CURIOSITIES

In the anime, Garp said he has eaten 842 donuts without sleeping or taking a break because he was trying to beat a world record.

Aside from Luffy himself, Garp is the only Romance Dawn V.2 character to actually appear in the storyline.

Garp’s laughter style is that he adds either “Bwa” or “Wa” before the haha part. This is somewhat unique as most characters only stick with one laughter style (the other being Dracule Mihawk).

Garp appears to have a dog animal-theme, as shown by his mask and his ship.

In an SBS question on Volume 59, a fan pointed out the fact that despite Garp’s few appearances, his trademark scar has disappeared 25 times if counted up to Volume 58. In response to the statement above, Oda responded by saying that “if an enemy he hates is around, his scar tingles, and it will float up”. He speaks of how Garp’s “true form” may be the scar-less one, but he also points out that this is not proved anywhere. This is obviously a joke answer, as Oda is fond of them.

As a kid, Garp had a very similar appearance to Luffy and Ace, despite not being blood-related to the latter.

Due to his grudge against him, Chinjao wants Garp to suffer the pain of losing someone close to him. Ironically, Garp already underwent that pain upon losing Ace.

In the 5th fan poll, Garp ranked 74th.

*Chapter 815 Spoilers

Mind-blowing chapter!

1- Vinsmoke hype! Sanji’s dad as the head of “a mythical evil army“. This family’s got some sinister and powerful history (probably a long-standing partnership with the WG). Can’t wait to know what they want to gain from the political marriage and why.

2- Big Mom herself. Some tend to disregard or rank her as the weakest of the Yonkous, but she is slowly proving it wrong. Connections that go as far as the East Blue from the New World (and that fast)? That’s freakin crazy. I also love Pekoms speech on power. Very impactful.

3-

This changes everything. It’s BM cleaning her hands off the Strawhats, implying she’s no longer a threat as urgent as Kaido. She’s not gonna pit herself between the alliance and another Yonkou and was only after Sanji from the very beginning. It was contrary to Zoro’s worst case scenario and the SHs and co. could very well concentrate all their power and strategy on their upcoming fight with Kaido. The question is, will they?

4- Luffy’s awesome sense as a captain. He clearly wants everybody to back off and take care of everything by himself because it will reduce the risks involved in retrieving Sanji. And I seriously like the fact that he’s taking his time to listen to everyone and consider it seriously (damn the one when he was listening to Law was the best) even if it’s contrary to his impulsive character.

5- The Samurais. Finally a plot progression on this department. As much as the Sanji hype consumes my being, I can’t wait for what will happen now that they’ve finally set foot on Zou.

Honorable Mentions: Nekomamushi being cute/awesome, Franky’s hairstyle (the best so far), Heart Pirates dynamic w/ their captain and last but not the least….

*Chapter 815 Spoilers

The head-in-the box thing reminded me of that scene with Brad Pitt from Seven Deadly Sins. ‘WHAT’S IN THE BOX!?’ O.o

What if Sanji refused to go and received Chef Zeff’s head??!

“Law” is derived from real life pirate Edward Low. Law’s apparently infamous cruelty echoes Edward Low’s own reputation for violently torturing victims before killing them.

Trafalgar is the name of a cape in the south-west of Spain. Its name is Arabic in origin, meaning “Western Cape”. It was the site of a famous naval battle between the British and the French/Spanish fleet during the Napoleonic Wars, dubbed the Battle of Trafalgar. London’s landmark Trafalgar Square is named for the battle, as is a class of submarines in the British Royal Navy.

“Water Law”, as well his fight with Wellington, may be a reference to Waterloo, the place in where, on 18 June 1815, was fought the final battle of the Napoleonic Wars which represented the ultimate defeat of Napoleon at the hands of the Seventh Coalition. The British commander at Waterloo, Arthur Wellesley, was the duke of Wellington.

Law’s birthday, October 6th, is a reference to his name, as to can mean 10 and ro can mean 6,Torafarugā Rō. He shares his birthday with Tashigi and Bartolomeo.

When Brannew introduces the Shichibukai in the Chapter 700, Law is credited as “the mastermind behind the Rocky Port Incident“. No information about this event has been revealed so far.

His wanted poster shows Bepo appearing in the background with his head turned in the same position and stance as Usopp in Luffy’s poster.

According to the 4th Japanese Fan Poll, Law is the 10th most popular character in One Piece, making him the most popular Supernova excluding Luffy and Zoro.

