One Piece author Eiichiro Oda faces backlash for comment about making “erotic” AI images 

Shueisha’s official X account for the One Piece manga recently unveiled Nigaoe Maker, a portrait app that can turn a photo of your face into a caricature reminiscent of Eiichiro Oda’s art style. The (most likely AI-powered) application, as well as a message commemorating its release by Oda himself, have not been received very well by Japanese fans.

Although there is no mention of it on official sources, Nigaoe Maker, which is available through the official One Piece Base mobile app, appears to use AI to generate “One Piece-style” drawings of people’s faces. The fact that the publishers aren’t transparent about the matter, as well as doubts about whether the suspected AI model is “clean” (i.e., trained exclusively on authorized images) or not, have sparked criticisms of Nigaoe Maker. Fans are pointing out that there is no guarantee that the alleged AI model was built from scratch using only Oda’s art. 

Moreover, a handwritten message by Oda about the new app has come under fire for a whole new reason. Below is a translation of the excerpt people are singling out as problematic. 

Any picture you take will become as if I drew it! You must be thinking, “Can it really be anything?” I get it, guys – I tried asking. “Can erotic pictures be turned into One Piece-style art too?” But they told me it’s being regulated. I went “Huh! Are you joking!?” I stormed in for a fight, telling them I have the expectations of all of my fans on my shoulders. I lost, however. 

Looking at the reactions to the post, fans are generally in agreement that Oda’s comment about making sexual images using the app is intended as an over-the-top joke, but the remark is being criticized as out-of-touch with recent issues revolving around deepfake pornography, as well as insensitive to real-life victims of such misuses of generative AI. 

On a related note, Oda’s publisher Shueisha has previously been criticized for publishing a provocative photobook containing gen-AI images of an “AI gravure idol” who bore an uncanny resemlance to a real-life Japanese celebrity.