"Bad Reputation" offered after manga creator Oda sent personal thank-you letter to Lavigne

The use of not one, but two, Avril Lavigne songs as the next One Piece film's theme songs came about after One Piece manga creator Eiichiro Oda sent Lavigne a letter. Lavigne, a well-known Japanophile, had agreed to the offer from the One Piece Film Z 's producers to contribute a song.

Impressed after hearing Lavigne's cover of Nickelback 's "How You Remind Me," Oda (who serves as an executive producer of One Piece Film Z ) sent a personal thank-you letter to Lavigne. Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" happened to be one of Oda's favorite songs since it matched the One Piece pirate characters' tireless pursuit of their dreams, and Lavigne's side suggested that she could also offer a cover of that song.

This is the first time that Lavigne's songs have been used as theme songs for a Japanese film, and the first time that a One Piece film has used songs from an overseas artist. (The television series did use Folder5 's "Believe," a cover of Lolita's "Dreamin' of You.") It is also the first time that a One Piece film has had two theme songs of its own.

Lavigne is engaged to Chad Kroeger, the lead singer of Nickelback . While Lavigne had already covered Jett's "Bad Reputation" song before, One Piece Film Z will use a new recording. Here are Nickelback 's original version of "How You Remind Me" and the earlier version of Lavigne's "Bad Reputation" cover:

One Piece Film Z will open in Japan on December 15. The film will feature "Z" (Zetto), the Straw Hat pirate crew's "strongest enemy yet" who was designed by Oda. Oda also served as the executive producer for the 10th feature film, 2009's One Piece Film Strong World .

Sources: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web, Oricon