Borussia Dortmund's obsession with One Piece

Some things just cannot be explained. One of these is the obsession of the Borussia Dortmund with One Piece, the world’s most famous manga created by Eiichirō Oda, which this year celebrated its 24th anniversary and has fans all over the world, including in the football community. Shinji Kagawa, Julian Brandt, Karim Adeyemi: many BVB players have celebrated their goals over the years by mimicking the moves of One Piece characters. Adeyemi is the most passionate of all: a few years ago, the 2002-born talent had shown his love for One Piece by celebrating with the move of the character Trafalgar D. Law, finding a loyal companion with whom to share that special moment, Julian Brandt. In short, the yellow-black club seems to have a lot of fun associating One Piece with its colors, as demonstrated by their presentation in Japan for the pre-season with a bus completely customized in One Piece style, as well as visiting the Universal Studios in Tokyo, where Adeyemi and Brandt made videos with Iñaki Godoy - the actor who plays Monkey D. Luffy in the live-action adaptation of Oda’s masterpiece.

Today, summer tours in Asia have become a common practice for many football teams, to expand their brand abroad and for other economic reasons - for Borussia Dortmund and for the happiness of its social media manager, a unique opportunity to increase engagement and views on Instagram. And so a new crossover was created, one we didn’t expect: manga and football. But this strange liaison between Borussia Dortmund and One Piece began some time ago, when one of Dortmund’s stars was the Japanese Shinji Kagawa, the first player to introduce Japanese culture to Westphalia. Kagawa played many games in 2016 wearing adidas boots and shin guards featuring Monkey D. Luffy (a move that Adeyemi quickly replicated); in the Dortmund museum, there is even a jersey signed by Eiichirō Oda.

Although Kagawa’s presence was key in bridging football and One Piece, there are many other examples of footballers, clubs - and athletes in general - who have shown their passion for the manga (and anime) during their careers. The most striking example dates back to February 2023, during the Champions League Round of 16 between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, when PSG fans created a One Piece-themed choreography. The protagonist of the manga written by Eiichiro Oda appeared on the curve of the Parc des Princes dressed in PSG colors. With a punch, Monkey D. Luffy extended across all the stands to destroy the Bayern Munich emblem. On the other side of the stadium, the choreography showed the Going Merry, Luffy’s ship.

There are also more spontaneous examples, such as Gerard Piqué’s tweet: “One Piece is a work of art.“ Oda’s masterpiece has also reached Italy in the football world thanks to players Davide Faraoni - who in 2020 talked about his obsession during a Twitch stream - and Luca Tremolada. Considering that American weightlifter Payton Otterdahl also celebrated with a One Piece move at Tokyo 2020, we can expect anything in this year’s Paris Olympics.