With the debut this month of its 56th volume, 2.85 million copies have been printed of the ever-popular "manga" comic "One Piece," the most for a first run in the history of such publications.
The figure brings the total circulation of "One Piece," which features a boy named Monkey D. Luffy who travels the oceans in search of treasure, to 176 million copies since the first volume appeared in 1997 in the weekly Shonen Jump, published by Shueisha Inc.
The story, written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, 35, is simple: The main character, Luffy, has his sights set on becoming king of the pirates as he sails from island to island, looking for the treasure One Piece.