Great chapther. A lot of infos and new characters. Just one question. Madame Shirley is over 30 and her tail is still the same. Why?
Chapter 610: "The Fortune Teller Madame Shirley" Discussion
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Some people here said it'd be hard 4 the fishmen and mermen after Shiary's prediction to get rid of luffy, because he is "ridiculously strong".
But what if they call BigMam by denden mushi and Luffy gets to know her earlier than he thought? She also wouldn't be friendly with him in the first moment (I know, she could be Lolas mom, but if I remember right, only Nami has a vivre card of Lola).
That'd be an interesting twist of plot, though I think its too early 4 BigMam to appear in the story.
But this arc is already full of plot devices, that I can't even imagine how awesome its climax will get.
There are so many groups, the NFP, the royal army, Caribou, Van Der Decken and maybe even Jinbe or BigMam! Can't wait to see the outcome of that all!
Oda really is a f*kkin genius! (IDK how often I already said that!)Shiary is hawt, but not as hawt as Vivi in the cover. Also Shiary has eyes like Frieza from DBZ!
EDIT: @ Castelmore
poseidon was in the sky and pluton was in the desert.
but I like your way of thinking with the tank, the plane and the submarine.
IMO the 3rd weapon is @ Elbaf and is called "Thor"! -
Well Im just saying no one of them can be considered an enemy or ally now. unlike Water7, They Just completely changed sides.
For now let that aside, The Question now is "Why isn't the Whitebeard Pirates Protecting FI ? What happened to the Crew ?"
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Great chapther. A lot of infos and new characters. Just one question. Madame Shirley is over 30 and her tail is still the same. Why?
You said that… She was still a child when predicting a great pirate era will come, 25 years ago (1 year before great pirate age begin)...
There's still a possibility, she's 29/30 years old, now.. :ninja:
and wow she predicted great pirate era will come when she was 4/5 years old
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I know at first glance this sounds like a dumb prediction, but believe or not, I thought a little bit about it. Maybe not as a legit possibility that's bound to happen, but in case it happened, I wouldn't call it bullshit or bad writing at all. In fact, anything related to the ancient weapons is cool in my book, and it's been damn too long since their last mention.
Also, just asking now: was Poseidon confirmed as being located in Skypiea?? or maybe the Skypiea poneglyph stated the REAL LOCATION of the Poseidon, location possibly being anywhere else, not necessarily in Skypiea? Because, you know, Poseidon being the fucking god of the seas on the Greek Mythology. . .Fishman Island ruled by Neptune, god of the seas of the Roman Mythology. . . Something destroys AN ENTIRE ISLAND, a feat the AW were stated to be capable of. . .A conspiracy going on in the shadows. . .Pappugg assuming a Yonkou is protecting the island due to some business (I don't think a frigging candy factory is ALL THERE IS TO IT. Something else must interest Big Mam.). . .a really nice theory!
forget my last post. the island with the AW-poneglyph on it doesnt have to be the island where that said AW is located.
So, yeah, poseidon could be @ FI.
and since Shiary saw the whole island blown up it could be a possibility.
you're also right that the AWs haven't been mentioned recently in the story.
on top of that, imagine what a plot-bomb it could be, if Oda now pulls up an AW out of nowhere. that would really stun the audience!
i second your theory except the part with BigMam. I think she is just interested in those candys. she takes them every month. if she is not interested in those candys but sth else in that factory the only thing i can imagine her to do is, that her jolly roger on that factory keeps curious pirates away from that factory.
Man, that'd be hilarious: an AW hidden in some candy factory, that'd sound totally like Oda! -
lol at "strawhat", "nose" , and "bones"
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Great chapter as usual! For a shark mermaid, Shirley looks awesome! :)
Btw,why do I have a feeling that there is gonna be some Water 7 shit happening here after this chapter?
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I hate van der Decken his name. Especially people who speak of it as Vander Decken or Van Der Decken.
Using simple Dutch grammar it schould be Willem van der Decken.Of course it doesnt really matter since its a Manga and Oda has the authority to choose the names he likes.
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Great chapter as usual! For a shark mermaid, Shirley looks awesome! :)
Btw,why do I have a filling that there is gonna some Water 7 shit happening here after this chapter?
Well given the fact that since Skypiea the Strawhats can't really go anywhere without it turning in some type of crisis that they are the center of.
