FUNimation Simulcast Discussion

There is one interview I remember even before they got to the grandline I think. Oda said 10 members would be his magic number. I will find that. But he also said something like more would be fine to.

I'm calling bullshit on this. I don't remember anything from Oda says this nor do I find anything after looking around. I'm pretty sure you guys are just misremembering Luffy's "get 10 members before the grandline" goal.

@gold_rogger15:

I thought it was an Hour after it premiered in Japan DX

An hour after it airs

gold_rogger15

this ep …..Cannot be described in words.

Md-Martin

Just finished watching

Elektrik Dynomite

That Was AMAZING! Holy Crap! Even better than the last one. Im very impressed with how they have been handling the straw hat separations. But im wondering why they chose not to include the cover story parts for everyone. They foreshadowed vegapunk, but thats it really.

Actually, it seems like they are kinda doing only the first part of each cover story so far.

threedayslater

O…m...g...this episode...

Poor Sanji.

Kaizoku Mele

Funny, the music playing during the "big reveal" reminded me a bit of the track played in KH 2's World that Never Was.

Kinda fitting, xD.

o-chan

Okay, well first off we have animation director Katsumi Ishizuka at the helm so the artwork is very much above average and animation wise this was a well done episode. The Chopper part didn't really expand much and was kind of tedious to get through but what made this episode was the Sanji half.

Even knowing what the big "reveal" was I just laughed at how much build-up was put into it. Seriously, this part of the episode was freakin' surreal and gave me Rainbow Bright and Strawberry Shortcake flashbacks. I do think out of all the Straw Hats Sanji was sent to the most disturbing island.

Can't wait for next week.

O-chan

Smartz118

Luffy approves!

o-chan

@Elektrik:

That Was AMAZING! Holy Crap! Even better than the last one. Im very impressed with how they have been handling the straw hat separations. But im wondering why they chose not to include the cover story parts for everyone. They foreshadowed vegapunk, but thats it really.

Actually, it seems like they are kinda doing only the first part of each cover story so far.

Actually they're just expanding the portions that were show in the actual manga serial not the "cover story" parts which many have speculated they are reserving for a later time. I think it's Toei's way of touching down on the Straw Hats inbetween Luffy's arcs and allowing Oda to continue writing the manga without having to rush things.

O-chan

WolfClawStudios

Another great One Piece episode from the simulcast!

InsaneMonkey

@o-chan:

Actually they're just expanding the portions that were show in the actual manga serial not the "cover story" parts which many have speculated they are reserving for a later time. I think it's Toei's way of touching down on the Straw Hats inbetween Luffy's arcs and allowing Oda to continue writing the manga without having to rush things.

O-chan

And making semi-filler so hopefully Impel Down won't be 1 chapter per episode like Amazon Lily was.

Adamant

They're drawing out the Whereabouts stuff because it's the easiest and most logical plots to draw out, purposefully falling behind so they can do several chapters per episode of Impel Down. Presumably we'll get more Whereabouts episodes at some point mid-Impel Down that cover the cover stories, which is why we're not getting them covered in these episodes.

dirt monkey AL

baahahaha

I KNEW Luffy's eyebrows were pretty huge in that Hancock's bishounen vision. They're giant again in this episode too. Kind of odd.

Chopperrules

Well my damn internet made it so hard to watch it… but after it finally worked (2 hours later) it was well worth the wait.

The Chopper half was boring tbh, even though I like Chopper alot. (Well I like all the Straw Hats alot so that don't mean anything.) Sanji's half was good though. While I knew how it would end, I find it funny that he was convincing himself this "girl" was a beautiful princess. I mean you must be really out of it to confuse the ugly beast of a man that thing was with what Sanji was falling in love with. But hey, that's what makes Sanji awesome.

I know some are disappointed we aren't getting any expansion on their stories. I have a feeling though that later during the Impel Down arc some time (I can think of a good spot for it…) we will see the rest of these stories played out. I don't think Toei wanted to rush Oda anyway on this, so what they did makes sense.

So next week is Usopp and Robin, huh? While both stories don't interest me too much, Robin's will be the highlight.

! I mean, it's sexy Detective Robin VS Usopp fat sumo man… I think the winner of this round is obvious.

dirt monkey AL

you're right

Usopp is a sexy beast

Sean D. Capitan

Can anyone upload on youtube this episode? Funamation doesn't work here, probably because i'm not from North America!

mpz777

Watching this episode made me keep saying, "No, Sanji no! It's… it's...

piVnArp9ZE0

Don't worry Sanji, I'll pray for you.:sad:

Envy

I didn't think the Chopper one was bad, but it wasn't as good as the Sanji one.

