SBS Volume 32
Skypiea endgame SBS. Two big canon-leaks: Skypiean hair is in-world “Natural Advertisement Balloon Hair” (NABH), and the Shandian “Conine”/quinine = real malaria-fever medicine — anchoring Noland’s chestnut-tree disease cure in real pharmacology. Oda also lets slip that Aisa’s name (and many girls’ names) come from his bird book.
Q&A
Chapter 299, Page 86
Q (Ayako): Stop starting the SBS without permission! We should acknowledge Oda-cchi’s status as the creator! Now then… START THE SBS! A: YOU’RE STARTING IT?! Just when I thought I’d regain rightful control of the SBS as the creator too! WELL FINE! I’ll wake up super duper early next volume to finally start it myself!
Q (TAKE): Why does Gedatsu’s hair change from scene to scene? Just how many locks of hair does he have? Please answer in Oda-speak. A: Very well! The reason why Gedatsu’s hair changes is…! BOTEMANOHONUSSODEREMOKEFYOBOTEMAMUCHAPOPOSHIBIWHOREALLYCARESMAHAHANYUNYONYON. That’s why.
Q: Enel’s line “I am God” (神なり, Kami Nari) is the same as the word for lightning (雷, Kaminari). I should recommend you as the next presidential candidate for the WOF (World Oyajigag Foundation)… A: Well this is unexpected. I’m still a peppy young man in my 20s. Please don’t.
Chapter 300, Page 106
Q (Dorapiece): Odatsu-sama! If you roll your eyes to the back of your head, you won’t be able to draw your manuscript! A: Ahh! How careless! [me trying to draw Luffy with my eyes rolled back]
Q (Shikobaya Pinoko): Why in the hell did Luffy, Usopp and Chopper peek at Nami and Vivi in the bath in Volume 23? A: They are all healthy boys. I don’t think there needs to be any other reason. But for Chopper, he might have done it just because everyone else was. Frankly, to not want to peep on a beautiful girl when she’s naked is a great disrespect to that girl in my o— ahem, in Sanji’s opinion.
Q (Hina): Ohh Enel, Enel, wherefore art thou Enel? A: Right. Thanks for the postcard.
Chapter 301, Page 126 — Skypiean hair canonization (NABH)
Q: Sokotsuya-san — who is the voice actor this time? A: The real answer is Nami’s VA, Okamura Akemi. Fans of the anime, listen very carefully at the voices for the animals. Sokotsuya is one of the voice actors among the regular crew.
Q (One Piece Fanclub No. 009): When Sanji and Usopp are climbing the ark on the 5th panel of Volume 30 p. 153, what exactly is Usopp wearing? WHAT’S THAT “SPLAT”? A: OCTOPUSHOES. A brand new invention from Usopp’s Factory. They have suckers on the back, so wear four (one per limb) and you can climb anything.
Q (Apple Lapple): Just what are those things sticking out from the heads of Skypiea citizens? A: Those things are like, uh, natural perms. They also call’em NABH (short for Natural Advertisement Balloon Hair). How can they stand up so straight despite being so thin? It’s cause, uhh, they’re giving their very best.
Chapter 302, Page 146 — Quinine is real / Aisa = bird
Q: That “Conine” medicine that Mont Blanc Noland made really exists, doesn’t it? I just opened up a dictionary and happened to see a definition for “quinine”, made from the bark of a “quina tree”. A: Yes. It does exist. [Quinine: an alkaloid made from quina bark. Relieves fever and stomachaches. Especially effective against malaria.] However, the “wood fever” that I described in the story does not exist, so have no fear. Covering topics about disease is always delicate.
Q (Nacchan, 8-year-old girl): I found a bird named “Aisa” in a book of animals. Did you take Shandia Aisa’s name from the bird? A: That’s right! It’s a bird. Whenever I have trouble with a name, I just open my handy-dandy book of birds. It works pretty well for girls’ names!
Q: It would be really neat to have profiles or messages from the anime voice actors! A: A lot of people are asking for this. I’ll have to think about it.
Chapter 304, Page 188
Q (Ryou): Try changing the “shi” in Nico Robin’s “shinko furuuru” (Cinco Fleur) to “chi”. If you don’t say it… I’ll do it. A: So “Chinko Fleur”? CHINKO FURUURU! HEY WAIT A SECOND! Don’t make me say that! This manga is an extremely refined and elegant piece of art. Please don’t dirty it.
Q (Shouei): What’s the situation underneath those leaves around Wiper’s waist? Is he letting’em “hang free”? A: HANGING’ FREE, BROTHA! (thumbs up!) I think. But it must be troublesome during battle. Hmm, maybe he’s wearing some sort of loincloth underneath.
Q: My friend “H.” was telling me, “Hey, did you know Enel’s stretchy ears are actually…” and then he received judgement and was blown to smithereens… what was he trying to tell me? A: Enel already left for the Fairy Vearth so I’ll answer for him. Enel’s stretchy ears are actually made of mochi (sticky rice cake). YAHAHAHA! KABOOM! (Due to author absence, the SBS is now concluded)
Notable canon-leaks
- Skypiean “Natural Advertisement Balloon Hair” (NABH) — the floating hair-curls are canonized as biological natural perms of Skypiean people. Fixes a recurring reader confusion as in-world physiology, not stylization.
- Quinine / “Conine” is real medicine — Noland’s chestnut-tree fever-cure pharmacology is anchored in real-world malaria pharmacology (cinchona/quina bark alkaloid). The fictional layer is only the “tree fever” pathology; the cure is real. Re-keys the Mont Blanc Noland tragedy as historically grounded.
- Oda’s name-generation method: “Whenever I have trouble with a girl’s name, I open my handy-dandy book of birds.” Validates the bird-name etymology layer that anchors Tashigi (snipe), Kuina (water-rail), and many other female names.
- Enel’s “swimming cap” already declared cloth in Vol. 31; here, Oda further dunks on Enel by claiming his stretchy earlobes are mochi (joke answer, but canon for SBS purposes).
- “Gedatsu’s hair” Oda-speak gag = Oda explicitly refusing to canonize the inconsistency.
SBS reveals (cross-linked)
- Tashigi — bird-name doctrine re-confirmed for the female-name register (already canonized Vol. 16; Vol. 32 generalizes the method to “all girls’ names if I’m stuck”)