O-chan
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And now the shocking news… Coming from me
I predict some Okama momets for Sanji as well now... the blood transfusion could really have some effects for him o_O
http://www.jamaipanese.com/japans-ob…h-blood-types/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008…pan-world-news
http://www.physorg.com/news152723712.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,461725,00.html
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b…0090311a1.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl…obsession.html
Will my fandom be crushed by Oda?
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Wow a lot is going on in Fishman island.
1. The undersea blockade maintained jointly by the NFP's kraken and Vander Decken's umibozou has now been lifted thanks to Luffy ramming through, allowing for pirates to once again pass through FI. Shyar mentioned how no pirates had visited the island recently and how business was picking up again. This is evidence that the NFP and Vander Decken are allied, an considering how these actions would align with WG interests makes me suspicious of foreign intervention.
I have this really big hunch that there was some serious mistranslation on that page. It wouldn't make sense to say, essentially, "now that the customers are coming back you can take a day off."
Unless King Neptune has more than one wife, I still don't understand how is it that he can have three sons and each of them have a difference fish base.
You know your question was answered directly in this chapter, right?
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I hate van der Decken his name. Especially people who speak of it as Vander Decken or Van Der Decken.
Using simple Dutch grammar it schould be Willem van der Decken.Of course it doesnt really matter since its a Manga and Oda has the authority to choose the names he likes.
I just now noticed that the name means "of of the Decks" since "der" already means "of the" and "van" means "of". I suppose the legend was thought up by non-Dutch people judging by the faulty grammar.
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damn! Vivi…Unlike Nami and Robin's, hers look all NATURAL.
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@Sniper:
I was gonna say, "They can combine their fins at will", but then I looked back at the volume…And I guess they can't...:wassat:
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I just now noticed that the name means "of of the Decks" since "der" already means "of the" and "van" means "of". I suppose the legend was thought up by non-Dutch people judging by the faulty grammar.
After all, I think Oda picked the name "Van Der Decken", because it sounds rather dutch to non-dutch people. Remember the dutch soccer goalkeeper "Edwin Van Der Sar". Personally I don't give a damn, if a name in OP is written in some language's right grammar. I know only a little Dutch since my mother spend a few years in the Netherlands with her foster parents. I can only say:"Leckre Mokko!" (I don't even know if it is written correctly) This means "hawt girls".
"Lecker" means "hot" in dutch and that's quite funny, because in German "Lecker" means "Delicious".
Those mermaid and Shiary are "leckre mokko!" -
Oda didn't come up with that name, it came straight from the Flying Dutchman legend. So the fault is not with him, nor does it really matter, it's a nice name.
And I think you meant lekkere mokkels :p. Lekker also means delicious/tasty in dutch.
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I just noticed something on my reread.
Mangastream's scanlation put "Van Der Decken XI", but in aohige's translation, it stated that it should be the ninth generation, as in "Van Der Decken IX" -
I'm just geeking out over all the research Oda did on the different species of undersea life. Blue Ring octopus being poisonous. Mako sharks being huge…<3 I wasn't expecting OP until next week so this was a nice surprise.
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Also, did anyone laugh at "Keimi's Delicious Clam'? Maybe im the only perv
I did. shame
I also laughed at "Big Mam". Every time someone says it I'm gonna think of it in a sudden heavy accent.
Anyway good chapter. I'm on the Shirley wagon. <3
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You know what ? I now find it suspicious that Oda showed us Van Der Decken poster after he did his best to hide it from us in the previous chapters. And what do we see from him ? That he is maybe wearing a straw hat !? Hum, and then that prediction from Shirley who saw someone with a straw hat destroy the island ?
THAT'S TOOOOOO EASY !
Now I predict that Luffy will indeed destroy Fishman Island ! But as we know Luffy, it will be for a good reason, probably a political reason. So I think he will destroy the island because it's the best way to really free it from any power. Because as long as FI needs the protection of some big… fish (sorry), it will always be under the menace of the government, marines, pirates, fishmen renegades, etc. FI is the symbol of the hate between humans and fishmen (see Fisher Tiger), it may be a place where Tenryubito (spell check ?) make their slave shopping, etc.
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! http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080601074310/onepiece/images/d/db/Kokoro_mermaid.jpg
In manga it looks like her legs are just put together, not combined.
Never use anime screenshots to try and proove anything, it fails all the time. -
You know what ? I now find it suspicious that Oda showed us Van Der Decken poster after he did his best to hide it from us in the previous chapters. And what do we see from him ? That he is maybe wearing a straw hat !? Hum, and then that prediction from Shirley who saw someone with a straw hat destroy the island ?