The Sanji half was just pure gold. I was laughing the whole time. From the instant it showed the island with the huge rainbow over it to the reveal.

Darkstorm

Sanji was superb. It was like they were trying to get some disney vibes before the big reveal.

Captain Hypersock

If only all filler could be this good.

MetaMario

Saw the episode. The whole Hancock loves Luffy thing is getting more and more funnier. Poor Chopper. He was almost eaten, plus he's all alone. But Sanji had it WAY worse. He was scared as all hell when those Okamas were chasing him. (Granted, I would be the same way.) Next week, it's Robin and Usopp. Nuts. I really want to see Zoro and Brook. My theory is when these nakama episodes are over, Luffy will arrive in Impel Down. But that's my take.

Therrester

@MetaMario:

My theory is when these nakama episodes are over, Luffy will arrive in Impel Down. But that's my take.

Same here. Been waiting for Impel Down for a long time! Can't wait to see it.

Captain Hypersock

I think that with the Robin and Usopp episode, we will see Luffy, Hancock, and "Whe~~~~~~w! I'm stuffed!!"

With Zoro and Brook, we will most likely see the Marine officials arriving at Headquarters.

Enlong

@The:

Funny, the music playing during the "big reveal" reminded me a bit of the track played in KH 2's World that Never Was.

Kinda fitting, xD.

Woah, I had the same thought. Except I think it sounds more like KH1's End Of The World or the Awakening Dreams.

RPG KING

chopper story had me kinda sad. nothing big happened in his though.
sanji's …. oh my god. lol. how long can you hallucinate. god those okamas are worse looking than the ones in impel down

BatDan

Another fun episode.
Hancock's over-the-top lovesickness is hilarious (I hope next week has the Wheeeeew I'm Stuffed scene).
Chopper's story was not bad, but what was with his head? Has he been like that for a while now?
Sanji's story… The Big Reveal is a CMoF for the series.

@RPG:

chopper story had me kinda sad. nothing big happened in his though.
sanji's …. oh my god. lol. how long can you hallucinate. god those okamas are worse looking than the ones in impel down

The Trannys in Impel Down had a little help from Ivankov's Horu Horu Fruit that's why they look normal (by Tranny standards).

RomanceDawn

@grandjedi:

I'm calling bullshit on this. I don't remember anything from Oda says this nor do I find anything after looking around. I'm pretty sure you guys are just misremembering Luffy's "get 10 members before the grandline" goal.

An hour after it airs

Here you go!

Q: So how many characters will gather in the main group? A: I don't know! (laugh) As an ideal, I would like about 10 people. Right now, I officially have 4 people. Even 4 people are hard to handle, because they all want to do their own little things.

http://www.apricot.com/~fuu/paradise3/oda/cm1098.html

Believe me now?

Demon Rin

@RomanceDawn:

Q: So how many characters will gather in the main group? A: I don't know! (laugh) As an ideal, I would like about 10 people. Right now, I officially have 4 people. Even 4 people are hard to handle, because they all want to do their own little things.

http://www.apricot.com/~fuu/paradise3/oda/cm1098.html

They key phrases here are "I don't Know" and "Ideal".

"Say Rin, How much Homework will you have next quarter of school?"

"I don't know. as an Ideal, I would like about 3 hours of homework a week Max, right now I have 2 hours and it's hard to handle"

Teacher: You have 6 Hours of Homework a week."

Plus, during this interview, he said the crew only had 4 members. That's Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Usopp. that's the VERY beginning of the story. Oda is ALSO quoted as saying that he originally planned the story to last ONLY 5 years, but when it got popular, he was able to draw things out and the story took off.
He originally expected the Manga to go for only 5 years. That got away from him, now it's just off the heels of it's 10th anniversary
He originally expected the crew to cap at 10 members.
What are the chances he had to modify his 10 Crew member Ideal?

RomanceDawn

I'm not arguing with what your saying Demon Rin, of course his ideals could change over the years.

I simply posted this because someone thought I just pulled it out of thin air when I said it.

Personaly I can see their being 10 crew members total. No more no less.

o-chan

@Demon:

They key phrases here are "I don't Know" and "Ideal".

