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normal day. yup. just a totally normal day for me.
no pressure. noooooooooooooo pressuuuuuuuuuuuure.....
Anyway, Shiebs, manga pens proper....aren't that expensive? I mean maybe the handles can get pricey for flashy ones but they're not that much.
Manga supplies in general are 'cheap' basically speaking. It's the quantity that gets pricey. For pens specifically, the cost of tips would be where you sink money.
@Greg said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
normal day. yup. just a totally normal day for me.
no pressure. noooooooooooooo pressuuuuuuuuuuuure.....
What's going on in here?
Check out my podcast for conversations about Greatness in anime, sports, music, and whatever else we can think of.
A story to tell someday. I can't believe I live the life I do sometimes.
I hope you are writing down those stores somewhere so you don't forget to share any of them 
I really need to. My wife just reminded me of one that is super embarassing which I totally forgot about.
Canāt wait to see your article on the newest chapter! So many questions I canāt wait to see answered
Will all seven Vegapunkās really travel with the Straw Hats? Is there a traitor among them? If not who deactivated the security system? Who was Vegapunk talking to? What does Vegapunk mean when he says thereās a good reason he canāt turn Kuma back? And with Oda setting up both Pirate Island and Elbaf which one will the straw hats head to next?
Jesus Christ so many questions to be answered in just one chapter
Also hope Sentomaru comes back, he never even used his axe 
@Shiebs said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
Random question that probably shouldnāt be asked in this thread but I donāt know where to put it soā¦. How expensive can manga pens get?
When you say "pen" do you mean brush, quill, or nib? There's a whole bunch of different pens for doing different things and different approaches.
For a casual use though, you're probably thinking of nib pens, and those are a "use it until its done and then throw it away" sort of thing so its pretty cheap, you'll be able to find a pack of five for 10-15 bucks that will usually have multiple nib sizes for varying line weights.
The main problem with those is they wear out pretty quick and rarely make it through a 20 page story, so i you're actually making comics you end up buying a lot of them, though once you figure out the size you like you can buy that particular size in bulk.
If you're just going to use one for fun every once in a while it can last a decent time.
If you're talking about a "I'm going to use this one pen for ten years and refill the ink manually and change out the head ocassionally" those are 30-50$ and take some work to maintain, but they will last.
There's a huge huge variety, so you need to be more specific than "manga pens", but just one to play with won't set you back much.
There are some really, really expensive ones out there but no actual artist would ever recommend those because the materials wear down and the expensive ones don't magically make better art.
This article has a bunch of different pens and amazon links and might be able to help you.
https://matthewchilders.com/best-brush-pens/
@andre said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
What's going on in here?
Greg got cast to play Franky in the live action and has to get into speedo shape.
@Greg said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
I really need to. My wife just reminded me of one that is super embarassing which I totally forgot about.
If it could help motivate you to write it, you could share the story with me. I promise not to spread any of it 
I am famous!!! Thanks Greg
Check out my podcast for conversations about Greatness in anime, sports, music, and whatever else we can think of.
He mentions me here starting at 30:00
And he is right I am passionate but he also seems mixing up my main question. It's not the fire that is confusing me for Sanji as I don't think it is related to Judge.
My question was, what powers has Judge planned for him besides the the super body and all. Because I don't see a reason having the power of invisibility if your suit is making you invisible.
And if it truly was invisibility than Sanji maybe will awaken the full power or it without suit later
Yeah, you've asked...a lot....of Sanji questions over the years so I couldn't remember which (^ā^)
Always nice to hear your thoughts on recent and past events of One Piece, once again nice interview of Genso with Greg.
In regards to the Devil Fruits being a form of Ambition and dreams, could Zoros ambition to be King and his line to King, becoming/being the King of Hell and Azura being a 3 headed human, could we see the creation of a new Devil Fruit in Zoro.
Maybe thatās one of the reasons why he hasnāt seen the real Vegapunk yet.
@Greg that's true and I won't stop
I rate Sanji is lunarian or Oda can just leave it unexplained and dj can be seen as something like magic
Greg Iām interested to hear how you think the Rocks Pirates will come back into play? Do you still think theyāll appear at egghead?
I just clicked the link Kishido posted and ze German accent makes me cry Sauerkraut tears.
