SBS Volume 41
Enies Lobby SBS. Major canon-leak: the definitive Devil Fruit + water doctrine is established here — DF users are “hated” by the sea (defined globally — rivers, pools, baths all count); rain and dripping water have no effect; less-than-half-body or limbs-only submersion is workable; hip baths and showers are standard; Crocodile showers despite his power being blocked because water disables sand specifically and there are no enemies in the shower. Also: the Den Den Mushi communication mechanism is explained (wild snails communicate via radio-thought-waves; humans attach buttons/receivers; destroying the receiver doesn’t hurt the snail), the dog-talking-to-dog gag from Vol 40 is paid off (CP9’s Jabra was rejected by Gatherine the Enies Lobby waitress because she’s only in love with Lucci), and Wanze’s “Pop Up Goggles” are special-ordered onion-cutting eyewear.
Q&A
Chapter 389, Page 26 — International SBS + dog-rumor payoff
Q (Nanpou): Why don’t we ever start the SBS in English? “Let’s begin SBS!!” A: Ooh! I like the global touch. That’s right, reach out and touch the world, SBS!
Q (Hikari-kun): ODA-SAN. PLEASE PUT HIM IN THE SEVEN WARLORDS OF THE SEA. A: NO.
Q (Right Baskerville): The guard dog on the right in panel one of p. 61 in Volume 40 looks like it’s talking with the dog next to it. What’s it saying? A (Chopper translation):
Left Dog: “I heard Jabra from CP9 got turned down by Gatherine the waitress.” Right Dog: “OMG really? (lol)”
A (Oda): Yes, it appears EVERY LIVING THING on the island cannot get enough of this rumor.
Chapter 391, Page 66 — Den Den Mushi mechanics
Q (Naoko): In Chapter 367, Sanji destroys the Den Den Mushi. That’s so mean!!! A: OK, I admit, I may have created that impression, but it’s okay. On the right is a wild Den Den Mushi. It has the ability to communicate with its species through radio (thought) waves. Humans attach buttons and receivers to them so they can contact specific other Den Den Mushi. So, you can destroy the receiver without hurting the Den Den Mushi.
Q (Girls’ Representative): ODA-SAN, THAT’S SEXUAL HARASSMENT. A: What? I didn’t even say anything that sexual!!
Q (Nami-loving Erotic-man): WHAT CUP SIZE IS NAMI’s 95CM BUST? A: Cups are hard to guess… So let’s ask our female readers for the answer. (Answered in Vol 42 SBS as I cup.)
Chapter 394, Page 126 — Attack-name pun denial
Q (Demomo): I have prepared a fresh, boiling-hot oden for you. A: (burns gums on kinchaku mochi) Was that the kind of joke you were expecting?
Q (Hachikou): My family has surfaced a theory:
- “Gyuki Yuzume” → Gyugyu-zume (Packed in tight)
- “Enbima Yonezu Onigiri” → Ebi Mayonnaise Onigiri A: Why, absolutely not… W-w-we wouldn’t do anything so punny. R-right, Zoro-kun? Zoro: Yeah, y-y-y-you’re imagining things. A: LOOK AT YOU, YOU’RE FREAKIN’ OUT!!!
Chapter 395, Page 146
Q (Identical to T-Bone): In Chapter 376 “Got It!!!” what kind of autograph does Sogeking give Chopper? A: Like this (→).
Q (Anga II): What would happen if you got a haircut with Rankyaku? A: It’d slice your head right off and get rid of all your hair troubles forever! Or you might actually survive it. If you are one of those people, go ahead.
Q (Bored Guy): GOMU GOMUUUU!! 300 POUND!! CANNONNN!! A: “Soru”!! Whoosh!! (Dodges it with CP9 speed.)
Chapter 398, Page 206 — Wanze goggles + Devil Fruit bathing doctrine
Q (Nappe): What was Wanze’s thing (→) used for? A: Those are “Pop Up Goggles”! Special ordered! He is the head cook, so he uses them while cooking. It’s for when he cuts the onions!! He absolutely treasures those goggles because they keep him from crying. Also, he does not use them for anything other than slicing onions!!
Q (Crocodile’s Mother): Crocodile can’t fight water because he’s “sand,” right? Then how does he bathe?! Does he at all?! A: First of all, let’s discuss the problem of Devil Fruit users bathing themselves.
People who have eaten a Devil Fruit are “hated” by the sea, and cannot swim. The “sea” here can refer to anything from rivers, pools and baths to any kind of standing water. On a worldwide level, they are all the “sea.”
When these people enter the water, not only can they not use their powers, they have trouble moving their bodies at all. They might be able to struggle a bit, but it wouldn’t do much good. That’s if their entire bodies are submerged in the “sea.”
With less than half the body or just the limbs, it gets easier. Also, rain and dripping water have no effect at all.
Therefore, hip baths or showers are the most common choice.
Now, in Crocodile’s case, “water” is the weakness of his very powers, so his abilities are robbed even in the shower. But it’s not like there are enemies around when you take a shower, so I’d bet he would take them even with his powers being blocked. Don’t you think?
And to answer your final question, about myself bathing. As it happens, I do bathe. Twice! In a year!
Notable canon-leaks
- Devil Fruit + water doctrine (definitive):
- “Sea” = ALL standing water worldwide (rivers, pools, baths included).
- Full submersion → can’t use powers AND can barely move.
- Less than half-body or limbs-only → manageable.
- Rain and dripping water → NO effect.
- Hip baths and showers → standard for DF users.
- Crocodile-specific: his power-weakness (water) overrides the bath-OK rule for power use but not for being-in-water. He showers without his powers active because no enemies in the shower.
- Wild Den Den Mushi communication mechanism: snails naturally communicate via radio/thought waves. Humans attach buttons/receivers to commandeer specific connections. Destroying the receiver hardware doesn’t hurt the snail. Resolves the “Sanji destroyed the Den Den Mushi, you monster” complaints — confirms the snail’s neural network is the network, the receiver is just a UI.
- Gatherine-Lucci-Jabra love triangle (one-sided): The Enies Lobby waitress Gatherine is in love with Lucci (“all a guy has is looks, right?!”). Jabra was rejected because of this. Plus: this rumor is so juicy that the island’s stray DOGS are gossiping about it (per Chopper translation) — pays off Vol 40 SBS Q about the dogs talking.
- Soru beats Shakushi (Captain Kuro’s trick) on identical raw speed but CP9 has control; Kuro doesn’t know who he’s hitting. (That comparison is actually in Vol 42 SBS, but the speed-tier register is being set up here with the Soru-dodges-Luffy-attack gag.)
- Rankyaku-as-haircut joke: instant decapitation, side-effect: “all your hair troubles solved forever.”
- Wanze’s Pop Up Goggles are special-ordered cooking eyewear for onions only — character-establishing single-purpose tool.
SBS reveals (cross-linked)
- Nami — bust size sub-arc (resolved Vol 42 SBS as I-cup per reader poll)
- Robin — also I-cup per reader consensus (Vol 42)
- Devil Fruit bathing-mechanics doctrine applies to every DF user note in the vault (Luffy, Robin, Chopper, Crocodile, etc.)
- Den Den Mushi mechanism applies to every Vivre-Card / Den Den Mushi communication beat in the saga