"Say Rin, How much Homework will you have next quarter of school?"

"I don't know. as an Ideal, I would like about 3 hours of homework a week Max, right now I have 2 hours and it's hard to handle"

Teacher: You have 6 Hours of Homework a week."

Plus, during this interview, he said the crew only had 4 members. That's Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Usopp. that's the VERY beginning of the story. Oda is ALSO quoted as saying that he originally planned the story to last ONLY 5 years, but when it got popular, he was able to draw things out and the story took off.
He originally expected the Manga to go for only 5 years. That got away from him, now it's just off the heels of it's 10th anniversary
He originally expected the crew to cap at 10 members.
What are the chances he had to modify his 10 Crew member Ideal?

Luffy had said that he wanted 10 at the beginning of the manga. There has been a counter since the beginning of the manga. Actually I'll just link to this post:

The 10 Members Theory

Added to that I think that while the length of the manga has been increased the series itself has shown that there have been a LOT of elements planned out since the beginning of this series so I don't think Oda's going to change that now. I mean look how we haven't even reached New World and Oda changed up the dynamic by having ALL the Straw Hats seperated so as to move the plot along. I would say we can't really make any assessments or judgements on this until we have 10 members and see if those 10 stay on through the end of the series. Beside that look how many "temporary" crew members Luffy has taken on: Johnny and Yosaku, Vivi and Carue, The Galleria and Franky's gang, The Impel Down crew. It's not like the story ONLY deals with Luffy and his crew 100%.

O-chan

Demon Rin

@o-chan:

Luffy had said that he wanted 10 at the beginning of the manga. There has been a counter since the beginning of the manga. Actually I'll just link to this post:

The 10 Members Theory

Added to that I think that while the length of the manga has been increased the series itself has shown that there have been a LOT of elements planned out since the beginning of this series so I don't think Oda's going to change that now. I mean look how we haven't even reached New World and Oda changed up the dynamic by having ALL the Straw Hats seperated so as to move the plot along. I would say we can't really make any assessments or judgements on this until we have 10 members and see if those 10 stay on through the end of the series. Beside that look how many "temporary" crew members Luffy has taken on: Johnny and Yosaku, Vivi and Carue, The Galleria and Franky's gang, The Impel Down crew. It's not like the story ONLY deals with Luffy and his crew 100%.

O-chan

I'm not saying it WILL go beyond 10 no matter what, I'm just saying this Idea that Oda once, in the very beginning, said he wanted 10 members doesn't automatically mean he has to adhere to a 10-member cap. He originally wanted 10 members AND to end this manga in 5 years. That would have been JUST ABOUT the end of Alabasta. Look how THAT Idea turned out.

Now that the Manga has gotten longer and grander than he originally planned, the Idea that his original plan for the number of crewmates might have changed is a rather reasonable guess.

Now, if he had said in that interview "There's gonna be 10 members, that's it, I have a very specific plan in my head that calls for 10, so I'm gonna do that" then I'd agree that it's gonna be 10 no matter what. But "I don't know, 10 would be Idea" isn't an ironclad statement, he's LITERALLY Saying he doesn't know, and giving a ball-park estimate. So, in the end, he CAN cap it at 10, or he CAN go further, there is no iron clad set number or anything. That's all I'm saying.

Chopperrules

While I don't want TOO many members, I would not mind it going over 10. We could use one or two more females. I like the idea of getting a Fishman as well.

As for Sanji daydreaming, I wonder what that heart in the corner of his eyebrow that falls off when he realizes they are men was all about. I wonder if it has something to do with the strange island…

threedayslater

It was one of the petals that was flying around before. It was mostly just there for symbolism.

InsaneMonkey

I hope he doesn't add to many or it will turn in Naruto or Bleach and have to many characters to keep up with and remember. Well it's that way for me. >_>

Chopperrules

@threedayslater:

It was one of the petals that was flying around before. It was mostly just there for symbolism.

Ah okay, thanks for clearing that up.

@InsaneMonkey:

I hope he doesn't add to many or it will turn in Naruto or Bleach and have to many characters to keep up with and remember. Well it's that way for me. >_>

Let's face it. Much as I like the two, Oda does a much better job with fleshing them out.

klet

@Demon:

Now, if he had said in that interview "There's gonna be 10 members, that's it, I have a very specific plan in my head that calls for 10, so I'm gonna do that" then I'd agree that it's gonna be 10 no matter what. But "I don't know, 10 would be Idea" isn't an ironclad statement, he's LITERALLY Saying he doesn't know, and giving a ball-park estimate. So, in the end, he CAN cap it at 10, or he CAN go further, there is no iron clad set number or anything. That's all I'm saying.

