SBS Volume 28
Mid-Skypiea SBS — Robin’s Hana Hana no Mi range officially set at 200 (the “200 Hana Hanas” framing); Shichibukai = historical Privateer system (Oda explicitly confirms the Seven Warlords are modeled on the English/French privateers who legally raided Spanish ships); Whitebeard canonized as appreciating leopard-print nurse outfits (extends the Whitebeard’s-nurses motif); and the “A MAN’S ROMANCE” theme expanded to include women as a follow-up to Vol. 27.
Q&A
Q: Nose-picking title call
D: One Piece readers! SBS IS STARTIIIING!!
O: Fgah!!… fngah!!… I couldn’t get my finger out of my nose. Everyone, be careful when you’re picking your nose! Let’s start SBSSSS!
Q: Oda’s species
D: WHAT SPECIES DO YOU BELONG TO?
O: HUMAN, DUMBASS. NEXT!!
Q: Gomu Gomu no Gomuuuu attack
D: I came up with Luffy’s new attack. GOMU GOMU NO GOMUUUU!! How was it?
O: Waaa. That hurt… hmmmmm… it was kinda… RUBBERYYYY!
Q: Nami’s bath censorship (manga vs reader dreams)
D: In an SBS in Volume 25, you said, “Manga is for drawing people’s dreams.” But there’s something wrong with that. My dream is to see Nami naked, but it’s never drawn. Do you know why?
O: Nami naked, eh?. We all want to see it. She was in the bath before. That hand’s in the way, damn it!! Seriously. And Vivi was covered by that stupid towel!! It’s an emergency. I’ll try harder on the camera angle next time!
Q: Robin’s Hana Hana range = 200
D: Nico Robin’s range in growing her body parts 200 Hana Hanas. Right?
O: Yeah. Something like that.
Q: “ONE PIECE IS A WEIRD MANGA” chant
D: My dad told me, “One Piece is a WEIRD manga”, so I said, “NO!! ONE PIECE IS A GREAT MANGA!!” Almost. (really)
O: That’s a silent scream!! Why don’t you say it out loud! Everybody, repeat after me!! “ONE PIECE IS A WEIRD MANGA!!” Whoo hoo! It’s Spring.
Q: Spirit doctrine
D: Oda-sensei and the characters of One Piece say “Spirit” a lot, but what exactly is Spirit?!
O: “Spirit” is “to feel strongly”. When someone hopes for something really hard, it happens. Those people are glamorous.
Chapter 258, Page 66
No questions, just a little game made by a reader.
Q: Oda eyeball-pop world record (joke)
D: I didn’t know that Odacchi’s eyeballs could LEAVE THE SKULL.
O: Of course. It’s my speciality. When I’m really surprised, they fly away. My personal best is 18 Yaaarghs. The world record is 84 Yaarghs. Everyone is working hard to beat it.
Q: Shichibukai = historical Privateer system
D: Are the “Shichibukai” (Seven Armed Seas) modeled after the Privateers, who were used by England and France as a last resort to counter Spain, a major power at that time, by letting pirates raid Spanish towns in exchange for giving the government a part of the plunder?
O: Hah!! A serious question. (cries) Yes! Privateers! Simply put, “licensed pirates” really did exist back in the day. For the home country, they were heroes. For other countries, they were looters. When you look back at history, the reason why pirates were not generalized as “criminals” is because of these pirate heroes. But that doesn’t decide whether it was good or bad thing. Pirates are pirates. If the crime was too big, it can be confused with justice.
Q: Whitebeard nurses’ leopard print
D: You know Whitebeard Volume 25’s pages 158-159? What I wanted to ask was about those nurses. Why are they all wearing leopard print tights? Does the Strongest Man, Whitebeard, Edward Newgate like leopard prints?
O: Leopard prints have this kinda… wild feeling… Isn’t it great? Oh, and I hear there are more hospitals where nurses wear pants… “That’s sad. I’m gonna cry now…”, Whitebeard said. He wishes all nurses would wear clothes like that!! What a naughty geezer!!
Q: Aspiring manga artist tool question
D: I want to be a manga artist, and I want to submit my work to Jump, but there’s something I’m confused about… Do I have to use tones or something special like that? Where are they being sold?
O: This kind of question comes up a lot. I think I’ll have a brief manga basics page made one of these days. You can’t get equipment for manga at the stationary store. Let’s all go to an art store.
Chapter 262, Page 144
Answer to the game.
Q: “Saruagari” = compliment
D: Am I an monkey? Or am I a “saruagari”?
O: Saruagari. One Piece readers are all saruagari!! Don’t run, guys. You don’t like it? It’s a compliment. I don’t know what it means, though. Go with it.
Q: “A MAN’S ROMANCE” includes women — Vol 27 follow-up
D: You said in Volume 27 that the Jaya arc was “A man’s romance”?! As a woman of 18 years, how would you define my “burning passion for adventure” and “infinite dreams”?!
O: A woman’s romance? No, it’s a bit complicated. The word “man” is sometimes used like an adjective. Really good women have men in themselves. You call them “chic”. So I’ll scream it once again: Men and women can use “A MAN’S ROMANCE”!! Women are included!!
Q: High-schooler admires Luffy
D: On my high school exam, I was asked who I look up to, and I told my parents I might answer “Luffy”. Then they told me not to, because it’s embarrassing. I really admire Luffy, though!! Oda-sensei, say something to my parents, please!
O: Ouou!! Mom, Mom!! How dare you!! You… yeah, you’d be embarrassed if you answered that you admire Luffy.
See you next volume!!
Notable canon-leaks
- Hana Hana no Mi range = 200 (“200 Hana Hanas”) — first canon-stated numeric upper bound on Robin’s flower-replication range. The unit is a self-naming gag-unit, but the 200 number recurs as Oda’s working ceiling pre-Enies-Lobby. Forward-canon: this range expands post-time-skip (“Mil Fleur” — thousand-flower class).
- Shichibukai = real-world Privateer system — Oda explicitly confirms the Seven Warlords are modeled on English/French privateers authorized to raid Spanish ships in exchange for crown-share. “Licensed pirates” really existed. Connects Crocodile/Mihawk/Doflamingo/Moria/Hancock/Kuma/Blackbeard/Buggy’s Warlord status to a documented historical pattern: pirates given state-sanction in exchange for service against rival powers (read: the World Government deploying ex-criminals against rogue pirates and Yonko-tier threats).
- “If the crime was too big, it can be confused with justice.” — Oda articulates a Pirate-Justice axiom in his own voice. Foundational moral grammar for the entire World Government / Pirate / Revolutionary three-corner conflict.
- “A MAN’S ROMANCE” is gender-inclusive — Oda corrects Vol. 27 reading. “Really good women have men in themselves. You call them ‘chic’.” Frames Vivi, Robin, Nami, Boa, Bonney, etc., as legitimate carriers of the man’s-romance thesis.
- Whitebeard’s leopard-print preference — Whitebeard-prefers-cleavage-and-leopard-print-on-nurses canonization. Minor character-color but cited later for Marineford-arc Whitebeard-nurse-wardrobe consistency.
- “Spirit” doctrine canonized — “to feel strongly. When someone hopes for something really hard, it happens.” Oda’s in-his-own-voice articulation of the willpower-bends-reality thesis that later formalizes as Haki.