Volume 97 Predictions/Discussion

Watch-man

It's not like Coby, a captain, is in command of a whole fleet to take down a hostile nation and a Shichibukai.
It's like in the Buster Call, in which the battleships were filled up with captains, and under the command of five vice-admirals.
Just because we only saw Coby I don't think there's any chance of he being able to take any decisions that wouldn't be viewed as treason at best.
And that if he actually finds out about Hancock's link to Luffy.

In one of latest interviews if I am not mistaken Oda said that when we will see Boa again she will be in danger/ in very difficult situation.

https://digistatement.com/one-piece-jump-festa-2020-eiichiro-oda-message-to-his-fans/

So most likely Vegapunk new weapons proven extremely effective. We also got Marco going to Onigashima- he would be at peace with leaving Whitebeards island only if it would be safe. So either if someone strong enough would be protecting it(like Jozu) or if Marines would capture Weevil.

Cockycent

Would be interesting if the one who helped Luffy enter Impel Down, ended up in there

uniaka ikuzakas

Fujitora is with Coby hunting boa.

Monquito

@RevolutionaryOfThe6Paths:

No im talking about the chapter 800 foreshadowing with the Grand fleet

I'd say Akainu actually sends a Buster Call or something, but the Grand Fleet crushes it, not allowing them to intervene with Luffy's fight in Wano.

blackness662

Wow.
This SBS was really something.
We got the names of the ninjas, all the data (height, ages) of Tobiroppo and Oniwabanshu.
So OP will not end in 5 years, only the best part of Luffy's adventure (finding One Piece)…
After Wano, the great war begins, which will be very long and will lead to the finale.
Can't wait!
To be honest, Oda calmed my concerns with these statements. :)

ScotchInformer

Promotional Poster

NightGrinder

@theackwardstation:

It's like someone talking to you by using many wink winks in order to omit the dirty words, but expecting you to guess the words by context… and you just have no idea what the person is talking about.

That's basically my point about Japanese sentence structure. Omitting subjects and words, collapsing wholes sentences/ideas into a single word, and expecting you to get it through context is part of it. It can be pretty confusing/hard when first learning the language. But that's just how it works, and why strictly literal translations may miss the point.

The current translator might be amazing, the english wording may be right on the money and the best we will ever get. Or they are missing some nuance. Or Oda used a sometimes ambiguous language to make a vague statement in order to calm readers down. He probably doesn't want to spoil how everything will play out after all. All-in-all, it's probably best to wait for some other fluent/native speakers to chime in to see if we're missing something.

Candide

From all this discussion I take that Oda doesn't know when his Manga will end. If he did, he would make one statement and just stick to it regardless what editors are saying or fans are asking. If you have multiple answers to one precise question most of the time this is indicating that there is no correct answer (or is held back by what ever reasons).

DruMzTV

@Randy1031:

Hey man!

gotcha–-----------------

Deicide

@Cockycent:

Would be interesting if the one who helped Luffy enter Impel Down, ended up in there

Yeah, and what happens to every inmate in Impel Down upon arrival? She will be stripped naked for the bath in boiling water. Her mark will be found. And, as a slave, she will be sent back to her owners.

Gia Sado

@blackness662:

Wow.
This SBS was really something.
We got the names of the ninjas, all the data (height, ages) of Tobiroppo and Oniwabanshu.
So OP will not end in 5 years, only the best part of Luffy's adventure (finding One Piece)…
After Wano, the great war begins, which will be very long and will lead to the finale.
Can't wait!
To be honest, Oda calmed my concerns with these statements. :)

Its a great feeling when the author himself seems to be a fan of his own story and is willing to acknowledge what most of us were concerned about: length of story. With so much content still untouched, one can assume a lot of it is for this final storyline, but hearing the author actually acknowledge that it will be massive and nothing like we've seen before is just super reassuring.

Honestly excited for the rest of Wano now, knowing that there is just a good amount more left to go.

This is of course, assuming he means what translators intended when delivering that message.

Captain M

Frontpages, via the S-manga preview:

The Luffy-Oden-Roger Jump cover as the inner title page is exactly as expected, but the character intros are looking a bit thin to be spread across four whole pages. Not the most inspiring collection of Kaido's subordinates to highlight. Holdem, Babanuki, Daifugo, Solitaire, Speed and Dobson? Outside of Queen's constant Babanuki flashbacks, did any of these guys even appear in the volume?