THAT'S TOOOOOO EASY !
Now I predict that Luffy will indeed destroy Fishman Island ! But as we know Luffy, it will be for a good reason, probably a political reason. So I think he will destroy the island because it's the best way to really free it from any power. Because as long as FI needs the protection of some big… fish (sorry), it will always be under the menace of the government, marines, pirates, fishmen renegades, etc. FI is the symbol of the hate between humans and fishmen (see Fisher Tiger), it may be a place where Tenryubito (spell check ?) make their slave shopping, etc.
whaaat dude nice catch…might be "too easy", but i guess that van der decken could actually be the one who destroys the island
oh dunno if it has been mentioned already...
the super large lips on big mam's pirate flag, underline the idea that lola might be her daughter -
Hope you like it
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee310/Sifusmel/Hyouzou.png
got lazy on the sword. Use your imagination to add bubbles or something on the background :)Cool thanks. I like the chibi design.
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If he died in impel down then someone else might have eaten hes devil fruit
There's some controversy on this, though, since it was said, I believe, back in the beginning that there are 50 year intervals between the appearances of particular devil fruits. If that 50 years still applies (and really, there's no reason to assume it doesn't) then even if Bon-chan died in ID (and I do not believe he did) then his fruit would still be out of circulation until a full 50 years had passed, and it's only been 2+ since then.
You know your question was answered directly in this chapter, right?
I'm still confused, because they said there were four different posibilites including each sex, right? A boy or girl fishman species of either parent (regardless of the parent being mermaid or fishman) (that's 2 types) or a boy or girl mermaid species (that's another 2)–that still doesn't explain how you get three entirely different species altogether, since one couple theoretically only has two species to choose from between the two partners (unless of course I misread and/or misundertood that part of the explanation.) The princes had entirely different looking fish species between them, making three altogether. Does what I wrote even make sense? Can you explain that to me?
You know what ? I now find it suspicious that Oda showed us Van Der Decken poster after he did his best to hide it from us in the previous chapters. And what do we see from him ? That he is maybe wearing a straw hat !? Hum, and then that prediction from Shirley who saw someone with a straw hat destroy the island ?
THAT'S TOOOOOO EASY !
Now I predict that Luffy will indeed destroy Fishman Island ! But as we know Luffy, it will be for a good reason, probably a political reason. So I think he will destroy the island because it's the best way to really free it from any power. Because as long as FI needs the protection of some big… fish (sorry), it will always be under the menace of the government, marines, pirates, fishmen renegades, etc. FI is the symbol of the hate between humans and fishmen (see Fisher Tiger), it may be a place where Tenryubito (spell check ?) make their slave shopping, etc.
That's a good point about making the assumptions about the poster too easy, but Luffy has never, up until now, taken an interest in politics, per se. Of course he is much more mature now, so things could be different, and only time will tell, but his stated purpose in everything he's done up until now involved helping a friend or friends, not freeing an entire populace from oppression, even if that was the final result.
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And now the shocking news… Coming from me
I predict some Okama momets for Sanji as well now... the blood transfusion could really have some effects for him o_O
(...)
Will my fandom be crushed by Oda?
I don't think that Oda'll put too much emphasis on that blood donation.
After all, he didn't change his blood type.
But maybe that donation will cause less nose bleeding in front of beautiful women. I mean, I understand Sanji and Brook too (I also got 'boned' multiple times that chap!), but that nose bleed joke is really getting annoying! :getlost:
It's time 4 Sanji to pull himself together! How will he be ever able again to peek in a lady's bath, if he almost dies everytime trying?
But seriously, IDK what Oda has in store with that blood donation of those Okamas, butI doubt that Sanji now can fight in Okama Kenpo style (4 example).@I survived the buster call:
It's true, Luffy doesnt give a damn bout politics, but he has a sense if people are not treated the right way. So when he finds out that the whole FI-always-has-to-be-protected isnt that good for its population, he could destroy it. Remember him as he wanted to destroy the Baratie… -
I don't think that Oda'll put too much emphasis on that blood donation.
After all, he didn't change his blood type.
But maybe that donation will cause less nose bleeding in front of beautiful women. I mean, I understand Sanji and Brook too (I also got 'boned' multiple times that chap!), but that nose bleed joke is really getting annoying! :getlost:
It's time 4 Sanji to pull himself together! How will he be ever able again to peek in a lady's bath, if he almost dies everytime trying?