@Barkworm said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
I just clicked the link Kishido posted and ze German accent makes me cry Sauerkraut tears.
Huh, what German accent? I clicked on the link and there's nothing to hear for me.
@Ivotas said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
@Barkworm said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
I just clicked the link Kishido posted and ze German accent makes me cry Sauerkraut tears.
Huh, what German accent? I clicked on the link and there's nothing to hear for me.
I meant the previous link.
Greg's latest reply sure sounds interesting.
@Barkworm said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
@Ivotas said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
@Barkworm said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
I just clicked the link Kishido posted and ze German accent makes me cry Sauerkraut tears.
Huh, what German accent? I clicked on the link and there's nothing to hear for me.
I meant the previous link.
Greg's latest reply sure sounds interesting.
Oh, now I see that there was a video posted too. Well, what can I say, that's how some of us sound. Consider yourself lucky that you haven't heard me speak English.^^'
@Greg said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
@Ivotas
I have.
[spoiler] He's perfect [/spoiler]
Haha, that's great. I'm from Germany, too and I'm always worried people might think we all talk like Arnie in "Hercules in New York".
I think I have never asked a question in this thread so here it goes: Greg, as someone who has been following One Piece for 20+ years, do you sometimes wonder with the story ending in the foreseeable future what your overall reception of the series is going to be? Especially with the disappointment many fans share about more recent arcs? Sure, the series has had a more profound impact on your life than on the rest of us long-time readers but do you sometimes worry that you'll look back and go "Yeah, it was just okay."
@Barkworm Unfortunately, I can't answer that as freely as I'd like to. I think the majority of any personal disappointment I have with the series is related to:
There are certainly points where I feel Oda dropped the ball on emotional/story levels.
Ex: "I don't know how Luffy will beat Kaido."
Answer: He'll punch him really hard 
But they're not enough to ruin any of the experience. The above two points though, they're heartbreaking.
I would love to go into both of those points in detail but because it turns out they do have reasonable explanations but in both cases they deal with info I know from working on 'that side' so while the series is running, it's not my place to bring them up. The only thing I feel comfortable saying, since it was my own speculation to begin with, is that for Oda to do 1v1 every single arc would be even beyond his superhuman ability as a perfectionist as far as being dedicated to time. It would take a true workaholic on the level of Tezuka to flesh out every arc with those kinds of encounters.
Some people claiming to be looking out for his health are the same people who will moan and groan about lack of fights when they don't realize, their absence is Oda looking out for his family, health, and future.
So with those being, probably, my two harshest critiques of the series (since he added current story-line death back into the realm of possibility) I can't see too much ruining my enjoyment of the series by the end.
There's more to this than I'd like to say but, especially about how my impression of the end could be impacted, but for now, I think this addresses most of what you were wondering!
If Usopp and Nami get good fights by the end of the series, I think Oda will have delivered in that arena for me. I'm definitely with you on the big punch being one of the worst payoffs I can think of in OP (going along with Kaido's lackluster flashback), but when looking back at Wano as a whole, I'm pretty satisfied. I know that's not the case for a ton of people, but I think it's a great and ambitious arc that is only let down by not reaching the lofty heights it tried to stretch towards, which I can accept.
Usopp and Nami not getting good one on oneās with Page One and Ulti will forever haunt me
To be fair, Luffy punched Kaido A. With a fist the size of an island, and B. Into a subterranean volcano. That's bigger then Crocodile, Lucci and Doflamingo's defeats.
@Johnny-B-Decent said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
To be fair, Luffy punched Kaido A. With a fist the size of an island, and B. Into a subterranean volcano. That's bigger then Crocodile, Lucci and Doflamingo's defeats.
The problem was it wasn't cathartic. There was no real emotional release to it. No reminding of a focal character's flashback, no "this is the biggest and most dangerous they've been".
Momo's saving the island was built up for almost forty chapters and then was sort of squeezed into a single blink and miss it panel. The big fire threat was just sort of... dealt with in a throwaway. Kaidou's flashback was weak, the earning of Yamato's freedom felt empty, etc. We didn't even get the volcano explosion until the next chapter!
I get Oda was trying to have all the big climaxes happen in the same chapter but overall it feels like he rushed at the last second when even one more week spreading out that climax chapter would have made all the difference.