Still, they're obviously laying the groundwork for the next few books' recaps, with that space to be taken over by the fully introduced Tobi Roppo, partially introduced Numbers, the Mimiwarigumi, Perospero and Marco.

Oh, and Kanjuro disappearing from the Scabbards and reappearing among Orochi's forces is a nice touch, even if the same measures weren't taken for Denjiro, who only appears here as Kyoshiro for the moment.

andre

@Watch-man:

In one of latest interviews if I am not mistaken Oda said that when we will see Boa again she will be in danger/ in very difficult situation.

https://digistatement.com/one-piece-jump-festa-2020-eiichiro-oda-message-to-his-fans/

So most likely Vegapunk new weapons proven extremely effective. We also got Marco going to Onigashima- he would be at peace with leaving Whitebeards island only if it would be safe. So either if someone strong enough would be protecting it(like Jozu) or if Marines would capture Weevil.

"And once it’s over, things are going to be grim. Sabo will…!! Vivi will…!! Hancock will…!! AAAAAAAA…!!!"
Oda is the ultimate hype man. He's the James Brown of manga, well besides the beating people and drug problems thing.

Gia Sado

@Captain:

Frontpages, via the S-manga preview:
https://i.imgur.com/iBfo7uR.png
https://i.imgur.com/7qGt1Ii.png
https://i.imgur.com/nMAo1t3.png
https://i.imgur.com/ekiRqM4.png

The Luffy-Oden-Roger Jump cover as the inner title page is exactly as expected, but the character intros are looking a bit thin to be spread across four whole pages. Not the most inspiring collection of Kaido's subordinates to highlight. Holdem, Babanuki, Daifugo, Solitaire, Speed and Dobson? Outside of Queen's constant Babanuki flashbacks, did any of these guys even appear in the volume?

Still, they're obviously laying the groundwork for the next few books' recaps, with that space to be taken over by the fully introduced Tobi Roppo, partially introduced Numbers, the Mimiwarigumi, Perospero and Marco.

Oh, and Kanjuro disappearing from the Scabbards and reappearing among Orochi's forces is a nice touch, even if the same measures weren't taken for Denjiro, who only appears here as Kyoshiro for the moment.

Yeah, the next 2 volumes are surely going to grow those 4 pages lol.

Vol 98 will definitely have: Yamato, Apoo, F6, Bao Huang, and Hacha (8) added on the BP side. Perospero added to BMP side. And Marco added to Luffy's allies where Law/Carrot are. Oh and Izo will 100% replace Kanjuro there too, since he's on Orochi's side anyway.

Vol 99 will keep the same, but Drake will move over to Luffy's side, Hotei introduced plus a Mimiwarigumi character box possibly, and at least 4 Numbers will be added (Jaki (4), Goki (5), Nangi (7), and Juki (10) unless they are just grouped in 1 pic like Onibawanshu. Other than this, nothing significant unless the BMP join by the end of Vol 98 or some other Beasts Pirate member/outside force is introduced.

Deicide

@Captain:

Oh, and Kanjuro disappearing from the Scabbards and reappearing among Orochi's forces is a nice touch, even if the same measures weren't taken for Denjiro, who only appears here as Kyoshiro for the moment.

It’s because Denjiro reveals himself to the scabbards only in this volume. We learned his secret last volume, but he was still masqerading as a villain.

Cockycent

@Deicide:

Yeah, and what happens to every inmate in Impel Down upon arrival? She will be stripped naked for the bath in boiling water. Her mark will be found. And, as a slave, she will be sent back to her owners.

This is cruel, but I see it too. The crew might have to break open Impel Down and pull a Fisher Tiger. Imagine Jinbe's grin doing that

andre

@Cockycent:

This is cruel, but I see it too. The crew might have to break open Impel Down and pull a Fisher Tiger. Imagine Jinbe's grin doing that

Revolutionaries, The Grand Fleet, they'll break into Impel Down as well, I'm sure, and let out everyone, including Bon Kurei.

Deicide

@Cockycent:

This is cruel, but I see it too. The crew might have to break open Impel Down and pull a Fisher Tiger. Imagine Jinbe's grin doing that

The point is that she (and the crew) isn’t going to Impel Down.

