SBS Volume 23
Post-Alabasta SBS — the mermaid-vs-fish-man anatomy diagram is officially canonized (Oda draws an octopus-merman and octopus-fishman side by side; mermaid = fish-bottom-half, fish-man = fish-upper-half), Miss Goldenweek confirmed NOT a Devil Fruit user (she’s a hypnotist-painter — colors-affect-the-subconscious mechanic), Mr. 6 face-design revealed via Mr. 7 promotion bit, and Vivi’s “Mr. Bushido” address for Zoro = lifetime-binding nickname. Also corrects Vol. 22’s gakuran etymology blunder.
Q&A
Q: Polite title-call
D: Please allow me to at least say the words that everyone longs to say… START THE SBS!
O: Oh, of course. Feel free to do as you wish, sir.
Q: Miss Valentine fan-club (BW has 2000 members)
D: Who is that guy?!! That BW guy that got cut down by Sergeant Major Tashigi in the “Ignition” chapter!! Does that say “I LOVE MISS VALENTINE” on his back?! Does that mean there’s a Miss Valentine fan club or something?!
O: Hohoh. Very quick to spot that, weren’t you? BW has over 2000 members in it, so you find all sorts. As there are guys who feel like rivals to the Number Agents, there are also guys that idolize them. There are fan clubs, too. If you want to join, send your name, address and age to the Whisky Peak AFC (Agent Fan Club)… Oh wait, Zoro destroyed it.
Q: “Marimo” nickname collateral damage
D: APOLOGIZE, ODA-CCHI! … ever since about the 6th grade, everyone’s been calling me as “Marimo”. But then you just had to go and make up stuff like “Kuromarimo” and “Marimo Head”!!
O: The next time they say that stuff to you, you say to them right back, “TAKE THIS, ELECTRIC-MARIMO!!”
Q: Baroque Works company vacation
D: Where do the Baroque Works go on their company vacation?
O: Apparently they just took a trip to the Hokkaido Winter Festival. But since it’d be bad for each agent to know who the other agents are, they all received their trip train tickets separately and went on vacation individually.
Q: Sexy-pose challenge
D: Put your thumb in your mouth, and spin around. GIMME YOUR BEST SEXY POSE!
O: Whoa, whoa! Did you see me just now? I was like, daaaaayuum sexy.
Q: Miss Goldenweek — NOT a Devil Fruit user
D: No time for introductions, just answer my question. Did Miss Goldenweek eat one of those fruits?
O: No, she… how should I say this? She’s kind of like a hypnotist. Colors can already affect humans subconsciously such as exciting or calming us down. So she’s a painter who can further enhance these effects, not a Devil Fruit user.
Q: Mermaid vs Fish-Man anatomy (the famous diagram)
D: In the Cover Page Stories, there are “Camie the Mermaid” and “Octopako the Fishwoman”. How are the races of mermaids and fish(wo)men related?
O: As you can see here, the ones with the bottom half of fish are “mermaids”. The ones with fish-like upper halves are “Fish-Men”. To illustrate the difference with an octopus, look to the right. As for the difference in their natures, mermaids generally try to be friends with other fish, while the Fish-Men try to rule the fish. That’s the gist of it. Of course, their habitats are different too, but you’ll see for yourself later on in the story eventually.
Q: The other 6 of Sanji’s “7 Great Mysteries”
D: In an SBS in Volume 20, you said “Sanji’s left eye is one of the 7 great mysteries”. So what the hell are the other 6?!
O: Very well. I’ll announce them all right here. To start, the 2nd mystery is, “The 7th mystery is a mystery”. The 3rd mystery is, “The 6th mystery is a mystery”. The 4th mystery is, “The 5th mystery is a mystery”. So… hahaha! It’s a bundle of mysteries! …Sorry. I’ll think up some proper ones.
Q: Taiwanese kanji for crew names
D: I was surprised to learn that OP is also sold in Taiwan. And also the kanji-characters they chose to write “Nami”. So what are the kanji for the other crew members and Vivi in Taiwan?