Also Momo not getting a proper moment to be important in that final confrontation after the grow-up seems like a super missed moment. He didn't heave to hit the key weakspot or pull a Gohan v. Cell moment or be the key to flying Luffy to the battle but he needed SOMETHING and landing the island in a rush was not it.
He didn't need to beat Kaidou but should have been involved in the final moments. Even something like him switching back to Oden mode and repeating an Oden phrase, that making Kaidou freeze for a second would have been enough.
The whole thing just feels like a last second rushed mess, and especially given how Yamato was handled right after we're always going to be left wondering how much Film Red was responsible.
Just quick re: the Kaido FB.
Don't sweat it. Not something to lose sleep over bc it's coming. We'll understand Kaido ļ¼ļ¼µļ¼£ļ¼Ø ļ¼¢ļ¼„ļ¼“ļ¼“ļ¼„ļ¼² after we see what happened at God Valley. That will be the true Kaido FB, or at least deliver exactly what everyone wanted.
It's coming.
The rest of the points, yeah, pretty much.
@Greg do you think we will get the God Valley flashback when Garp fights Blackbeard pirates?
Even should a "proper" Kaidou flashback manifest, or a "Rocks in general" flashback featuring a slight Kaidou subplot, the ship has still pretty much sailed vis a vis the big emotional culmination of Wano, and using a flashback to develop Kaidou/his motivations as a villain and enhance the culmination of Wano. Even if we get new info down the line, you can't retroactively recalibrate emotional catharsis into an arc which should be able to stand on its own without gesturing at future promises of resolution.
.
In general I think the increased "mysteryfication" and kicking of resolution-cans down the line is the biggest shortcoming of current One Piece, even if I get it from an authorial perspective in how it can help streamline/structure a massive story and facilitate reader retention. Though this means you lose out on the full catharsis of the arcs along the way (something that used to be a core strength of OP) because key puzzle pieces are being witheld or resolutions postponed for later, which is something you doubly feel for an arc like Wano, a 150 chapter behemoth which was poised as the culmination of a saga started all the way back at the beginning of the new world.
@Greg said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
Just quick re: the Kaido FB.
Don't sweat it. Not something to lose sleep over bc it's coming. We'll understand Kaido ļ¼ļ¼µļ¼£ļ¼Ø ļ¼¢ļ¼„ļ¼“ļ¼“ļ¼„ļ¼² after we see what happened at God Valley. That will be the true Kaido FB, or at least deliver exactly what everyone wanted.
It's coming.
The rest of the points, yeah, pretty much.
I dont wanna intrude on your NDAs or business privacy but, are you saying you happen to know a bit more than us or is that your educated guess?
Btw, since the topic of Luffy defeating Kaidou with a big punch being underwhelming came up, I dont get it.
Oda finally took all restrictions from Luffy as his best idea is a big punch? A few scenes earlier we saw Luffy grabbing lighting bolts out of the sky, why not use that?
Either something similar to Thor Axe he used against Shiki or some imagery based on a Raijin*, to go even more into the He looks Divine camp.
(*Quick question if anyone knows, is raijin a title/descriptive for severeal deities or is it just a Raijin?)
Nope, I have no idea. I would never state something so definitively if I knew about it. As a general rule I don't usually freely address topics I'm in the loop on until they've become public. The only acception being, if I offer or maintain ideas I had up until being informed.
I have zero confirmation about any God Valley backstory. But Kaido and Mom have both alluded to some kind of awful betrayal and there is so much that happened at GV that is now relateable to the main plot since the events surrounding Sabo, it's wildly shortsighted to assume anything other than getting the chance for Oda to inform us on the Rocks Pirates' pasts.
@Greg said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
Oda's art becoming more and more scribbly.
This is also my biggest criticism of the series by far and it really frustrates me that the manga isn't on more breaks when it's very obviously been needed for many years now, especially now that we're approaching the most ambitious part of the story.
I wish One Piece was on a bi-weekly schedule or something close to that. ~25 chapters a year would still be a really solid amount for a series that's been running this long (hunter x hunter or even detective conan fans would kill for this many chapters a year). His art would surely improve and he gets more free time.