Mary Geoise arc! Time to climb the Red Line, slap Celestial Dragons, meet Revolutionaries, and fight CP0.

andre

@Deicide:

The point is that she (and the crew) isn’t going to Impel Down.

Mary Geoise arc! Time to climb the Red Line, slap Celestial Dragons, meet Revolutionaries, and fight CP0.

Holy shit. This makes me think about Kuma. Either he's already freed, or he needs to be. If he is, then he can send the crew (hopefully the entire ship) to Mariejoa. I don't think he is, in which case after they free him and everyone else, then he can send them to a new island.

Solid

where the hell is Tama? lol

Deicide

@andre:

Holy shit. This makes me think about Kuma. Either he's already freed, or he needs to be. If he is, then he can send the crew (hopefully the entire ship) to Mariejoa. I don't think he is, in which case after they free him and everyone else, then he can send them to a new island.

I think Kuma and Bonney will be part of it too. And it then leads to Vegapunk arc.

andre

@Deicide:

I think Kuma and Bonney will be part of it too. And it then leads to Vegapunk arc.

Franky told the crew about Kuma's actions at Sabaody. Whenever they come in contact with him again I think it would be a great time to introduce Vegapunk (and his true intentions, whatever they may be) into the plot. If he is malevolent, I could see Franky and Chopper being able to help Kuma.

Spinx

@Deicide:

Yeah, and what happens to every inmate in Impel Down upon arrival? She will be stripped naked for the bath in boiling water. Her mark will be found. And, as a slave, she will be sent back to her owners.

This would sour me on Fujitora and Coby so fucking much.

Deicide

@Spinx:

This would sour me on Fujitora and Coby so fucking much.

They themselves may be surprised and shocked, and it could lead to further marine discent.

Watch-man

@Deicide:

The point is that she (and the crew) isn’t going to Impel Down.

Mary Geoise arc! Time to climb the Red Line, slap Celestial Dragons, meet Revolutionaries, and fight CP0.

Doflamingo knowing their secret, Laws immortality operation on someone, Doflamingo words on Celestial Dragons being dragged from Holy Land.. also Luffy words about beating Sentomaru and Kizaru would come back as well as Frankys words on paying their debt to Kuma. All of that was pointing to Holy Land arc and I was writing about it as soon as Wano started and I share your excitement when thinking about potential of such arc. If after Wano we will get War state in New World it would make it possible for Strawhats + allies to Raid Holy Land. Vegapunk possibly is also There so it would be incredibly packed and informative arc.

Gia Sado

I'm just surprised people think this is next, for a few reasons:

1. Vegapunk isn't at Mariejois or Marine HQ. This has been confirmed because Fujitora traveled with Smoker to Vegapunk, and Fuji is not allowed back at Marine HQ until he captures Luffy (confirming Vegapunk is not at Marine HQ). Smoker hasn't been seen since, indicating that Vegapunk's facility is not at Mariejois because we likely would have seen him or Smoker there. Plus Fuji told Ryokugyu that traveled to Vegapunk's facility and saw the SSG. I think this is obvious now.

2. The 4th RP. I don't get the idea of being this deep in the NW, trekking all the way back Mariejois BEFORE getting or finding the last RP. Why waste all that progress of voyage? It doesn't make narrative sense. If this happened AFTER Luffy got the 4th RP or reached Lodestar, then I'd be inclined to agree.

3. Mariejois (and subsequently) FI, is already set to be the likely site of the Final or Grand War, just by prophecy of FI's destruction. Are we supposed to visit Mariejois, leave, then visit it again? That's already the plan with FI, but we didn't visit Mariejois at an earlier point, so it doesn't make sense for us to travel back to the same area 3 times in the series. Its just entirely inefficient from a storytelling perspective.

Kuröwon

I don't see these pictures anywhere, so apparently update of Ussop Pirate Gallery in Vol.97. Delete my post if these pictures are already been posted.

Thanks to EtenBoby for the first picture :

Robby

Usopp gallery annoys me because Viz always takes the amazing curated fanart from around the world and replaces it with garbage drawn by 7 year old US readers. Yeah, good for those kids, I'm sure its a thrill, but we lose the good stuff.

