One Piece-themed wedding, winning a yearly contest to become the 'knowledge king', and a toilet plastered with pages from the manga, are just some of the examples of fan dedication to author Eiichiro Oda's work
Shohei Sato's devotion to the pirate manga "One Piece" culminated in a wedding themed on the series, and he's not the only superfan obsessed with its intricate plots and swashbuckling characters.
The Japanese comic-book saga began 25 years ago and is one of the biggest-selling mangas of all time, with more than 500 million copies sold globally.
It follows straw hat-wearing Monkey D. Luffy and his team as they hunt for treasure, and has grown into a sprawling cultural franchise—now riding even greater waves of popularity thanks to a new hit film and an upcoming live-action Netflix series.
Since childhood, 29-year-old Sato estimates he has spent "well over 10 million yen ($67,000 at current rates), if not 20 million" amassing merchandise and crisscrossing Japan to attend "One Piece" events.