But seriously, IDK what Oda has in store with that blood donation of those Okamas, butI doubt that Sanji now can fight in Okama Kenpo style (4 example).I hope that too… but first he was at their island and was able to refuse to be like them but now he got their blood... Dunno why... But it could really happen.
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@I:
I'm still confused, because they said there were four different posibilites including each sex, right? A boy or girl fishman species of either parent (regardless of the parent being mermaid or fishman) (that's 2 types) or a boy or girl mermaid species (that's another 2)–that still doesn't explain how you get three entirely different species altogether, since one couple theoretically only has two species to choose from between the two partners (unless of course I misread and/or misundertood that part of the explanation.) The princes had entirely different looking fish species between them, making three altogether. Does what I wrote even make sense? Can you explain that to me?
It's children's book level simple. The 4 combinations are from boy/girl and fishman/merman. Any male and female combination of fishmen/mermen can have kids. The kid that comes out is totally a random number. Whether it's fishman, merman, boy, girl, or what species of fish it's based on. I suppose we're to assume that fishman and merman are some type of chromosome match like boy/girl is.
You're hung up on the species of fish it's based on I think, and it seems that simply anything can come out from anyone. We may never get an explanation on how that's possible (I hope we do), but I believe that we're to assume that it works that way.
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It's children's book level simple. The 4 combinations are from boy/girl and fishman/merman. Any male and female combination of fishmen/mermen can have kids. The kid that comes out is totally a random number. Whether it's fishman, merman, boy, girl, or what species of fish it's based on. I suppose we're to assume that fishman and merman are some type of chromosome match like boy/girl is.
You're hung up on the species of fish it's based on I think, and it seems that simply anything can come out from anyone. We may never get an explanation on how that's possible (I hope we do), but I believe that we're to assume that it works that way.
Ah. Sort of like throw backs with the hair color and eye color in humans. LOL You're right–I'm thinking too much. (Imagining someone like poor little Keimi marrying a normal sized fishman or merman and squirting out a mako-shark sized kid--Oooh look--he looks just like Grandma.) Thanks
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I hope that too… but first he was at their island and was able to refuse to be like them but now he got their blood... Dunno why... But it could really happen.
Just another example that Sanji is a destined okama. He might even succeed ivankov someday as the okama queen.
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@Mr.:
Just another example that Sanji is a destined okama. He might even succeed ivankov someday as the okama queen.
Could be… :sad:
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After all, I think Oda picked the name "Van Der Decken", because it sounds rather dutch to non-dutch people. Remember the dutch soccer goalkeeper "Edwin Van Der Sar". Personally I don't give a damn, if a name in OP is written in some language's right grammar. I know only a little Dutch since my mother spend a few years in the Netherlands with her foster parents. I can only say:"Leckre Mokko!" (I don't even know if it is written correctly) This means "hawt girls".
"Lecker" means "hot" in dutch and that's quite funny, because in German "Lecker" means "Delicious".
Those mermaid and Shiary are "leckre mokko!"I'm dutch, so your post really cracked me up xD
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@Mr.:
Just another example that Sanji is a destined okama. He might even succeed ivankov someday as the okama queen.
I don't think Oda would want to crush Sanji fans like that. Pretty much kickin them in the balls.
Great chapter anyway. Like a lot of people I thought it were out next week, but to my shock :shocked: !!
I really want Papagg to pull out a fat ass joint and speak in a jamaican accent.
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@$abZ:
I don't think Oda would want to crush Sanji fans like that. Pretty much kickin them in the balls.
Great chapter anyway. Like a lot of people I thought it were out next week, but to my shock :shocked: !!
I really want Papagg to pull out a fat ass joint and speak in a jamaican accent.
Well, I know that Sanji is a nice punching back for Oda and I really like it but sometimes it is enough… Not saying it wasn't funny but the chance for the Okama shit is there now.
If not I hope the shit will stop soon finally and the action starts. Eneough trolling already.
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I'm dutch, so your post really cracked me up xD
Well, I said my Dutch is pretty bad, and leckre mokkoi (or how thats written) is the only thing I can say in dutch. and of course "en, twej, tri" (or how its written). Lecker means hawt, thats all I have to know in Dutch.
and my mother's foster parents lived in a place called Rosendaal. They're both dead now, but they've been married over 50 (!) years.