That was fine for the Jump magazine but it really sucks for the trades.

StrawHatJedi

@Robby:

Usopp gallery annoys me because Viz always takes the amazing fanart from around the world and replaces it with garbage drawn by 7 year old US readers. Yeah, good for those kids, but we lose the good stuff.

That wa fine for the Jump magazine but it really sucks for the trades.

100% agreed; If they were so inclined, they should just add a page with US reader submissions at the end or something. They include pages at the back of the volumes with ads for other Viz published manga. They could just put an American Usopp Gallery extra at the end or something.

Elektrik Dynomite

@Robby:

Usopp gallery annoys me because Viz always takes the amazing curated fanart from around the world and replaces it with garbage drawn by 7 year old US readers. Yeah, good for those kids, I'm sure its a thrill, but we lose the good stuff.

That was fine for the Jump magazine but it really sucks for the trades.

Hasn't Viz stopped doing Usopp's gallery altogether though? I can't remember the last time we got one

Captain M

Viz barely ever did the Usopp gallery in the first place. I could count on one hand the number of volumes I have that kept their gallery, and I don't think I'd have to use the whole hand. Would have to double check if the ones they kept are different from the Japanese at all though, and I've just moved house and haven't managed to unpack my manga yet.

There's a lot of valid critiques to be leveled at the official release, but claiming they swapped out Japanese fanart for American fanart is blatantly untrue.

EMUNOPLA

Oda message in Volume 97 :

I cannot see various small things because I have bad eyesight recently , It seems I cannot see my dreams unless I wear a glasses before I go to bed .

Lord Monkey D.

One thing Oda skipped over drawing 40 & 60 year old Sanji.

My guess, older Sanji is married to Pudding and having any attention brought to endgame like that oda doesn't want yet :ninja: @felres

All Fiction

@EMUNOPLA:

Oda message in Volume 97 :
I cannot see various small things because I have bad eyesight recently , It seems I cannot see my dreams unless I wear a glasses before I go to bed .

Oh, no. Hopefully it won't affect his art that much further down the line. OP's art quality as of late is already not what I would call astounding, at least compared to pre time-skip.

Robby

@Captain:

Viz barely ever did the Usopp gallery in the first place. I could count on one hand the number of volumes I have that kept their gallery, and I don't think I'd have to use the whole hand. Would have to double check if the ones they kept are different from the Japanese at all though, and I've just moved house and haven't managed to unpack my manga yet.

There's a lot of valid critiques to be leveled at the official release, but claiming they swapped out Japanese fanart for American fanart is blatantly untrue.

I was literally flipping through my volumes today and put off by it again. Its why I mentioned it in the first place. Unless you know a lot of Japanese readers named Heather, Ian (age 10), Dakota (age 12) , Keisha, Alex (age 16) and James (age 14.) (Fromm volume 16.) Or Olivia, John, Joseph, Erika, Brittney and Ami. (From volume 61.)

I don't know when the last time they did it was, they've prefered to just have white pages with the logo between chapters instead for a while, I'm not about to flip through every volume to find out, but I was still annoyed anew when I saw it again. And then someone here mentioned neat fanart and I was bothered that was never going to make it to our editions.

The SBS logos remain intact, at least.

We also lose out on the monochrome interior cover variants with pandaman and whatnot, but that's a difference in medium practically, we don't get slip covers so that at least is pretty unavoidable.

theackwardstation

Eiichiro Oda, the Beethoven of manga.

Captain M

@Robby:

I was literally flipping through my volumes today and put off by it again. Its why I mentioned it in the first place. Unless you know a lot of Japanese readers named Heather, Ian (age 10), Dakota (age 12) , Keisha, Alex (age 16) and James (age 14.)

Do you have many volumes with that in it? Because I swear, 90% of mine just have nothing where the fanart goes in the Japanese version. Did they maybe make a small attempt to build an English art gallery in the early volumes then abandon it after only doing a few?

King Cannon

@All:

Oh, no. Hopefully it won't affect his art that much further down the line. OP's art quality as of late is already not what I would call astounding, at least compared to pre time-skip.

Seems like something that can be fixed with glasses.

Robby

@Captain:

Do you have many volumes with that in it? Because I swear, 90% of mine just have nothing where the fanart goes in the Japanese version. Did they maybe make a small attempt to build an English art gallery in the early volumes then abandon it after only doing a few?

