Water Gun – C-Kids variant

Special cover distributed as an appendix of the magazine C-Kids Express n.21, May 2016.

This variant is a real gem for collectors and fans, not only because it’s rare and hails from Thailand (a country where manga extras are notoriously hard to track down), but above all because it’s the only cover ever to feature this official Eiichiro Oda artwork. No other edition uses this illustration, and as you can imagine, that touch of exclusivity makes it highly coveted.

But to me, the most fascinating detail lies elsewhere: in the original official art, the water gun doesn’t shoot anything. On this cover, however, they decided to add a water splash…and instead of drawing it in manga style, they slapped on a hyper-realistic jet, probably from some stock photo.

The result? Wonderfully odd and completely dissonant, yet it works perfectly. Proof that even with minimal resources, you can create something striking.

Absolutely delightful.