Chapter 449 - "The Mysterious Four of Thriller Bark"

KaizokuFan22

Is it just me or does Hogback remind me of one of the Sonic villians?

I like the new chapter and i think the new colorspread is so cool!

Jeff

Is it just me or does Hogback remind me of one of the Sonic villians?

Nope it isn't just you

SigmasonicX

You know, Perona reminds me of Road Kamelot from D.Gray-Man, especially with the striped socks and umbrella. Since Dr. Hogback resembles the Earl of the Millenium, do you think we'll end up getting a character that looks like Tyki Mikk?

cdjgamer

i cant wait for next weeks chapter in 3 days
i hope for more brooke next week

Megadoomer

@SigmasonicX:

You know, Perona reminds me of Road Kamelot from D.Gray-Man, especially with the striped socks and umbrella. Since Dr. Hogback resembles the Earl of the Millenium, do you think we'll end up getting a character that looks like Tyki Mikk?

Well, Perona reminds me of Misa (Death Note), but I think it's because both characters wear the same style of clothing (I think it's called gothic lolita, or something like that).

dinty

@Pass:

I actually found it interesting that only three of the strawhats were in the colorspread. It's sort of different that way. I hope to see more colorspreads like that in the future.

This isn't the first time that Oda's done that. I can think of nine others off-hand, and probably more if I spent some time flipping through each of the Color Walk books:

Luffy (in Indian-style costume), Nami (with a gun), and a big tiger (with a bunny hat!)
Robin (in a bikini top), Luffy, Choppy and various other animals
"Shibaraku" – Robin (in a kimono holding a sword) with Usopp and Luffy (dressed in samurai armor)
"Les Trois ..." --Sanji, Zoro and Luffy (with guns and a big gorilla)
Nami, Usopp, Choppy and Luffy (with a cat on his head) relaxing, swimming and meditating on a Nile-like river
"Is He Strong?" -- Zoro and Luffy (on horses) jousting, while Choppy (in armor) watches.
"Il y a encore plein ..." Robin, Nami and Choppy relaxing in a cafe after an exhausting day of shopping (exhausting for Choppy at least!)
Pirate Vivi (!) and Luffy
Sanji, Nami and Luffy asking directions from a snow dragon

I'll always enjoy Oda's "full-cast" Mugiwara pics -- but many of these "partial crew" pics are among my favorites, because fewer characters often means better composition and/or higher level of detail and/or interesting aspects of the smaller group dynamics that wouldn't have been as obvious in a larger group picture, etc ... For instance, the Robin, Nami and Choppy shopping pic would be a lot less effective if all the other Mugiwara were stuffed in the background somewhere. Likewise, the level of detailing of the samurai outfits and kimono in "Shibaraku" isn't something that could have been easily managed if five more Mugiwara had to be clothed like that and placed in that scene, too.

Not every idea of Oda's is suited for every character, and he understands that well, and chooses which ones to feature carefully. The same is true of the covers of his tanko volumes. It's rare for the full crew to be on the cover pic together, but within a span of, say, 5 covers or so, every Mugiwara crewmate will appear at least once.

Mr. All Sunday

@dinty:

"Les Trios …" --Sanji, Zoro and Luffy with guns and a big gorilla
\

I think that big gorilla is Chopper.

EDIT: Ah, never mind, I was thinking of a different one.

dinty

@Mr.:

I think that big gorilla is Chopper.

Is it? Ha! My memory's getting fuzzy then.
What I need to supplement my failing memory is
ahem COLOR WALK 4 ahem

Now don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that Yellow is just around the corner, but the day that they announce the publication of Color Walk 4, I will be a happy dinty indeed.