Actually, in that interview, he's speaking in Japanese, and he was at the very beginning of his career. One Piece is his first serialization, if I'm not mistaken. He was a novice when he gave that interview, and in general, Japanese is not a language that you're very forward in, especially when talking to the public like that. So he very well could have meant "I have a specific plan in mind that calls for 10 members" when he said, "I don't know, 10 would be ideal." I'm not saying he necessarily did, I'm just saying that it's highly possible.

After all, if his editor saw him claiming to have a master plan that's set in stone way back at the beginning of serialization like that, Oda'd probably get a strong talking to, at the very least. Popularity and editors have huge control over a manga's story. Only the really popular stuff like One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, and Dragonball ever break away from that control. Even if that dynamic didn't exist, you usually don't say things straightforwardly like that in Japan. It just doesn't mesh with the culture. In fact, Oda talks about that very thing in that interview. He mentions how having Luffy just yell out his dream was embarrassing at first, because you just aren't normally that straightforward in Japan.

One Piece does seem to be a very well planned series. Yes, it's quite a bit longer than Oda originally envisioned, but the way things tie together so neatly from the beginning makes me think that rather than adding plot as the years go by, he has taken the opportunity to flesh out his characters and ideas. If he'd tried to fit even the amount of plot we have now at the 10 year mark into 5 years worth of time . . . I think One Piece would be awful.

JulieYBM

Eh?

Dragon Ball didn't really break away from anything. In the end, Toriyama rushed the ending so he could hurry up and escape from his editor(s). Heck, he had a previous editor calling him up and telling him to ditch #19 and #20 as the villains, and then again with #16-18.

goty

@Yuugi's:

Eh?

Dragon Ball didn't really break away from anything. In the end, Toriyama rushed the ending so he could hurry up and escape from his editor(s). Heck, he had a previous editor calling him up and telling him to ditch #19 and #20 as the villains, and then again with #16-18.

Indeed. He also said Cell's first two forms were discarded for similar reasons.
If even Toriyama couldn't break away from that kind of control…i think popularity and editors have control over a manga's story till the very end.

For instance, when Oda says he had to cut something for "time restraints", i doubt he's talking about his own planning.

Demon Rin

@klet:

Actually, in that interview, he's speaking in Japanese, and he was at the very beginning of his career. One Piece is his first serialization, if I'm not mistaken. He was a novice when he gave that interview, and in general, Japanese is not a language that you're very forward in, especially when talking to the public like that. So he very well could have meant "I have a specific plan in mind that calls for 10 members" when he said, "I don't know, 10 would be ideal." I'm not saying he necessarily did, I'm just saying that it's highly possible.

After all, if his editor saw him claiming to have a master plan that's set in stone way back at the beginning of serialization like that, Oda'd probably get a strong talking to, at the very least. Popularity and editors have huge control over a manga's story. Only the really popular stuff like One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, and Dragonball ever break away from that control. Even if that dynamic didn't exist, you usually don't say things straightforwardly like that in Japan. It just doesn't mesh with the culture. In fact, Oda talks about that very thing in that interview. He mentions how having Luffy just yell out his dream was embarrassing at first, because you just aren't normally that straightforward in Japan.

One Piece does seem to be a very well planned series. Yes, it's quite a bit longer than Oda originally envisioned, but the way things tie together so neatly from the beginning makes me think that rather than adding plot as the years go by, he has taken the opportunity to flesh out his characters and ideas. If he'd tried to fit even the amount of plot we have now at the 10 year mark into 5 years worth of time . . . I think One Piece would be awful.

Sigh.
ALL I AM SAYING is that we don't have any Ironclad information. We don't have anything that says "THIS IS HOW IT'S GONNA BE NO MATTER WHAT" so there's still plenty of Room for Oda to change his plans.

fdein

It wont be any fun if Oda told us anyways, It's better to have that side of mystery.

dirt monkey AL

LUFFY PULLED A RANDOM NUMBER OUT OF HIS ASS

thank you

fdein

That must have been unpleasant.

Captain Hypersock

@dirt:

LUFFY PULLED A RANDOM NUMBER OUT OF HIS ASS

thank you

I love you for saying that, I really do.