In the 5th Fan Poll, Law finished in 2nd place, making him the most popular non-Straw Hat and Shichibukai.

At 26 years-old, he is the youngest individual known to ever hold a position as one of the Shichibukai.

Law uses the “smiley” style of Jolly Roger, as first seen used by his former superior Donquixote Doflamingo. But unlike Doflamingo’s smiley, his does not have a “cancel” sign across it. The smiley most likely refers to the final moments of Donquixote Rosinante, who died with a smile before he told Law to remember him smiling from that day onwards.

Buffalo mentioned that Law was in line for “Heart seat” as Doflamingo’s ally. The vacant seat was later seen in Chapter 700, along with the occupied Spade, Club and Diamond seats.

Law’s character song, which was released as a bonus song on the One Piece Log Collection – Sabaody CD is called Dr. Heart Stealer. This is likely a reference to the hearts of 100 pirates he obtained in order to become a member of the Shichibukai or his ability Mes which he used to remove people’s hearts from their bodies.

Law’s dislike of bread is shared by Donquixote Rosinante.

R: I have a request for you, Odacchi. PLease draw the Donquixote family members in their childhood age!

Oda: Yes, it’s fine. But I won’t draw the characters who already appeared in their childhood age.

According to Oda, Beckman has the highest IQ of all the characters introduced in the East Blue saga. Since he is a first mate to a Yonko, he presumably possesses a great deal of strength. During the Battle of Marineford, Admiral Kizaru chose not to fight him, even though he had just fought the First Commander of Whitebeard’s crew and Whitebeard himself. It should be noted that Kizaru did, however, continue his attack on Luffy when Beckman came down to join the rest of the crew.

Beckman also single-handedly defeated Higuma’s crew of mountain bandits, afterwards telling Higuma to bring a warship as backup if he wanted to fight them.

Beckman carries a flintlock rifle with him, but he has yet to fire it, instead using it as a club on Higuma’s men and as a threat against Kizaru.

Some Japanese speakers clarify that the word Pekoms actually used in reference to Sanji’s family was “killers” or “murderers”, and it looks like the Shonen Jump translation corroborates this.

While the term “assassins” is fairly straightforward, “killers” is more of a gray area and open to interpretation. It could mean that they are, by occupation, killers (i.e. assassins) or it could be a turn of phrase based on Pekoms’ perception of the family. (For example, the Celestial Dragons are World Nobles, but if you ask me, they’re a bunch of heartless murderers.)

We also have to consider that the Vinsmokes are a family who have notoriety in the underworld and in addition to that, enough clout with the World Government to manipulate bounty conditions – that sounds more than your run-of-the-mill hitman and/or assassin.

R: When Koala fell around Robin’s neck, I came to like her (^o^). So concretely, under what circumstances did Koala, Sabo and Hack meet?

Oda: Hm, many people want to know about the life of these three. Once I start to tell you, there’ll be no end.

Firstly, there’s Sabo who was rescued by Dragon when he was around 10 years old. He then meets the Revolutionary Army and learned about the things happening in the world and their thoughts on it. Gradually, he also sympathizes with them.

That’s when he met Hack who, as a master of Fishman Karate, teaches martial arts to children without prospects, that are raised by the army. However, Sabo carries no memories, but he isn’t a boy anymore on a level such of someone who can still be taught something. Taken under Dragon’s wing, he shows great skills in combat and becomes stronger rapidly.

That is when Sabo is 13 years old. A 14 year old girl called Koala is brought along with Hack and joins the Revolutionary Army. (skipping some details) She takes Fishman Karate lessons under Hack and even becomes Master assistant. The obliging Hack and Koala, are together with Sabo, increasingly applied for missions as a team due to their good affinity.

Yes, the order of their encounter has this kind of vibe,. The story is broached in the anime, but I think there’s not much room to tell you everything. Please figure it yourself.

R: Oda-sensei, hello. I just have something I’d like to ask you. On the cover of Chapter 518, there you could see the home of the CP9. This looks like very similar to the east tower on the Jian Xin Yu in my hometown “Wenzhou” in China, so did you draw inspiration from it? I have to ask this.
O: Oh, it’s that tower without a doubt. It’s the training ground of the CP9, and I thought for me, who has grown up in a generation of Kung Fu movies, a Chinese oriented setting would be fine. I assume that’s why I chose it. I intented to take my cue from far away landscapes, but I’m proud to know there live people who read One Piece. Thank you for the letter.