But B2T:
Kishido, if Sanji really loves boobs at least as much as I do, then he will never turn into an Okama. I know, sexual direction (homo, hetero, …) has nothing to do with which clothes you like to put on, but you need a certain "attitude" to turn into an Okama, so I doubt that Sanji will ever become one. -
I'm dutch, so your post really cracked me up xD
His spelling is not correct. But judging how people who usually say that kind of thing the accent is written down just right :happy:
But ''Lekkere mokken'' refers to ''nice boobs'' I think.
Edit: Oh right where discussing OP here, uhm… the blue ring octupus merman will nearly kill Ussop during his fight with Zoro?
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Wow, Luffy's going to destroy Fishman Island…I don't know about you but for some reason I'm not too keen with Luffy destroying the Island after all this time and hype.
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Wow, Luffy's going to destroy Fishman Island…I don't know about you but for some reason I'm not too keen with Luffy destroying the Island after all this time and hype.
Its a prophecy. Prophecies are often vauge and misleading, with a phrasing meaning something other than what it sounds like, or applying to someone else that happens to fit the description, or its the attempt to stop a prophecy that brings it to fruition.
After all, Macbeth could not be killed by any man born of woman… ended up being taken out by a Caesarean baby. Or you know, the entire Oedipus thing. That was problem that never would have existed without a prophecy steering it wrong in the first place.
At the very least, Luffy isn't going to destroy FI intentionally. It also might end up being a different person wearing a straw hat.
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@I:
Ah. Sort of like throw backs with the hair color and eye color in humans. LOL You're right–I'm thinking too much. (Imagining someone like poor little Keimi marrying a normal sized fishman or merman and squirting out a mako-shark sized kid--Oooh look--he looks just like Grandma.) Thanks
My take on that would be that their genome has after hundrets of years of cross breeding every kind of possible gene in them to breed every species.(like you said his grandpa could have had the gene for being an eel or the great-grandfather for being a whale etc, so a merman and a shark-fishwoman sure could have every kind of x-fishman)
Maybe also by that it happened that some genes for legs (splitting their tails) were introduced in their genome, because hundret of years ago they also had intercourse with humans.
Maybe thats also a product of the void century the WG wants to have eraised of history and so impeded that even more genes of humans came somehow into the genom of the fishman…Seeing that even the blood can be transfused between those two species would be a hint to that...also we`re kind of sure that also giants and humans can make sweet sweet love.:happy:
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I just noticed something on my reread.
Mangastream's scanlation put "Van Der Decken XI", but in aohige's translation, it stated that it should be the ninth generation, as in "Van Der Decken IX"Well, ohana could be wrong too.
Can't tell until raws are available. -
As far as the Sanji thing goes I doubt he'll go okama. He has a specific style that makes him great and oda knows that. I think FI will end up being a big character arc for him in the same way that W7/EL was for Usopp.
As for the chapter itself I'm curious to see what happens with Luffy destroying the island. Hyouzou the fishman octopus was awesome. I look forward to seeing more from him. As was Shirley, although I wonder what she meant by she has enough mermaids to "star"…..but who else thought her bubble pipe was just adorable?
I thought it was weird that Van Der Decken's poster was shown. I'm guessing that the Van Der Decken they met earlier was actually a ghost or some form of the original. Decken XI sounds like more of a Sanji enemy to me.
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As far as the Sanji thing goes I doubt he'll go okama. He has a specific style that makes him great and oda knows that. I think FI will end up being a big character arc for him in the same way that W7/EL was for Usopp.
As for the chapter itself I'm curious to see what happens with Luffy destroying the island. Hyouzou the fishman octopus was awesome. I look forward to seeing more from him. As was Shirley, although I wonder what she meant by she has enough mermaids to "star"…..but who else thought her bubble pipe was just adorable?
I thought it was weird that Van Der Decken's poster was shown. I'm guessing that the Van Der Decken they met earlier was actually a ghost or some form of the original. Decken XI sounds like more of a Sanji enemy to me.
I hope that and I believe Decken could be his opponent if he really will treat the famous merrmaid princess
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Why on earth do you assume that it must be referring to "mother"?
God himself has spoken and said it was Big Mam. Unless he calls it out as an error, it is pretty much set in stone.Quote from wiki discussion:
Just a note: the name from the raw is, in katakana, ビッグ・マム or Biggu Mamu.
