SBS Volume 19
Mid-Alabasta arc. Major canon leaks: Vivi is 16, Chopper is 15-human-equivalent; Giants live ~300 years, mature half-as-slow as humans (adult around 40); Dorry and Brogy are 158 (started fighting at 58); Chopper’s hat X-mark = hospital cross (tilted), paired with Hiriluk’s hair = hospital-cross shape too; Miss Goldenweek’s color-marks have meanings; Den Den Mushi are animals (insects/snails) raised as comm devices — first explicit biological classification including Baby/Adult/Black species behaviors.
Q&A
Chapter 167, Page 26
Q1 — Miss Merry Christmas hijacks
D: I’d like to start this one like Miss Merry Christmas would. “S…!” (Start the SBS!!) O: WHAAAAAAAAAT?!!
Q2 — Draw with left hand
D: Please draw the six main characters with your left hand! O: …This is wasting enough space as it is already so can I just stop at three?
Q3 — VIVI AND CHOPPER AGES
D: How old are Vivi and Chopper? Vivi looks to be about the same age as the rest, but Chopper just seems like a kid! Please tell me their ages! O: First, Vivi is 16. Chopper is a human reindeer, so as a human he would be 15. Yeah. That sounds about right.
Q4 — Fried rice without rice
D: What would happen if I ordered “Fried rice but with no rice!!” at a Chinese restaurant?! O: Go try it and find out. Then order some boiled tofu without the tofu. What does this have to do with the SBS?
Chapter 168, Page 46 — GIANT LIFESPAN CANON
Q5 — DORRY & BROGY AGES / GIANT LIFESPAN
D: How old are Dorry and Brogy? O: Ah, good question. First of all, giants live to be around 300 years old, but they mature half as slow as humans. So they’d only be considered “adults” around 40. When Dorry and Brogy came to Little Garden and started fighting, they were 58 years old (29 in human years). And they’ve been fighting for 100 years, so they are 158. But they’ll live to be 300, so they’ve still got a lot of fight in them left. They’re just a little older than Dr. Kureha.
Q6 — Chick drawing
D: A chick. (Really bad drawn face) O: Oooooh… very nice.
Q7 — Chopper’s hat X-mark = hospital cross
D: What does the X-mark on Chopper’s hat mean? O: It’s actually the same as that thing. You know, the cross mark you see in hospitals. It’s just tilted diagonally. Oh, and I don’t think many people noticed this, but Hiriluk’s hair was also the same shape. The shape of a hospital cross.
Chapter 169, Page 66
No questions. Just a little game made by a reader.
Chapter 170, Page 86
Q8 — Miss Goldenweek’s mark
D: Does that mark Miss Goldenweek draws mean anything? O: Yup. It does. It does have a meaning. See! “So what?” seems to be how you’re feeling but… Hey, it’s better than nothing.
Q9 — Oda’s school (dropped out, no art lessons)
D: Did you go to college, sensei? Also, in middle and high school, did the clubs you entered have anything to do with manga or drawing? I would like to be a manga artist in the future, too. O: I dropped out after one year of college. Also, I’ve never had any sort of art or drawing lessons in my life. There’s a lot of other mangaka who’re like that. Relying on someone else, no matter what special school you went to, is the most dangerous thing you can do.
Q10 — Roronoa tongue-twister
D: Say “Roronoa” 10 times fast!! O: NONODO… CHOMP!! (bit my tongue). OGHAY, NEKTHT!! (bloody).
Chapter 172, Page 126
Another game made by a reader.
Chapter 173, Page 146 — DEN DEN MUSHI BIOLOGY CANON
Q11 — Half-Boiled / Full-Boiled delivery man
D: I found something rather surprising about the delivery man on pages 117-118 of Volume 18!! It says “Half-Boiled” on his T-shirt. But on page 69!! Those are the same people, right? And on his T-shirt, it says, “Full-Boiled”!! What’s up with him?! O: HE HAS MATURED.
Q12 — DEN DEN MUSHI BIOLOGY (animals/insects, three species)
D: Are the “Den Den Mushi” animals or machines? O: They’re animals. Insects.
- Baby Den Den Mushi: Its small size makes it portable. However, its signals are weak, and cannot reach over the sea to another island.
- Den Den Mushi: Too big to carry around, but its strength makes it useful for talking to far-off islands. Can also act as a fax machine if the accessory is attached.
- Black Den Den Mushi (different species): They do not grow as they age. They enjoy eavesdropping, but dislike communicating with others. Commonly used as listening devices, or “wiretaps”.
O: Since being raised by humans gets them plenty of food, they don’t mind being used and tamed.
Chapter 175, Page 186
Q13 — Dialect gag
D: Hey! Didn’ ah see yer fase some’ere’s befor? Ain’t you dat lil’ Eiichiro Oda! [Heavy Miyagi accent] -Kesen Numakomachi- O: Y’all speaken that Miyagi-accent too much, ain’ nowun kin unnerstan’ whatcha be sayeen!! -General of Higo-
Q14 — Erimaki Runner without orders
D: Among the Erimaki Runners on page 110 of Volume 18, one of them doesn’t have anything hanging from his neck. Why not? -4th Grade Ancient History Professor- O: That’s right. He’s the only one without any orders to carry. So he’s thinking, “Huh? Why am I running?” which comes out as “Eh?” You can tell Baroque Works is obviously going to fire him.
Q15 — Crocus typo
D: Crocus-san has got the two S’s backwards in the Volume 18 SBS! What’s up with that? — From Akiko O: OH DEAR!! WELP, SEE YOU NEXT VOLUME!! (We noticed before it went to press, but it was too much of a pain to fix…).
Notable canon leaks
- VIVI is 16 years old → Vivi
- CHOPPER is 15 (human-equivalent years) — first human-equivalent-age fix for a reindeer-zoan → Chopper (if exists)
- GIANT LIFESPAN ~300 YEARS — mature half-as-slow as humans (adult around 40); Dorry/Brogy are 158 (started fighting at 58 / 29-human-years; 100 years of dueling) → Giants (if exists) / Dorry / Brogy
- Chopper’s hat X-mark = hospital cross (tilted); Hiriluk’s hair = same hospital-cross shape → Chopper / Hiriluk (if exists)
- DEN DEN MUSHI = ANIMALS (insects) — three species canonized: Baby (portable/weak), Adult (powerful/island-spanning, fax-capable), Black (eavesdropping; do not grow with age; “wiretaps”) → Den Den Mushi (if exists)
- Miss Goldenweek’s color-marks have meaning — hints at Color-of-Mind / Color-Trap technique canon
- Oda’s biography: dropped out after 1 year of college; never had art/drawing lessons