SBS Volume 22

SBS
R (reader)

O (Oda)

'''R: Oda-sensei!! I-!! Lu-lu-lu-lu-lu-lu-lu-!! LOVE One Piece! I go to the store every day!! And say, "Is it here yet?"!! ...AND!! Therefore!! Would you!! Mind!! Telling me!! The release!! Date for!! The next voluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuume?!!!!?!'''

O: Huh?! But it's such a pain. Oh, fine. For the tankōbon people, I'll tell you the rule for which months are release months so you can mark it on your calendars. One Piece volumes come out in a repeating order that goes, "2 months", "2 months", "3 months". So if you say, "There haven't been any for 3 months!" can you tell when the next two will come out?! Good.

'''R: Oda-sensei, I've been wondering about something. What country are Luffy and the others from? In Social Studies class, we learned that "A Japanese pirate is called a Wakou". Is that like a direct interpretation into Japanese? Or is this manga completely unique in that respect? Please tell me.'''

O: Hmmm. First of all, Luffy's crew is all "No-Nationality Men". You can't say what country they come from. And then, "wakou". Yes. A long time ago, there were men in Japan called "Wakou" that were basically "pirates". Wakous would get into their boats and attack the Korean peninsula and Chinese mainland. Sometimes in your textbooks, it talks about "expeditions" to Korea, but that was really pirates. They were there to loot and plunder and all that. Yeah, they were bad guys. There is another famous group of people around the Inland Sea called "Murakami Suigun" that were also pirates. They have been a big influence on Japan throughout its history. But they don't get a whole lot of recognition for that. A long time ago, I was researching the differences between "wakou" and "suigun", but then there were even "suigun" called "wakou", so I figured, why do you need to draw the line? Basically, Japan has had a lot of "pirates".

R: What's the speed limit on the Okama Way?

O: If you go over 300 Mascara's per hour, you can expect to be Mascarrested.

'''R: Wait, wait, wait. Bon Kurei! Yes, you. Listen, I don't like your travesty of the dance! You can't even do the most basic of basics, the port de bras! There are no hands shaped that way. And start off by tying your toe shoes correctly! You twist it around your ankle like this. Twist, see? And about 2 cm higher. And for your "Swan Arabesque", you're not raising your leg!! You're much too green to pull off any At-ti-tude Turns. Go back and study one more time! And shave your leg hair while you're at it! by 10 Years of Ballet'''

O: Uhhh, I just called for him... in the flesh.

Mr. 2: Stoooooooop joking aroooooooound!! 'roooooooound!! Shave?! My legs?! NOOOOOOO WAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!! If I shave my legs-!! I am nothing!!! I = Leg Hair, understand?! SO!! Are you shaving ME?! Would you shave MYSELF?!! And so what? 10 years of ballet...?! La-dee-frickin'-da. Isn't that special?! BUT!! I have had 20 years of Okama Kenpo!! Any problems?! If you do, then I'm gonna spin-?!! I'm spinning!! Spinning, spinning!! I am spinninnnnnng!!

O: ...There you have it. Idiot on stage.

'''R: Hello, Oda-sensei! I am called Enari-kun. Why does Vivi always pull on Usopp's nose? '''

O: Hmmm. Uh... for example. Let's say there's a "saucepan" right here. Now, where would you hold the saucepan? ...see what I'm saying? You hold it on the long thin part that sticks out, right? And that's... the mentality behind it. He's just a person who's easy to hold. You know. Kind of a perfect fit type of deal.

'''R: I found him!! "Pah"!! "Ih"!! "I"!! "Fah"!! "Ruh"!! "Ah"!! "Hah"!! "Weh"!! "Duh"!! ....ugh... (Translation) Pandaman!! It's Pandaman!! I found Pandaman running away!! (First panel on page 60, volume 20) Also, I have a question. W, where does Pandaman live?? Does Pandaman like traveling??'''

O: That last one sounded really strained. Are you okay? So, Pandaman's residence. I've only heard the rumors. Some say he's a pretty big-shot kinda guy. On a certain island, that is. There's a reason why he's chased around, which is why he appears running in a lot of different places... I can't tell you too much, or they'll come to get me too... AAAH!! IT'S THEM!! (runs)

'''R: Hello, Oda-sensei. I have a question. When Chopper eats the Rumble Ball, he can use seven different forms. Yet, he has more than seven. Why is that?'''

O: That's incorrect. Look, there ARE seven. No more. There are seven up there. His normal "beast mode" is Walk Point. His "half human mode" is Brain Point. And his "human mode" is Heavy Point. So you see, the Rumble Ball is a pill that basically adds four new forms for him to use. Does it make more sense now?

'''R: If you look closely at the legendary Moving Crab in volume 19, you'll see that, in order to get it to run, Chopper seems to be pulling the sides of its mouth. Why is that? Please tell meeeee!!'''

O: That's right. The hard-to-master skill of manipulating a Moving Crab is to fully expose his right gums when you want to go right, and fully expose his left gums when you want to go left. In the expert lingo, these are known as "right grin" and "left grin". When you want to go slowly, you have to use the "right half-grin" and "left half-grin" (also known as "right smirk" and "left smirk"). Also, if someone on board happens to tell a really bad joke, the Moving Crab's face will start twitching and you will be unable to control its speed. So exercise caution.

'''R: Ah, a question for Oda-sensei. On the first panel of page 174, Volume 20, the scene where Miss Merry Christmas digs herself into the ground. It says "Hyu...", but the horizontal line is a fish. Is this another example of your playfulness, Oda-sensei?'''

O: Because it's the Mole Tempo "Mogugyo". Yeah. Well, why don't we try reading it aloud. First, (1) raise your eyebrows as far up as you possibly can. (2) look as straight up as possible without moving your face. (3) extend your lower jaw. Ready, set... "HYU..." Did you do it? Now show it to your friends and parents. Your legend of idiocy begins!!

'''R: Why is it that when Nami and Miss All Sunday wear miniskirts and move around a LOT, you never see inside their skirts (panties)? What color are their panties? Please tell me.'''

O: That's a dirty old man question. And yet you ask it so plainly and honestly. As if you feel, "did I just ask something bad?"... maybe you should stop... I bet you can imagine, though... You know, in Volume 14, her bra looked pretty black... No, really, any more than this... would be a waste of my life.