One Piece is one of the top 25 highest grossing media franchises of all time. It’s a story that has been meticulously told for over 20 consecutive years, and is still being told today. And yet, one of the main characters of this epic tale has had his name misprinted since serialization began in the late 1990s.

VIZ Media printed the character Roronoa Zoro’s name as “Roronoa Zolo” when the character’s name was first dropped all the way back in chapter 2 of One Piece. And now there have been over 1000 more chapters released and it still appears with the accursed “Zolo” rather than the proper translation of “Zoro”.

There has been speculation for years as to the many possible reasons why VIZ translated the name in this way all those years ago, but regardless of the reason(s) it has never been properly fixed. A character so prominent in a story so monumental deserves to be properly recognized in the official English media in which he is being presented. Funimation remedied the name change as a company when they gained the rights to the anime of the same name back in 2007. So, there’s no reason that VIZ can’t fix it now.

The incorrectly used name has been an injustice to the work of mangaka Eiichiro Oda, to fans in all English speaking countries (not just North America), and to the character himself - the indisputable first-mate of the future king of the pirates, Roronoa Zoro. I think it’s especially important that this change takes place before One Piece ends, giving all aspects of the story the proper attention and respect they deserve from those responsible for the official English translation. 

I would ask that VIZ Media correct the name in all digitally published chapters of the manga One Piece, as well as, all physically printed copies of the manga going forward. This would include reprints of previously released manga volumes, current volumes, and future volumes, in addition to any other printed media that includes the named character.