.

How do you choose the visual for a card? (Iconic scene? Gameplay need?)

We choose iconic scenes that will stay in everyone's memory. We adopted a card composition that allows us to draw One Piece characters attractively. The most important point in this selection is the alignment between a card's illustration and its text so that they correspond as closely as possible.

We imagine that everyone dreams of drawing original One Piece cards.

Can we imagine authors of Franco-Belgian comics or BD as guest stars someday?

As the One Piece Card Game is sold worldwide, we want the design to appeal to fan.