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*[[Chapter 907]] - Page 14 - Panel 01
  
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*[[Chapter 940]] - Cover Page (As a candy art)
   
 
*Memories With Oda-San - Page 09 - Panel 3<ref name="Memories With Oda-San">Weekly Shounen Jump 07 - 17 - 2017, 20th anniversary</ref>
  
*Memories With Oda-San - Page 09 - Panel 3<ref name="Memories With Oda-San">Weekly Shounen Jump 07 - 17 - 2017, 20th anniversary</ref>

Revision as of 14:17, 19 April 2019

For the song, see Pandaman (song).

Pandaman is a joke character created by Eiichiro Oda, and one of the most prominent easter eggs in One Piece.

Originally designed for a Shonen Jump character creation contest, Pandaman has gone on to make cameo appearances in nearly every chapter of the manga, every episode of the anime, every film, and more. He is particularly prominent in several of the video games, even being playable in the first Grand Battle! and its immediate sequel.

Due to his status as a joke character, most if not all concrete data on Pandaman has been revealed through the SBS, and may or may not be serious on Oda's part.

Appearance

Pandaman's most distinctive feature is his head, which is stylized to look like his namesake (and sometimes emblazoned with the word PANDA). Whether this is a mask or his real face is unknown.

Meanwhile, his physique can vary wildly from appearance to appearance. Though most "official" portraits (including Oda's original contest submission) depict him as tall and well-muscled, many of his cameos in the actual manga and anime depict him as slimmer, if not outright scrawny, to keep him better-hidden in crowd scenes.

Apart from his black trunks and lace-up boots, Pandaman usually goes undressed, and may bear a pair of heart tattoos on his pectorals, and bamboo tattoos on his arms. At times, however, he has been seen in civilian, pirate, or even Marine attire.

Pandaman does not always make cameos in the flesh. Indeed, cameos of his name have appeared scattered throughout the series in both katakana and romaji script.[5]

Gallery

Pandapanda
Pandaman's physique frequently varies. This example is from the "alternative" cover under Volume 52's dust jacket.
Pandaman Volume 21 Alternative Cover
Pandaman in place of Crocodile on the Volume 21 alternative cover.
Pandaman Wyper
Pandaman as Wyper on the Volume 28 alternative cover.
Pandaman Anime Concept Art
Pandaman's concept art from the anime.
Pandaman Sprite
Pandaman's portrait in One Piece: Gigant Battle!.

Cameo Examples in the Manga

Sbs 276 1
"Pandaman" written within the Poneglyph in Alabasta.
Chapter 272
Pandaman in Chapter 272's cover (in the bottom-left corner).
Pandaman at the Auction House
A very hidden Pandaman in the Human Auctioning House (in the bottom-right corner).
Pandaman in Bentham's Transformations
Pandaman mixed into the faces of Bentham.
Pandaman 634
Pandaman charging with the New Fish-Man Pirates. He can be seen right in the middle, holding a sword.
Pandaman Marine
Pandaman is a Marine in Chapter 691's cover.
Pandaman in Cross Epoch
Pandaman in Cross Epoch.

Cameo Examples in the Anime

KuroPandaman
Pandaman's first appearance in the anime (excluding the opening) in Episode 16.
Pandaman Baratie
Pandaman's appearance on the Baratie.
Pandaman in Loguetown
Pandaman in Loguetown.
File:Mr. Beans Initial Anime Depiction.png
In a shirt in Whisky Peak.
Pandaman in Jaya
Pandaman on Jaya.
File:Pop up Noland.PNG
Pandaman (back) between the crowd.
Pandaman Episode 195
Pandaman amongst some Skypieans.
Pandaman Water 7
Pandaman at Water 7's Dock 1.
File:Pandaman at Thriller Bark.png
Pandaman on Thriller Bark.
Pandaman in Sabaody Archipelago
Pandaman on the Sabaody Archipelago.
Roche Tomson and George Black Portrait
The name of Pandaman on a list of Impel Down prisoners.
Panda man in a group of Impel Down escapees
Pandaman amongst a group of Impel Down escapees.
Pandaman on a Marine Ship
Pandaman on a Marine ship.
Pandaman at Rain Dinners
Pandaman appears on a slot machine reel.
Pandaman Bon Voyage
Usopp fishing up Pandaman in the 4th opening, BON VOYAGE!.
Pandaman wanted
Pandaman's bounty poster from the 9th One Piece Movie.
Heart Pirates Members
Pandaman as part of Heart Pirates (in the far right).

Personality

Little has been established about Pandaman's personality in canon - save, perhaps, for his cowardice in constantly fleeing from debt collectors.