Little is known about what Shanks can do, as he has not been seen heavily engaged in battle yet; however, as a member of the Yonko in the New World, his raw physical power is immense, and is known to be one of the four strongest pirates in the world. Shanks did not fear Whitebeard, the world’s strongest pirate, and even had enough strength to clash with him, whereas some pirate captains quivered at the mere mention of Whitebeard’s name. Rockstar also used his captain’s name to convey to Whitebeard the importance of the letter he delivered to him. It was also stated by the Gorosei that he is one of the few people capable of stopping Teach. Admiral Akainu fought through many men and a fewShichibukai to get to Luffy, but when Shanks appeared, he did not challenge the Yonko.

He appears to be an excellent swimmer as well, having reached the young Luffy out in the middle of the sea before the Sea King could devour him. According to Buggy, as a young man, Shanks was a strong fighter and, had it not been for his ideals, he (Buggy) would have wanted him on his crew.

As a member of the Yonko, Shanks’ name alone commands great power, as Buggy himself proved; his assertion that he previously had a “brotherly bond” with Shanks was one of the many things that earned him respect from the Impel Down inmates. In addition, Buggy did not shy from using the names of Shanks and his previous captain, Gol D. Roger, to maintain his respect among them. Even the fact Buggy was seen back talking to Shanks was seen as a testament of Buggy’s own power to the former prisoners, not aware that the two had always acted like this and mistakenly thinking that it was because Buggy was not afraid of a Yonko. Shanks commands enough power to end the war at Marineford with just words; when he stated there was to be no more fighting, no one stepped up to challenge him, even though the Marines were fired up after the death of Ace and Whitebeard.

When Shanks offered to fight the very overconfident and pompous Blackbeard (who moments before had boasted about destroying the island and taking down Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Garp after having already killed Whitebeard), Blackbeard declined and decided to leave, as it was too soon for he and his crew to take on Shanks.

Furthermore, when Shanks requested that Whitebeard’s and Portgas D. Ace’s dignity at death not be violated, Sengoku himself decided to call off the war and offered to take responsibility, showing that despite being a pirate, Shanks has earned Sengoku’s respect, something that no pirate other than Whitebeard is known to have achieved.

Shanks is usually portrayed as a swordsman. Shanks was capable of swimming ten years ago, meaning that he did not consume any Devil Fruit at the time when he was a rival to Mihawk.

While his use of his swordsmanship skills was only briefly shown, the fact that he was able to match a blow from Whitebeard with only one arm is a clear indication of the strength he puts behind his attacks. Shanks is also powerful enough to stop Akainu’s magma fist using his sword and Busoshoku Haki. Since Mihawk is classified as the world’s greatest swordsman, and Shanks is a former rival of his, it can be assumed that Shanks is an extremely proficient swordsman.

Shanks appears to have favored his left arm before he lost it, as he is always seen holding his sword in his left hand during flashbacks.

Shanks can utilize at least two of the three types of Haki. Shanks has shown mastery over the two types of Haki he has used. Even Whitebeard complimented Shanks for his Haki when he used it on his “visit”.

When Shanks and Whitebeard clashed with their weapons, the “heavens” above them split, hinting at the incredible Busoshoku Haki that the Yonko had imbued in them.

During the Battle of Marineford, he was able to imbue Busoshoku Haki into his sword to block a Logiaattack.

Shanks is capable of using Haoshoku Haki, an ability that only one in a million people can use.

After saving Luffy from a Sea King, Shanks was able to frighten it off with a single angry glare using this ability. Later, while Shanks was boarding Whitebeard’s ship for their meeting, a large amount of Whitebeard’s crew (experienced men who have survived in the New World) lapsed into unconsciousness and the ship itself began to take damage from Shanks’s mere presence. Whitebeard’s men attributed this to his superior Haki.

Oda mentioned in a SBS that Shanks could have knocked out all 100,000 pirates and fishmen opposing the Straw Hats during theFishman Island Arc with his Haoshoku Haki (Luffy managed to overwhelm 50,000).

So far, Shanks has only wielded a sword in combat. His sword is a large saber with a single edge blade and a large hand guard.

Shanks wielded two different swords during his time as an apprentice pirate aboard Gol D. Roger’s ship and during his stay in Luffy’s hometown.