Selph

Yeah we've pretty much gotten all of the NBC characters:

Jack Skeleton = Brooke
Sally = Cindry
Dr. Finklestein = Hogback
Lock, Shock and Barrel = 3 kids who burst Moria's bubble
Oogie Boogie = Moria
Citizens of Halloween town = Zombies
Mayor of Halloween town = Absalom
Zero (Jack's Dog) = Perona (kind of farfetched, but she is a ghost/ghost commander)

All there is left is Santa Clause and the elfs lol

And also Hogback's mansion is pretty much Beauty and the Beast's mansion, Beauty and the Beast being Hogback and Cindry, and the mansion living furniture is also there.

AWB

Actually, I think Luffy is Skellington, Brooke is Santa Claus, and the rest of the Strawhat Crew are the elves.

Selph

@Pass:

Actually, I think Luffy is Skellington, Brooke is Santa Claus, and the rest of the Strawhat Crew are the elves.

No, Brooke is obviously Skellington. And I don't think the strawhats fit into the formula. Perhaps we won't see the santa clause this arc. But we will eventually, the One Piece Santa Clause has to exist.

tony-kun

you are forgetting the myserious swordsman. We still dont know who that is.

Senshi Mizaka

Now that I'm reading a scanlation, it's easier to understand the chapter. Regarding what Chopper said, "Team Usopp" saw what they thought was Brooke but with skin. My guess is that he lied about dying and the Devil's Fruit he ate. Maybe he really isn't dead and ate a skeleton fruit.

I guess someone already beat Iceburg to the whole turning an island into a giant ship idea.

Aeque

I think Iceburg just wanted the city to be able to rise and fall with the waves, but I guess it is kinda similar.

I liked that comment about Perona having a similar fruit to Robin's - that's a pretty apt description.

Tsuchirinhon

@Megadoomer:

Well, Perona reminds me of Misa (Death Note), but I think it's because both characters wear the same style of clothing (I think it's called gothic lolita, or something like that).

Yes, that's what it's typically called.

Perona also has blonde hair and sticks out her tongue, which are also traits of Misa.

sgamer82

@Megadoomer:

Well, Perona reminds me of Misa (Death Note), but I think it's because both characters wear the same style of clothing (I think it's called gothic lolita, or something like that).

In my case, Perona looks like a Goth version of a Pokemon OC I have, right down to the bizzare definition of cute.@Senshi:

I guess someone already beat Iceburg to the whole turning an island into a giant ship idea.

I dunno, it's more like they turned a giant ship into an island, in my mind. Though now I wonder if Iceburg bringing that up was meant as foreshadowing for Thriller Bark.

Ivotas

@Senshi:

I guess someone already beat Iceburg to the whole turning an island into a giant ship idea.

It´s actually more like sgamer said it. The thing is a ship. I don´t consider the island to be any different then when Nami puts her tangerine tries on Merry respectively Sunny. The only difference here is that this is a giant ship so you can put more on it then just a couple of trees. Turning a real to the ground fixed island into a floating version however is something totally different.

Aeque

Didn't Brook say that Thriller Bark had come all the way from West Blue, though? I mean, sure, it could have been a huge ship that travelled that far, but he does call it an island…

Ironic31

Incredible chapter! Such a cliffhanger for me…

It makes sense that such a huge guy has such a huge ship, doesn't it?

Ivotas

@Aeque:

Didn't Brook say that Thriller Bark had come all the way from West Blue, though? I mean, sure, it could have been a huge ship that travelled that far, but he does call it an island…

Yeah, and due to the lack of information we also called it an island until this very chapter came out. He might have been as clueless as us.

boiga

@Aeque:

Didn't Brook say that Thriller Bark had come all the way from West Blue, though? I mean, sure, it could have been a huge ship that travelled that far, but he does call it an island…

Well, you can see the diagram of the giant ship on page 16. It looks like a sunken bucket with an island floating inside and sails attached. I can't imagine how this thing is supposed to stay upright, but in any case the ships in Odaverse don't make any attempt at real world seaworthiness.

My question is how that thing got there from west blue. There is no way it could have made it through reverse mountain, so how did it get through the calm belt? Do shichibukai gain sea stone plated ships from the world government?