In contrast, video games frequently portray him with the boisterous, hot-blooded bravado stereotypical to pro-wrestlers. Apart from eagerly accepting any and all challenges to fight, he also constantly peppers his speech with the vocalization "sasa" (ササ?), a reference to the term for bamboo (笹, sasa?).

Relationships

Pandawoman

SBS55 2 Pandawoman

Pandawoman

Pandaman is said to be in love with Pandawoman, but it is unknown if these feelings are reciprocated.[6]

Tomato Gang

Pandaman, unfortunately, is also constantly on the run from Tomato Gang, a debt collector to whom Pandaman owes money.[7]

Unforgivable Mask

Pandaman's greatest rival, Unforgivable Mask, is hired by Tomato Gang to track Pandaman down and retrieve the money he owes Tomato Gang.[8]

Abilities and Powers

While Pandaman has demonstrated no combat ability in any of his appearances, he does - according to Oda's contest write-up - have a small repertoire of attacks:

  • S.P.D. - Bamboo Leaves Panda Drop (S・P・D (笹の葉パンダドロップ), Sasanoyō Panda Doroppu?)
  • G.P.D. - Giant Panda Deathlock (G・P・D (ジャイアントパンダデスロック), Jaianto Panda Desurokku?).

The same write-up also notes that Pandaman has a strength of "3,300,000 power" after eating bamboo and before meals.

In his playable appearances in Grand Battle! and Grand Battle! 2, Pandaman uses a variety of wrestling-based attacks, with the Giant Panda Deathlock in particular portrayed as a brutal backbreaker drop; aside from these, he also possesses the ability to summon Panda Sharks against enemies. Meanwhile, Gigant Battle! portrays him with the ability to fire an energy beam by crossing his forearms.

History

As an infant, Pandaman was said to have been abandoned in a bamboo thicket, and subsequently raised by giant pandas. Growing up, he was frequently picked on for claiming to have seen Princess Kaguya, and as a result trained to become a "demon superman" (悪魔超人, Akuma chōjin?).[9]

Eventually, Pandaman grew into a man of wealth and prestige, supposedly presiding over his own island.[10] Rumors of this island (and its panda-like populace) reached as far as Foosha Village.[11] Some time later, however, Pandaman fell into financial trouble with the debt collector Tomato Gang, who began relentlessly pursuing him, even hiring his rival Unforgivable Mask as an enforcer.[12][13]

Pandaman first crossed paths with the Straw Hat Pirates during the Baratie Arc, where he witnessed the altercation between Sanji and Fullbody.[1][14] Since then, he has appeared in the background of every locale the Straw Hats have visited (and several they have not, such as Lulusia Kingdom).[15] The one exception is the all-female isle of Amazon Lily, where Pandawoman took his place; it is said that Pandaman fell in love with this woman, but it is unclear whether she even knows he exists.[16]

Comprehensive List

Manga Appearances

  • Memories With Oda-San - Page 09 - Panel 3[17]

Anime Appearances

Anime and Manga Differences

The anime portrays Pandaman more-or-less identically to the manga - as a background curiosity who interacts with neither the plot nor the other characters in any meaningful way. However, the anime will often insert Pandaman cameos where the manga had none; indeed, the anime Pandaman made his first appearance during the Syrup Village Arc, mixed in among the Black Cat Pirates.[18] In another notable instance, a Zombie Pandaman was inserted among the many zombies chasing Usopp and Chopper on Thriller Bark.[19]

Special Episode

Pandaman's usual status was completely subverted in one installment of the Boss Luffy Historical Special, where he not only interacted with other characters, but played a pivotal role in the plot.[20]

Tot-san

"Tou-san", a not-so-hidden Pandaman, interacting with the main characters.

In the alternate Jidaigeki-esque reality known as the Grand Jipang (グランドジパング, Gurando Jipangu?), Pandaman is a well-beloved townsman known as "Pop" (父さん, Tō-san?). This moniker led to much trouble when he fell ill, shortly after being trapped in debt to the gang-leader Buggy. On finding him in the care of a neighborhood girl, the Buggy Gang assumed she was his daughter and schemed to sell her off as collateral, even enlisting aid from a corrupt magistrate. Nevertheless, this scheme was foiled by Boss Luffy and the aristocrat Vivi.

After Buggy's threat was ended, his would-be debtor joined Boss Luffy and several close friends in celebrating the exotic foreign holiday known as Christmas.

Translation and Dub Issues

All English translations generally preserve Pandaman's cameos faithfully, with the Viz manga accurately relaying all of Oda's SBS contributions and both the Funimation and 4Kids anime dubs leaving his cameos unremarked upon. His name, however, is generally written out as two words ("Panda Man") rather than one.

