SBS Volume 21

SBS
R (reader)

O (Oda)

'''R: In the SBS from Volume 19, someone said "Draw all 6 crew members with your left hand", but you only drew Luffy, Zoro and Nami. Draw the other 3.'''

O: H... here. P-please, give me a break.

'''R: They don't show One Piece on TV where I live... Are you sure it shouldn't be? Please (x2) have them broadcast it here, even if it's only reruns! I guess it's probably impossible...'''

O: It shouldn't be impossible. I've received quite a lot of these letters for a while, but I can't do anything about it. After checking with the animation company, as of 12/4/2001, One Piece is shown on 27 stations nationwide, and it's just started running in Taiwan. There are three prefectures it's not on in Japan. Aomori, Yamaguchi and Oita. I think there are people who have said "I can watch it" even though they live in those areas. But those must be people who live close enough to other prefectures to pick up the other channels signals. Here's what you can try. One Piece is a program on the Fuji TV network, so write a letter saying "I want to see One Piece" to the Fuji station in your prefecture. If the station hears a large outcry, they may consider it. A lot of other animes you can't see unless you live near Tokyo. I grew up in Kyushu, so I know how it feels. Damn. Tokyo's not fair, huh?!

R: What are "Orange Pekoe" and "Apple Tea"?

O: You know what apple tea is, right? It's tea. And orange pekoe is another kind of tea. It's true that all the members of the BW like different kinds of tea. Mr. 3 likes "Earl Grey", Miss Goldenweek likes "green tea", Mr. 5 likes "gunpowder tea", and Miss Valentine likes "lemon tea", and so on. They drink it at a lot of different places. But Mr. 2 likes "takopa".

'''R: Nice to meet you, Oda-sensei. I noticed something when I was re-reading the books. This person on the left was in Volume 18, page 162, 2nd panel. And the person on the right was in Volume 19, page 15, 5th panel. Are they the same person?''' O: Yes. That's right. You're quite correct. If you look at the current "Rebellion", you'll see a lot of members of the "Suna Suna Clan" in it. Well spotted. It's pretty easy to tell when they're lined up like this, right? Oh, and just to confuse you a little, most of the people in the Rebellion call Kohza "Kohza-san", but sometimes you hear "Kohza" or "Leader". Those people were probably former Suna Suna Clan members.

'''R: Oda-sensei! I was astonished when I read Volume 19! Because in the first panel of page 104, Sam is among the people running about!! Why is he in Alabasta? Why is he still drunk? Tell me!'''

O: Oooh. I was surprised, too. I totally forgot I had drawn him. That's him all right, it certainly is. Chapter 171, page 104. Why is he there? Listen up... Today was his second daughter's wedding. Sam's wife left him to raise all of their daughters the summer his eldest turned 8. His second daughter was a delinquent; quite the troublemaker. They fought often, and there were days when she ran away from home. Today, she is being married. Out loud, he said, "I'm so relieved you're leaving!!". But he was actually sad inside. And so he was happy. He said, "I can't stay sober today!" and he drank and drank and walked and drank, and there he was, in Alabasta. The people around him were making all kinds of noise. And so he made some noise as well. Probably for a different reason than the other people, though.

O: Ahem. I've been receiving a ton of questions. I'm just going to tell you everything I know about the anime, whether to answer those questions or just because I want you to know.

1. First of all, what I MUST tell you is that I am a manga artist. I don't create anime. All that I do is character design for the anime original stories and the theatrical release movies. Nothing serious. Basically, the world of One Piece that I create in the manga is entrusted to others to follow in the anime.

2. I want you to remember this name. THE UDA KOUNOSUKE. This name is on the staff list every time the opening credits roll. It says, "Series Director". That's basically "head director". Pretty cool, eh? "Head director". (do—n)

3. For the OP anime, Uda-san has 7 other directors that take turns making episodes. Because you can't make a 30-minute episode every week. Every episode's director is listed at the end of the ending credits. And the person who brings all of them together is, yes, THE UDA KONOSUKE (whistle)

4. If their opinions and mine do not meet, Luffy instantly ceases to be Luffy and the world becomes entirely different. No matter how hard I work to create the original story, if the anime's "directing" is wrong, it all becomes nothing. But the reason that doesn't happen, and instead even more amazing things are created, is thanks to Uda-san and his Directing Fighters, for understanding the world of OP so well and for "directing".

5. "Directing" is, of course, made possible by "music", "sound", "voice acting" and "art". I truly thank all the people involved in the anime in any way. Oh, by the way, my very own Habu-yan does the "scenario checking".

6. So why am I telling you this? Because I'd like you to really think about all the labor the people whose names you see on the staff credits have to go through.

7. I know I made him sound very formal earlier, but Uda-san is really a very nice man. Sometimes I go and party or eat something with Uda-san and his producers (they're cool, too), but really, I just leave the anime work up to them and enjoy it as a viewer, just like all of you do. I even cry sometimes.

8. And now, the SBS is over. See you next time.