CURIOSITIES

D: Oda-sensei! Hello. I think that Luffy’s pose in his G4 form resembles that of the two Devas. Is there a special meaning behind it? Next time, when I have a dispute with my dear, I want to use this pose, I think.
P.N. Sanadacchi

Oda: You’re married, right? Instead of Luffy’s G4, you should do a dogeza (bowing) like Fujitora, isn’t it better for your body?
Hahaha…Yes, it’s the pose of the two Devas! Well, I thought about ideas for power-ups from around the world, so the strong impression of the earlier Japan is what caught my attention.

D: Oda-sensei…He, hello~! Bang! I, to be honest…I got the “I love Cora-san” sickness. Yes. Please tell me about his size, the food he likes and hates. I’m so worried about it, that I can’t love.
P.N. a loving virgin

Oda: Oh, that’s hard. I’ll give you this recipe. Please, take your medicine. “size 293 cm” ; likes lettuce, cabbage, umeboshi ; hates bread, pizza. Well, that’s the most important.

D: “In Whereupon We Ask Odacchi A Question”. [The letter writer is sounding like Sweet Pea, so this is my approximation of how Sweet Pea would sound like in English. It goes on through the letter. -N] Inside Sunny-go, there’s a splendid bookshelf, isn’t there? And in that bookshelf are “everyone except Luffy’s books”! But! There’s one person in the crew that I simply cannot imagine reading. And that is… Zoro. What sort of books could he possibly be reading? Please tell me!

O: It certainly does seem like books don’t suit Zoro very well. But rather than reading books, you could say that he views them. Diagrams from books on martial arts, illustrations of weapons, collections of high-level bounties and so on. He looks at them.

The Straw Hat Pirates continue riding Kanjuro’s dragon up Zou’s leg, and Usopp complains that his arms are tiring yet there is still no sight of the peak.

Luffy then asks Kin’emon and Kanjuro what business they have on Zou, and Kanjuro reveals that they wanted to check on Momonosuke and to see whether their last comrade has landed here: a ninja named Raizo. The Straw Hats and Law react in shock to the news that he is a ninja, when suddenly Robin notices something falling toward them from above.

D: Is the Thriller Bark story inspired by things like The Addams Family and The Nightmare Before Christmas? I love the atmosphere in those films. P.N. Plate-loving Cindry-chan

O: Yes, the films. I love them too. In order to draw Thriller Bark, I even watched a lot of zombie movies, which I’ve never really done before. By my nature, I don’t like scary things, so even though I put a lot more black into the art, I still tried to make silly, funny zombies. When artists draw about ghosts and dead people and things that aren’t meant for polite society, they always go to the shrine to pray beforehand… as did I. I mean, I don’t want to get cursed or anything.

D: Here’s my question: on p. 80 of Volume 42, Sanji says “I was raised to never kick a woman.” Would that have been a lesson from Zeff the Chef? Would that mean Zeff is very soft on women, as well? Tell me. from Ariga-san

O: Oops, this one’s from the same person as the last one. This is a good question though, so I’ll answer it. When I drew Sanji vs Kalifa (Chapter 403), some people lauded Sanji’s stance, and some people felt sorry for him. The truth is, I didn’t really want to write those lines. Sanji doesn’t have a “policy” of not kicking women; the truth is that he actually CAN’T kick them. He is a very proud man. I think he was really frustrated at that. I think Nami recognized that, and chose to praise him for once. It’s a scene that I hope will resonate with male readers, but everyone’s free to take it as they wish. Also, Zeff is just a man among men.

The Going Luffy-senpai docks at one of Zou’s legs next to the Thousand Sunny, and Bartolomeo screams in excitement at seeing the Straw Hat Pirates’ ship. Bartolomeo begins worshiping it, to Zoro and Usopp’s ire, and the Straw Hats, along with Law, Kin’emon, and Kanjuro, board the Sunny.

They see no trace of the crew on board, and so prepare to go ashore. Bartolomeo asks if they need anything else as he prepares to leave despite wanting to continue tagging along. The Barto Club then tearfully departs from Zou, promising to serve the Straw Hat Grand Fleet as best they can.

In SBS volume 4 one fan asked Oda what he does with all letters, and Oda replied : ” It’s in my room. All of it. By the way, I’m still reading ALL of the letters and postcards sent to me. It really does pump me up. If this keeps up, I think I can safely say that I would like to continue being a mangaka. Thank you.”

He also confirmed where the name Zoro came from :

D: Isn’t the source of Zoro’s name the famous pirate “Frances L’ollonais”?

O: You got it. I took the name from Frances L’ollonais, who was the cruelest of all the “Caribbean Pirates”. That along with Morgan Alvida, are two actual pirate names.

At the Revolutionary Army’s headquarters in Baltigo, Dragon is told that rebel armies across the world are winning their fights. Dragon notes the impact Doflamingo’s defeat has had on these countries, being surprised that so many countries were using illegal weapons. However, he tells the reporter that the rebels should not lose their will to fight, and they should be mindful of CP-0, which is growing stronger.Koala then reports to Dragon that the weapons they stole from Dressrosa contained traces of a special mineral, which Dragon reveals is Liquor Iron Ore.

Koala is surprised, since only a few countries mine it, and knows they could use this information to get close to the manufacturers of these weapons. Koala thanks Dragon for helping them find Luffy and their lost comrades on Dressrosa, and Dragon asks about Robin. Koala reveals that the rumors about her capture on Sabaody were false, and asks Dragon if he will ask about Luffy, but Dragon dodges it by saying Sabo already told him.

Unnamed Garp was introduced in Romance Dawn V.2 (featured in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine itself) as Luffy’s grandfather. For a long time, it was first thought that Luffy’s unnamed Grandfather was a sole addition to Romance Dawn V.2.

Some aspects of his character remain from Romance Dawn version 2. He is as hot tempered as ever and intolerable to Luffy’s antics. Like the final version, he was determined to make Luffy follow in his footsteps, however here he is a pirate captain, a complete opposite of his current occupation. Both stories have in return Luffy completely rejecting the idea of following in his grandfather’s footsteps. Garp now adorns a dog hat and compared to his chubby Romance Dawn V.2 version, his upper body is much more muscular.

One feature carried over from Luffy’s grandfather from V.2 to the final version of Garp was the scar on his left eye. Also, Luffy got both his hat and the Devil fruit he ate from his grandfather in V.2, not Shanks. According to Oda the reason for not featuring Shanks was that he wanted Shanks to be kept a secret until One Piece was serialized so he would have a greater impact.