SBS Volume 4

Important Questions Answered

 * Ages for: Luffy, Shanks, Nami, Zoro, Usopp.
 * Origin of Zoro's name.
 * About Buggy's hair...
 * About Mohji's hair...
 * Luffy's reason for not killing villains
 * Symbols on Klahador's shirt
 * Who is Mikio Itoo?
 * Oda's profile.
 * Number of Devil Fruits

SBS
R (reader)

O (Oda)

R: What are the ages of Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Shanks?

O: At present
 * Luffy is 17
 * Zoro is 19
 * Nami is 18
 * Usopp is 17
 * Shanks I'll tell you his age from 10 years ago. He was 27 at the time he was hanging out in Luffy's village.

R: Doesn't Zoro's name come from the famous pirate, "Francois l'Ollonais"?

O: I took the name from Francois l'Ollonais, said to be the cruelest of all the "Pirates of the Caribbean". That, along with Morgan and Alvida, are names derived from actual pirates.

'''R: This is about Captain "Buggy the Clown"! Is that Captain Buggy's real hair that sticks out of both sides of his hat? Or is it a decoration (like a wig)? '''

O: Yes. This question has been asked several times. I believe this will answer your curiosity.

R: Why does Luffy have so little "tension"?

O: It must be because he's so stupid.



R: How did Mohji's hair get like that?

O: He was born like that. Only those 2 spots grow out quickly. If he left his hair alone, he'd end up looking like a rabbit.

'''R: How far can Luffy's arm stretch? '''

O: Pretty far. Right now it can stretch about 72 Gomu Gomus. Luffy was telling me before how he wanted to try hard and reach 100 Gomu Gomus.

R: How do you decide on the characters' names?

O: I just try and come up with something that sounds, you know... good. I also get them from real pirates' names. Or not.

'''R: Why doesn't Luffy ever kill his enemies? If you look back, he didn't kill Mohji, he didn't kill Helmeppo or Captain Morgan, or anyone. Well, Zoro was the one who beat Morgan, but still. Why?'''

O: Ahh, good question. First of all, Morgan is still alive. He's being held in prison now by his former subordinates. So why didn't Luffy kill him? In this era, people put their lives on their beliefs and convictions, and fight. When he goes into battle, Luffy is destroying others' beliefs. And when these enemies' beliefs are shattered and defeated, they feel a pain equal to death. I think that for these pirates, killing or not killing is secondary to winning or losing.

'''R: So anyways, Sensei, do you like animals? It seems like there's at least one animal in all your cover pages...'''

O: I certainly do put animals on my covers. Well, if you like something, you like it, but I would consider my attraction to animals to be only "average." I just like drawing them. It's really fun to draw them all puffy and funny.

'''R: Is the poopy-looking mark on Klahador's suit actually poop? Or does it have any other meanings...?'''

O: It's poop.

'''R: A question. Nami's three sizes (bust-waist-hip).'''

(Oda dodged the question)

O: ...I swear that one day I WILL get her to let us measure her!! Just wait, boys! I'll keep my promise!!

'''R: Why does Zoro always wear that old fogey stomachband (haramaki)? '''

O: How rude!! Just sit down right there!! Okay! Remember this!! The haramaki is the high-fashion-nice-fit battle garb of the proudest of Nippon's warriors!! Contemplate that! You may leave!



'''R: Who is this person Mikio Itoo that appears in the three manga "One Piece", "Butsu Zone" and "Rurouni Kenshin"? It wasn't even cleared up in "Butsu Zone," so I would really like it if you would explain.'''

O: His name is Mikio Itoo. He's a quick draw. The traveling actor who appears in "Butsu Zone" (which was drawn by "Sandan Takei" (aka Takei Hiroyuki), who is currently drawing "Shaman King" for Jump) and "Rurouni Kenshin" called "Mikio Itou" are actually the same person. Maybe sometime soon, he will reveal himself to you all.

Vol. 4 chapter 33 page 150 (questions about Oda's profile, for more information see Eiichiro Oda article)

R: About how many are there in the "Devil Fruit Series", and what other kind of fruits are there?

O: You'll find out what other kinds of fruit there are in the story, but as for how many, according to the rumors I've heard, there are more than a hundred.

Volume 4, Chapter 34, Page 170 No important question here

Volume 4, Chapter 35, Page 191 No SBS