O: Hmmm. I’ve been getting a fair amount of questions regarding foreign versions of the manga, so I think sometime in the future I’ll make a little page explaining stuff like that. (Later delivered in Volume 26 SBS.)
Chapter 209, Page 86
No questions, just two little games made by a reader.
Q: Mr. 6 face-design (Mr. 7 promotion bit)
D: If Mr. 7 became Mr. 6, what would happen to his face?
O: Oh, if he was promoted? Hmm, yes, he does have a very Mr. 7-ish face right now. I’d assess this is what he might look like if he became Mr. 6. Wow, he’s a changed man. He could even pull off a Mr. 9…
Q: “Mr. Bushido” Vivi-to-Zoro nickname
D: I have a question about Vivi and Zoro! Why does Vivi call Zoro Mr. Bushido?!
O: You know how if you start calling a friend by a funny nickname, you can’t really go back? It’s the same case here. In fact, if she were to suddenly start calling him Zoro-san, it would seem strange. I think Vivi will call Zoro Mr. Bushido for the rest of her life.
Q: Doctorine’s plum brandy
D: What kind of alcohol is the one that Doctorine is always drinking? In the manga, the bottle’s labeled “UME” but is it ume as in plum???
O: Yes. Plum. It’s Plum brandy. Homemade.
Chapter 211, Page 124
Another game made by a reader.
Q: “Ran” in gakuran — corrected from Vol. 22
D: You don’t even know what the “ran” in gakuran means?? Then I’ll explain, just for you! The “ran” in gakuran comes from the esoteric Edo-period term for western clothes, “randa”. -by Miss Bon Curry-
O: Oh, really? “Randa”, huh? I see. I was so sure that it actually came from “lumberjack deathmatch” (the lumber is pronounced “ranbaa” in japanese). I guess I was wrong, then.
Q: BW = “desert” map symbol
D: BW is an abbreviation for Baroque Works. When I was in geography class and found out that BW was also used to represent “desert”, I was so surprised!! That sounds like the worldly Oda I know.
O: Yes. A map symbol. BW stands for “desert”. Right?! Isn’t that cool?! I thought that up all myself! …man… I did not know that…
Q: Draw main 6 with feet
D: Draw the main 6 characters WITH YOUR FOOT.
O: Oryaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! That’s Luffy!! The man who will be pirate king!! That hurts… why’d you make me do that…?
Notable canon-leaks
- Mermaid vs Fish-Man anatomy CANONIZED with a diagram — mermaid = fish-bottom-half, fish-man = fish-upper-half — illustrated via the parallel octopus-merman / octopus-fishman pair. Disposition canon: mermaids befriend fish, Fish-Men rule fish. This is the single most-cited SBS for Fish-Man Island arc — every later mermaid/fishman taxonomy beat references this diagram.
- Miss Goldenweek is NOT a Devil Fruit user — she’s a color-hypnotism painter — her ability is psychological not paramecia. Important for Devil-Fruit accounting: Baroque Works officers had assumed-DF status from her abilities, but Vol. 23 SBS removes her from the DF roster.
- Vivi’s “Mr. Bushido” Zoro nickname is permanent — “for the rest of her life” — a lifetime-binding character-grammar fact that affects all post-Alabasta Vivi appearances.
- BW = desert (cartographic abbreviation) — Baroque Works’ name-meaning works on three layers: 17th-century Baroque period (Vol. 20 SBS) + desert-map-symbol (Vol. 23 SBS) + the surface-name pun.
- Gakuran ← Edo “randa” (western clothes) — corrects Vol. 22 SBS error. Establishes Oda’s willing-to-publish-corrections SBS-self-correction pattern.
- BW has 2000+ members and member-fan-clubs — Whisky Peak AFC (destroyed by Zoro). Scales the organization beyond the 13 named Number Agents + Frontier Agents to a genuine corporate hierarchy.
- Doctorine’s plum brandy — homemade — character-detail canonization.