SBS Volume 25

D: Boys and girls across the nation, come together! Let's see, who's gonna do the title call today? Aha, how about you? Eiichiro-kun!! Huh? What? You want everyone to say it with you? Okay!! Good idea!! Alright everyone, let's all shout it together on the count of three... two... START THE SBS!! (now everyone got to do it equally!)

O: SPLRAAAAAH!! AAAAAAH!! AAAAAAAAH!! I bit my tongue. Darn it, I lost my chance!

D: Hello, Oda-sensei! Here's a sudden question. In page 28 of volume 18, is that an EARRING I see on that sea cat's left ear? What's up with that? Please tell me.

O: Ummm. That is "ear hair (mimige)". On a related note, everyone, try saying this three times fast. "Migimimi Migime Migime Migimimi" (Right Ear, Right Eye, Right Eye, Right Ear). Hard, isn't it?

D: Hello! Odacchi!! Do you think that February 6 would be a good day for Nico Robin's birthday?

O: Ah, yes, I like the sound of that. ((NI)co (RO)bin... ni=two, ro=six).

D: How are ya, Odacchi? I know how much you like getting butt-naked, so this must be a favourite season for you. <3

O: Yes, yes. I just LOVE getting completely naked. In the summertime, after I take a bath I just run STRAIGHT OUTSIDE!! And when the girls' softball team running on the sidewalk looks over at me, they say, "Yup, it's really summer now!!"... AS IF!! I'D GET ARRESTED!!!

D: A question for Oda-sensei!! Long ago, English nobility called each other by the honorific "Sir". Is that what the "sir" in "Sir Crocodile" is from?

O: Were you SIRprised? (good one)

D: One Piece, Volume 24, page 184! Why is it that when Usopp is fixing the ship and he hits his middle finger with the hammer, in the next picture his index finger is bruised?!

O: ...Ah well, think of it like a balloon. For instance, if you have a long balloon, when you squeeze the right end, the left end will puff up. If you hit Usopp's middle finger with a hammer (wham!!) his index pointer finger will puff up. You understand?

D: Aaah, hello hello, Oda-sensei! Nami says stuff like "Tornado Tempo" a lot with her Clima Tacts, but what the heck does "Tempo" mean? Please tell me!

O: Tempo. It means weather. Weather in Italian. Tempo. I just liked how the word sounded.

D: If Mr. 3 is supposed to have Devil Fruit powers, then why is he floating on top of the water in volume 19, page 185, panel 3?

O: I sure got a lot of these response... You wouldn't believe how many postcards I got about this. But you guys all understimated me... There's a proper reason for this. Under Mr. 3's body there just so happened to be a piece of "Unbelievably Floaty Wood". And that is why he was floating so unbelievably. Let's say, normally a person's floating power is 3 Pukas, and a sumo wrestler's would be about 5 Pukas. But on a good day, a piece of "Unbelievably Floaty Wood" can get as high as 13 Pukas, the world record set by floating master Pukayama Ukijirou.

D: Hello, Oda-sensei. I need to ask you about something I just noticed. Is Bellamy the Hyena's name modelled after the North American pirate Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy?

O: Yes. That is correct. Samuel Bellamy. That's him. They say he was a pretty big-time pirate in his day, and had a love for speaking. Instead of a "Hyena", he was more of a "Lion" fond of speeches.

D: Greetings! Why is it that Zoro has his swords held at his right hip when swords are usually worn on the left?

O: Uhhh... because if Zoro doesn't have something heavy on his right side, he'd keep leaning to the left (ha). Oh, that's right. I have a question for you now. In Volume 21, Chapter 194 "Cut Through Steel", why is it that Zoro has his swords on his left hip in every single picture? And why is it that on page 154, his scabbards seem to have disappeared entirely? Now, is it true that the mistakes in this chapter were so massive that even the readers failed to write in and scold me for them?

D: I have a serious question for Oda-sensei. How come, in manga, no matter where you go, everyone always speaks the same language?

O: Because manga is something where everyone's dreams are depicted.

D: Where is Vira? In Vol. 11, it's having a "coup d'�tat", in chapter 228 it's a "merry town". What's going on?

O: Oh. Well spotted. 400 years ago when Noland visited it, Vira was indeed just a merry town, but these days it's a violent and dangerous country in the midst of a coup d'�tat (rebellion). But it's not really so much what's happening in Vira, as what's happening all around the world at this time. I think you'll discover what I mean in the near future. Not as large as Arabasta, it's just a small country in the Grand Line. So hold off on your sightseeing trips.

D: Oda-sensei, I saw the movie "Chopper's Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals". It was really really fun. The movie that was shown with it, "Dream Soccer King" had a character named "Odacchi" which I was very surprised to see. Oda-sensei, DOES YOUR FACE REALLY LOOK LIKE THAT?

O: Yes.

D: Hello, Oda-sensei. Reading the latest One Piece, I've just noticed that Sanji has leg hair. And I was thinking, if he's blond, the leg hair shouldn't stand out so much. I am a huge fan of Sanji, so I must say that I don't like the fact that he has leg hair. Oda-sensei, I beg you to do something about this (from the bottom of my heart).

O: But he's fuzzy. You know, Chopper's fuzzy too! Alright, it's time to end the SBS! See you next volume!!