One Piece

Considered by some to be the heir to the throne of Dragonball in terms of Japanese market penetration, One Piece is certainly a phenomenon. The manga's print run recently outpaced Dragonball and the series, at more than 130 episodes, is still going strong. It's easy to see why; One Piece follows a very simple and very successful shonen action formula. It worked in the past for Rurouni Kenshin and Dragonball and it's working wonderfully for One Piece. The premise is pretty basic. Luffy D. Monkey, an irrepressible youth, ate the Devil's Fruit, which gave his body extra-strength elasticity. H…