It should be either Big Mam or Big Mum due to the fact that if it were Big Mom, Oda would have written it as ビッグ・モム "Biggu Momu". Thinking it should be "Big Mom" is likely just your English bias.WHY do you people pretend to know Japanese when you clearly don't??
Mom is NEVER written as モム in Japanese. NEVER. Unless you're talking about Thai.
English word "mom" is always written as マム. -
His spelling is not correct. But judging how people who usually say that kind of thing the accent is written down just right :happy:
But ''Lekkere mokken'' refers to ''nice boobs'' I think.
I think he meant "Lekkere mokkel" or something, since that does mean "Hot girl". Except… it's actually street-language, and actually saying it, even if you're correct, will most likely get you some weird looks.
"Lekkere Mocro" could also be what you meant, but that is also street language and means... Nice Moroccan. Nice as in, nice boobs, not as in nice guy.Staying on topic, I am wondering about this whole prediction thing. The 'ripped strawhat' is clearly not Luffy as his isn't ripped, but Van Der Decken seems to have a completely different headshape. Unless that's his coat in the picture, and not his neck.
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@Don:
My take on that would be that their genome has after hundrets of years of cross breeding every kind of possible gene in them to breed every species.(like you said his grandpa could have had the gene for being an eel or the great-grandfather for being a whale etc, so a merman and a shark-fishwoman sure could have every kind of x-fishman)
That's not how it works, there aren't "genes for a species". I don't think we're supposed to look too much into it, but it's definitely very interesting.
And I agree with the people saying that this will be an important arch for Sanji's development as a character.
I am beyond excited, can't wait to see how everything unfolds! -
Brook + Boned
Pappug licking Camie's Clam (lol)
Luffy pushing a Mermaid Woman's head down in a suggestive angle.Oda's humor is following the trend of Frobin and the Cucumber. Also seem like over the break Oda decided to avoid drawing out unnecessary plot transitions. Things will feel rushed but it's better than feeling slow.
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@RobbyBevard:
Its a prophecy. Prophecies are often vauge and misleading, with a phrasing meaning something other than what it sounds like, or applying to someone else that happens to fit the description, or its the attempt to stop a prophecy that brings it to fruition.
After all, Macbeth could not be killed by any man born of woman… ended up being taken out by a Caesarean baby. Or you know, the entire Oedipus thing. That was problem that never would have existed without a prophecy steering it wrong in the first place.
At the very least, Luffy isn't going to destroy FI intentionally. It also might end up being a different person wearing a straw hat.
Nah, I don't think it'll be a different person. It would be kinda lame and anti-climactic and a quick fix to the dilemma. I think it would be far more interesting and exciting if Luffy did it unintentionally.
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Stil , we gonna see the rest of the crew already ?
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Lekker Mokkel = Hot Girl
Lekkere Tieten = Nice Boobs
And our way of fully typing 1, 2, and 3 is een, twee, drie.I think it's clear now as far as our language goes xD
Ontopic:
Sanji having Okama blood does bug me a bit.
I mean, it's funny and all, but as he lost almost all of his blood, fis blood is like 90% Okama now.And I'm really curious about the enemies of this arc.
I mean, Luffy can't fight both The Flying Dutchman ánd the NFP Boss, right?Also, can't wait to see the rest of the crew! :p
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If it's truly romanized as "Big Mam", couldn't that referrer to "Madam" instead of "Mother" like most of us thought? Like a demotic short form of "Big Ma'am" or something. Or is the Japanese meaning already clarified and doesn't allow speculations like that? :wassat:
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I am no expert in Japanese like Aohige-san, but I would guess the reason it's written as it is in katakana is because the vowels in Japanese always stay the same sound (unlike in English) so the O is always long like the sound in Home–which would make it an odd word if written as Mom in katakana/(hiragana? Not usually used for foreign words though), see? It'd sound more like the name of the seacow from Arlong's crew than mom in English. "a" in Japanese is pronounced similar to the "ah" as in father, so is much closer to the sound we use in Mom. Just guessing, of course, but that's why I'd imagine it was written that way in katakana, and since the katakana characters used are usually romanized as "ma" and "m" when romanized, that's how the word was written on the sign. ("n" and/or "m" (written as the same sound actually, though pronunciation changes depending on the vocalization of the sounds around it in the word/sentence) being the only consonant sound in Japansese syllabaries (that I know of anyway) that are written without a vowel.