Chapter a year was already decreasing before Covid, but it then Covid took it down quicker than usual. Most of 2010s was 38-40 chapters. 2020 had 33, 2021 - 36, 2022 - 35.
To me, he's shown that he is aware of the fans that want it to end for whatever reason. 25 chapters a year would put even more pressure on him because he would be going at a snail's pace.
@Cockycent said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
To me, he's shown that he is aware of the fans that want it to end for whatever reason.
You don't think Oda is getting worn out on writing and wants to end it himself?
Check out my podcast for conversations about Greatness in anime, sports, music, and whatever else we can think of.
@andre Writing is taxing. Doing it at his pace for so long has to be hell.
I think when he truly wants to finish if no one ever complained or moaned about it differs from the pressure he has to finish it now.
I continue to see some say they are worried about his health, but I am very suspicious of that sentiment and how genuine it is.
There is a hint of fatigue or impatience when some bring up his health as if they really care or pay attention to updates on it.
Especially when I mentioned that it would be interesting if Oda did 30 chapters a year and some of those same individuals worried about his health were so against it.
Oda doesn't want to end it in a negative way. He wants to end it because he wants to have fun. But that has been true probably since Chapter 1.
I can say that Oda has not lost any inspiration and that the scribbly stuff isn't without a reasonable explanation.
As always, Oda is dedicated to making fans happy and satisfied. That is his main goal and he's never wavered from it.
"Greg's spouting corporate crap!"
Yeah, after I just took a big dump on Odyssey in that thread. Oda's goal is always to make fans happy and he works to the best of his ability to do so while also being human.
I have recently tried to hold back on speaking on OP games because it is mostly negative, but I was shown a mobile game that surprised me recently. I'm not even into mobile games either. I will have to find it. It had Nami's flashback.
I'm glad you brought up the scribbly art because as someone who tries to be an artist (thanks to Oda, btw) I'm genuinely worried about that. Don't get me wrong, I think Oda's style is great as always (I know many people think he peaked in Water7/Enies Lobby, I'm more of a late pre timeskip-early post timeskip fan) but it's the execution that worries me. Like he's in a rush or something. I get the impression he's not having fun and wants to finish the chapters asap.
Then I see most of the current color spreads and they don't have such a noticeable downgrade than let's say, stuff from 10 years ago. Of course he dedicates more time to those fully colored illustrations for covers, volumes, etc. than your average manga panel, but I don't know, I feel they still have the charm and that he's having fun. And I'm sad I can't say the same with many of the recent years chapters.
I find myself pointing at random panels that stand out in recent years and I feel they were the standard back in the day. I'm not talking about grand action scenes, just a random panel of Luffy talking, for example.
Again, I still think he's got all the good things like character design, composition, action scenes, etc. It's just the sloppy (with all the respect in the world, knowing he can do better, I wish I was even remotely close to the sloppiest Oda) execution that worries me. I've been wondering for some time now if he's really ok.
I can say he's not in a rush and he is enjoying his work. Probably more than fans (^ā^)
Last time I actually enjoyed a OP game was Unlimited Adventure. Which i replayed for years until my WII broke.
Who do you think Vegapunk was talking to on the transponder snail? Is it one of the rocks pirates?
I've said everything I think needs saying on that topic here but I also talked about it on Genso's video. https://forums.arlongpark.net/post/4082676
Greg, I really appreciated the podcast you had with Genso ā you gave me a lot of food for thought (e.g. Zoro possibly always being half-asleep; Izoās connection to the admirals; the āburn scarā potentially meaning freezer burn; Kaidoās reasoning for not using Awakening; etc).
If anyone in this thread hasnāt taken the time to listen yet, I highly encourage it!
@karubiDON said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
Izoās connection to the admirals
I'm pretty sure Greg meant to say Issho(Fujitora) instead of Izo.
@Greg said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
I can say he's not in a rush and he is enjoying his work. Probably more than fans (^ā^)
Well, I'm glad to read that. And I know you said there was an explanation for the scribbly art but you can't talk about it. I really hope it's not a health issue but more of a personal choice even if I don't like it. It's my only real criticism with the series in the last years (or ever, honestly), I'm here for the ride and I enjoy 99% of what Oda does in terms of story. I admit I'm a bit bummed Usopp got shafted in Wano but I know his time has to come in Elbaf.