They did it at least up through the timeskip (volume 61) since that's the one I was flipping through earlier. I'm not going to hunt through the 40 volumes after that to see where they actually stopped but they definitely did it several times.

But yes, somewhere along the way they gave up and started just doing blank pages with logo instead. Possibly due to lack of fanart, or because it was effort or something, or possibly because… it looked bad.

Captain M

@Robby:

They did it at least up through the timeskip (volume 61) since that's the one I was flipping through earlier. I'm not going to hunt through the 40 volumes after that to see where they actually stopped but they definitely did it several times.

But yes, somewhere along the way they gave up and started just doing blank pages with logo instead. Possibly due to lack of fanart, or because it was effort or something, or possibly because… it looked bad.

I think they didn't just stop doing it, they must have removed it from the reprints as well. I didn't start collecting manga in earnest until around 2010-2011 so almost everything I have before volume 57 is from anywhere between the second and fifth print runs. I pulled out the moving box with my One Piece stuff and thumbed through a bunch of random volumes and all I found was a single page of fanart near the end of volume 15, though yeah, it was definitely western art, totally different from what's there in the Japanese volume. Who would have guessed there was such a complicated history behind the fanart gallery

All Fiction

@King:

Seems like something that can be fixed with glasses.

Haha, yeah guess I'm being too much of a worrywart.

Kdom

Usopp Galeries are not in the French version either. And it's replaced by advertisement…

Robby

Them dropping it in later reprints would explain it, yes. I've been getting the volumes as they came out for the most part so without checking all 93 volumes I probably have first printings of all of them except for the first three or four. I know those are second printings because they're the Zolo versions.

EDIT: Checking my volumes 3 and 4 are second printings, but my volume one is sixth printing and my volume 2 was fourth printing. So that puts a very specific timetable on my grabbing the trades as probably September 2005. Volume 5 and on are first printings, though they date October 2004. Maybe I started getting volumes as they came out but didn't fill in the first few until later? Or maybe they just had a better gauge on the print runs they needed so there were more first printings.

I was buying a lot of manga at the time and I was getting the Jump magazine so it probably wasn't a priority at the time. Unlike those other classics like Beet The Vandel Buster! (Still dissapointed that just stopped. It wasn't great by any means but I was enjoying it.)

Takto

So Oda is saying that Luffys journey is over in a about 4-5 years. Within these years, developments take place which lead to a war, which probably will start when Luffy finds Joyboys Treasure and/or the Rio Poneglyph. It is also possible that the Government wants to prevent the finding and starts an all out war before Luffy reaches Laughtale. Ok by me, but it would kinda downgrade Whitebeards final speech :/
On the other side, it would make sense for the Government to prevent the finding. That means they can and are prepared for a big war.

Gecko Moria

@Gia:

Yeah, the next 2 volumes are surely going to grow those 4 pages lol.

Vol 98 will definitely have: Yamato, Apoo, F6, Bao Huang, and Hacha (8) added on the BP side. Perospero added to BMP side. And Marco added to Luffy's allies where Law/Carrot are. Oh and Izo will 100% replace Kanjuro there too, since he's on Orochi's side anyway.

Vol 99 will keep the same, but Drake will move over to Luffy's side, Hotei introduced plus a Mimiwarigumi character box possibly, and at least 4 Numbers will be added (Jaki (4), Goki (5), Nangi (7), and Juki (10) unless they are just grouped in 1 pic like Onibawanshu. Other than this, nothing significant unless the BMP join by the end of Vol 98 or some other Beasts Pirate member/outside force is introduced.

Jinbe is finally going to bump Shanks off the first page, which is cool.

redon

Oda changed Usopp face in chapter 979!!

Weekly Shonen Jump #23/2020 version.

One Piece Volume 97 version.

Kuröwon

New illustration of Queen from Vol.97, in two versions (color & black & white).

Thanks to onemusashi :

KageKageKing

Yo, Bad Future Chopper is hardcore.

redon

Super-HQ cover

Luca

@All:

Oh, no. Hopefully it won't affect his art that much further down the line. OP's art quality as of late is already not what I would call astounding, at least compared to pre time-skip.

are you joking? did u see the onigashima panel recently? lol