Much larger liberties were taken in 4Kids' localization of the video game One Piece: Pirates Carnival. This game originally featured Pandaman in a minor role, as the focus of a Where's Waldo-styled mini-game; the localization kept this mini-game, but also extended his role into a separate mini-game originally hosted by Blueno (since 4Kids had made no preparations for dubbing the Water 7 Arc). As a result, this Pandaman possesses Blueno's abilities, as well as an unusually dark and vengeful personality, claiming to have trapped the Straw Hat Pirates in a burning maze as revenge for picking him out of crowds.

Anime and Manga Influences

Pandaman was originally conceived for the New Superman Contest (新超人コンテスト, Shin chōjin kontesuto?), a character-design contest for the pro-wrestling series Kinnikuman.[21] As such, his design is meant to evoke a costumed pro wrestler, with lots of exposed skin, striking colors, and an overall "foreign" theme akin to those used by heel wrestlers in real life.

(Oda would return to pro-wrestling for several later character designs, including Jesus Burgess, Spandam, and the Jeet-Abdullah duo.)

In addition, Pandaman's (supposed) backstory directly references the myth of Princess Kaguya, who was said to have been discovered in a bamboo stalk by a kindly woodcutter.

Merchandise

Video Games

Playable Appearances

Enemy Appearances

Support Appearances

Non-Playable Appearances

Trivia

  • As of the 6th Japanese Fan Poll, Pandaman is ranked the 51st most popular character in One Piece.[22]
  • He has a similar nature to the main character of the children's book Where's Waldo.
  • Several of his attributes are linked with the number three (三, san?), in a reference to the Japanese term for bamboo (笹（ササ）, sasa?). This extends to his (anime-only) bounty of Beli3,333,333.
    • He is only character thus far, in either the manga or the anime, to be depicted with an odd-numbered bounty.
  • A pirate group with a panda figurehead and jolly roger can be seen fighting with the Rumbar Pirates.
  • The anime occasionally inserts Pandaman on items such as shirts, similar to fellow Easter Egg Doskoi Panda. The "official" relationship between these two - if any - remains to be seen.
    • The video game Treasure Battle!, notably, has Pandaman being summoned through a Doskoi Panda token.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 One Piece Manga — Vol. 5 Chapter 44 (p. 9), Pandaman appears as one of the patrons in the Baratie, apparently watching the altercation between Sanji and Lt. Fullbody. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "first appearance" defined multiple times with different content
  2. ↑ One Piece Anime — Episode 1, Pandaman makes a cameo in the first opening as one of the many enemy pirates Zoro is fending off.
  3. ↑ SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 85 (p. 138), Pandaman's birthday is revealed.
  4. ↑ One Piece Movie — Episode of Chopper Plus: Bloom in Winter, Miracle Sakura, Pandaman's wanted poster is briefly seen at the beginning.
  5. ↑ SBS One Piece Manga - SBS Volume 30 - Fan question: I found Pandaman's name on the Poneglyph. Is Pandaman an important thing in Arabasta?
  6. ↑ SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 55, Oda confirms Pandawoman and Pandaman relationship.
  7. ↑ SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 27, Fan question: Who is that guy in the same panel as Pandaman?
  8. ↑ SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 48, Unforgivable Mask revealed.
  9. ↑ SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 7, Oda supplies a thumbnail biography of Pandaman.
  10. ↑ SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 22, Fan question: where does Pandaman live?
  11. ↑ One Piece Red: Grand Characters (p. 0), In a message hidden under the dust jacket, Luffy recounts rumors of a "Panda Island" he heard at Partys Bar.
  12. ↑ SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 27, Oda explains the history between Pandaman and Tomato Gang.
  13. ↑ SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 48, Oda explains the purpose of Unforgivable Mask.
  14. ↑ SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 6, Oda confirms Pandaman's existence and name.
  15. ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 29 Chapter 272, Pandaman drinks tea at the Pasta Lake cafe while Portgas D. Ace pulls a typical dine-and-dash.
  16. ↑ SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 55, Oda confirms Pandawoman's existence.
  17. ↑ Weekly Shounen Jump 07 - 17 - 2017, 20th anniversary
  18. ↑ One Piece Anime — Episode 16, Pandaman stands among the Black Cat Pirates as Captain Kuro threatens to unleash his deadly Shakushi.
  19. ↑ One Piece Anime — Episode 351, A Pandaman zombie is one of the many zombies menacing Usopp and Chopper.
  20. ↑ The second installment of the Boss Luffy Historical Special spotlights Pandaman.
  21. ↑ Oda's original Pandaman entry was published in December 1998 as part of The 77 Mysteries of Kinnikuman (キン肉マン77の謎, Kin'nikuman 77 no nazo?); it is yet unknown what role, if any, Pandaman actually played in the story.
  22. ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 87 Chapter 874.

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