Ivotas

I think the sheer size of the ship by itself is sufficient enough to make it through Calm Belt unharmed. I mean the island itself is a big piece already, but it is just a small central piece of the entire constuct that is times bigger. It´s not your generic ship that you see everyday so an exceptional ship like that should be able to maneuver through Calm Belt.

And if that ship by itself isn´t enough, there´s still a guy like Gecko Moria on board who I´m sure can deal with Sea Kings if 100 milllion Belly giants already could take them down.

badmanversion1

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cdjgamer

the wings on the flag and wisp lines are a form to describe nightmares
suites the overall theme of the crew.

AWB

I tried mixing the faces of Absalom and that Lion. I'm not very good and both pics were of different sizes, so it looks crappy.

!

Hyper Dingo

I think it's about time for Franky to Bust out his new CHAINSAW attachment for this upcoming zombie fight. Hail to the king…...of water seven

NuFiasco

Yeah that Absalom or whatever had his face switched with a lion. Oda is crazy cool for doing somethin like that.

Moria for some odd reason, reminds me of Mr. Popo from DBZ. Pretty hilarious. Maybe it's becuase of the Black skin?

AD-HD Pirate

Hmm, just wondering Absalom's strenght. Since he (maybe) is Moria's first mate, he must be strong. Being Shichibukai's first mate is pretty serious business.

SuperStar

First mates are always strong…........

AD-HD Pirate

First mates are always strong…........

No shit? :blink: I didn't know that at all. :blink:

…I just wondered that how strong he is. Like, Ace's level? Or less?

Kuroneko

Well, not all the first mates are strong at all. Just look at Sarquiss for instance.

King-Of-Fools

@Pass:

! http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h176/CaptainRootbeer/absalom.png

Man Absalom was Fugly. No wonder why he got the surgery.

Aldrich

Sarquiss captain was pretty lame himself though.

Given how Hogback talked about the Strawhats in Absalom's presence, I'd say he's rather strong.

AD-HD Pirate

Well, not all the first mates are strong at all. Just look at Sarquiss for instance.

Erm, good point.
I just always thinked that Bellamy was Doflamingo's first mate.

Ah, ok. I got owned.

Sarquiss captain was pretty lame himself though.

Must disagree with that. :happy:
But I'm curious, why do you think that Bellamy is lame?

sgamer82

One-Hit KO's hardly spell bad-ass. Also, the only truly bad acts we saw him perform were an off-screen killing of a guy we knew only by name, busting up the Merry and monkeys for a few bits of gold, and beating the hell out of Luffy and Zoro (which they LET happen)

boiga

@AD-HD:

No shit? :blink: I didn't know that at all. :blink:

…I just wondered that how strong he is. Like, Ace's level? Or less?

So far he's been shown to be physically weak, or atleast lacking in durability. I mean, he got chased out the window by a knee from nami in the groin and an usopp flame star. Axe hand morgan would have stuck around for longer than that.

So unless he has some other trick up his sleeve, I don't have high expectations of him.

AD-HD Pirate

One-Hit KO's hardly spell bad-ass. Also, the only truly bad acts we saw him perform were an off-screen killing of a guy we knew only by name, busting up the Merry and monkeys for a few bits of gold, and beating the hell out of Luffy and Zoro (which they LET happen)

Damn, you make me sound like a fanboy.
I just think that he is (was) badass.
Mostly because of that Roshio scene. Ok, now I stop this off topic.

Kuroneko

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sgamer82

@AD-HD:

Damn, you make me sound like a fanboy.
I just think that he is (was) badass.
Mostly because of that Roshio scene. Ok, now I stop this off topic.

I'll keep it going one post longer to apologize. Didn't mean to make you sound fanboyish. Sorry.

Greg

You don't wanna know what I had to go through waiting for this damn issue…

It's been so long that Oda has introduced pirates with rank to them that I honestly forgotten how frigging cool it was when he does that.

