SBS Volume 8

'''Reader: The hourglasses on both sides of Don Krieg's skull and bones are supposed to indicate a threat to the enemy, but were hourglasses really used for that meaning? At that period in time...'''

Oda: There really were pirate flags with hourglasses on them. It basically indicated the time left until the death of their prey, so it holds a meaning like, "It's only a matter of time until your surrender".

'''R: Oda-sensei. Since Luffy is a Gomu Human, does that mean his "p*nis" can stretch, too?'''

O: His penis can stretch too.

'''R: I have a question. How many g/cm3 is Sanji's kick power? I would like you to give me an answer to two decimals, please.'''

O: To tell you the truth, it's impossible to measure. There are games at the arcade that measure your kick power, right? Well, if Sanji used one of those, he would destroy not only the game, but the wall of the entire building. But if you tried to put it into a form of measurement, I would say 21 bats. The power to destroy 21 wooden baseball bats in one kick.

'''R: Who are the "One Piece" characters with the highest and lowest IQ's?! Okay, that's enough for today.'''

O: I'll tell you. But when I say "in One Piece". I really mean, "of all the characters introduced in One Piece". And having cleared that up, the character with the highest IQ is Shanks' first mate, Benn Beckman. He is a great crewmate, who possesses astonishing wisdom and strength, and advises Shanks. And right after him would probably be Captain Kuro, then Nami, etc. Now as for the lowest IQ... I can't decide the worst one. They're all idiots.

'''R: What is that cape-like thing that Buchi of the Nyaban Brothers has? Is it a futon?'''

O: Actually, it's a "kotatsu-buton". Because he's a cat. (kotatsu-buton would be the cover for a kotatsu.)

R: Does Luffy's pose on the cover of Volume 3 come from Ken Shimura-san's "Aiiin"?

O: Yessssss, it does!! It's Aiiin!! Aiiin. It is Aiiin.

("Aiiin" is a gag of Shimura Ken. Ken is famous for many gags and two of his recent famous characters are Baka Tono and Henna Ojisan. Baka Tono's signature pose is "Aiiiiiiin!" Recently (er...last April) the sub-unit of Morning Musume, Mini Moni even did an entire song on it called "Ai~n! Dance Song")

R: Does Sanji-san like shit?

O: He loves shit.



'''R: I don't understand the Marines system very well. Is the captain [Taisa] the highest rank? Is Coby at the headquarters? Or a base?? Where does Captain [Taii] Fullbody stand?'''

O: This is it(→). This is the entire explanation of the Marines system in the world of "One Piece". The base Coby is in is the 153th branch. Officers of the rank of Captain [Taisa] and above command the bases spread out all over the world. I wonder when the day will come when Coby becomes an officer.

(also see Marines-Rank System.)

'''R: In Volume 5, pg. 159 (3rd panel), did that fat guy in the lower left corner manage to steal her food?'''

O: Well spotted!! Amazing!! That would be Mr. Motzel, the gourmet, yes? He ate her food. Then they fought afterwards. The girl beside him is Mr. Motzel's daughter.

'''R: Is Luffy made of natural rubber? Or artificial rubber? -A Meteorological Agency Investigation- (Ministry of Education rip off)'''

O: He's natural (-ly stupid) rubber.

'''R: In "Monkey D. Luffy", what does the D stand for?! Is it "donburi" (a bowl) or maybe "daibutsu" (giant Buddha statue)? Or maybe...!! I'm really interested. Please tell me.'''

O: I've gotten a ridiculous number of these letters... I've gotten a lot, but I cannot answer that question. I can't answer it yet... Please just read it as "D" and don't think anything about it, for now.

'''R: What the is connection between pirates and rum? Did you read in a book somewhere that rum and pirates were connected?'''

O: Not just pirates and rum, but sailors and rum. In short, rum is cheap. Because of that, back in the sailing days of England, the liquor they paid the navy with changed from brandy to rum, and the hard-drinking men of the sea warmed up to the rum image. As for why they would take so much liquor on a voyage, it was because the water would go bad.