Oh, and Franky officially feels like a member of the gang. He got his first nickname from Sanji so it can only get better from here.

Oda's Weekly Corner:

"In theaters the echoing sobs of crowds could be heard. That's really touched me!! 'Cause it seems there were lots of boys as well. Aren't the OP Movie Staff somethin' else!!"

Yeah, there was sobbing Oda. Just not for quite the reasons you think I'm sure.

*Meh*

Now I need an old Skeletor figure, some sculpting clay, and an Exacto knife to make Zombie Pandaman…nah, too much trouble.

Mysterious as Moria is, I'm still more interested in learning who or what the bouncer/guard is.

Greg

Me too! He wasn't included in one of the 4 so…..who the hell is it?

AWB

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dinty

@_Meh_:

Mysterious as Moria is, I'm still more interested in learning who or what the bouncer/guard is.

Yeah, with his Brook-style laugh and his oversize sword, he almost seems like a ringer or a red herring at this point – someone (like T-Bone), who arrived with so much fanfare, but who may fizzle out after a single slice. Yet, in spite of that ringer aura, I think this guy may actually be important --

Here's why:

As best I can tell from the scans, this Guardian was the person who split the bottom half of Hogback's massive lab door into cleanly-cut chunks of wood --and yet he somehow left Usopp, Choppy and Nami unharmed, though they were holding onto the bottom half of that door when he sliced it. That's an act not only of great strength, but of great control: to visualize the effect your attack will have on what you're attacking, but to alter it just slightly so that what shouldn't be hurt nearby will not be hurt by ricochet or debris.

It makes me think of Sensei's lesson about the breath of all things ...

Kma

OK i think Im making too much of this but…

Zoom in on the scene where the door breaks down.

Above Ussop's foot. I SWEAR THAT LOOKS LIKE A SKULL...

Haha its most likely just a piece of wood but still...

If only I knew how to post pics...

boiga

Oh, good call dinty on the door slice and dice. On first glance I had thought that a standard cartoonish door breaking event.

I think this settles it. The guardian is zoro's next opponent and the source for his new sword. Any one who can do that to a thick metal plated hardwood door is a swordsman of a caliber zoro would be obligated to face by his promise to kuina. I think that might also disqualify the guardian=brooke theory because I can't imagine the mugiwara crew having two strong swordsmen.

@kma: sorry, but I checked that panel and see no skull. There's plenty of debris flying around but nothing with sockets or teeth that I could tell.

Greg

Considering the number of 'boss' villains introduced thus far, the number of our crew and the size of Moria, I'm liking their chances of teaming up here in some form as I mentioned after last chapter. There's no rule that says everyone MUST have a fight in every arc, but considering the circumstances, I like the odds.

Although I think it's safe to assume part of the reason opted for the arc now is, heh heh, he knows we're thirsty for some Gear 3rd action

Ivotas

@Greg:

Oh, and Franky officially feels like a member of the gang. He got his first nickname from Sanji so it can only get better from here.

Really? Where? Can´t seem to find it.

As far as the bodyguard is concerned - What I actually find more intreguing then his laugh and sword is, that in a team of a person who´s got a higher bounty then Luffy there is the need for a bodyguard. Very intreguing methinks.

0ne

@Ivotas:

As far as the bodyguard is concerned - What I actually find more intreguing then his laugh and sword is, that in a team of a person who´s got a higher bounty then Luffy there is the need for a bodyguard. Very intreguing methinks.

Hm… I wouldn't picture him as a bodyguard... So far we know that the Zombies in the mansion called him "Guardian". This might very well imply that he's working under Hogback as a mansion or ship guardian (kinda like Zoro), although I wouldn't rule it completely out, that he's far more important than just being some stupid mansion guardian.

Pants-eater

I like the fact that the baddies are commanders of their own mini army of unhuman thingies.

Absalom with his zombies.
Berona with her emo ghosts.
Moria with his… things.
Hogback with his Frankensteinesque things.