Volume 104 Predictions/Discussion

Captain M

While the choice of Hiyori panel is a little silly, that image of Luffy was also the one photographed for his new bounty poster, which gets revealed in the volume, so it's got some reason for being there.

Saying the cover gives the impression that Luffy and Hiyroi are close is a bit ridiculous. It's like saying the volume 103 cover implied Law and Kid would use their awakened attacks against Kaido. It's not that literal, they're all on there together because they're important characters to that stage of the story.

theackwardstation

@Cockycent said in Volume 104 Predictions/Discussion:

@theackwardstation It happened in the story. It's from 1057. The chapter that is supposedly not in this volume.

Yea, I realized that after my comment. It didn't remember it because that panel is right at the side of the much better panel of Hiyori doing that pose with the fan.

StrawHatJedi

I wish dragon Momo was less obscured. We haven't actually seen a color illustration of adult Dragon Momo without Luffy or someone else obscuring half his face or body.

Overall it's alight as far as covers go. I like the Flower Capital. Otherwise, probably my least favorite Wano cover.

zeltrax225

like I get, once I looked through the previous wano covers, that Hiyori is the only one with a lack of focal (yamato,samurai had one) relative to her "role" in the story.
She's clearly lacking in the covers but hey guess what, she's also terribly lacking in the story. But I get it, she made that speech near the climax of Onigashima and the closing speech too but she also failed miserably when confronted with Orochi. So of course she's an important character, of course she needs to fill up half a volume cover.

And I guess the thought process is that Luffy must be there and since Momo has been there since the start, so he has to be there.
The samurai can't be there because spoilers: who's dead and who's not so by extension that group reunion farewell shot can't be there.

But the composition is actually terrible and this is easily one of the worst covers in the series. Maybe it'll be better but still.

Captain M

Is it just me, or does anyone else not like getting the process video before the final cover, as has happened for the last few? Give us the final version with the title and everything and then show us how you got there. At least do both at the same time instead of one now and the other on Monday.

electricmastro

@Captain-M said in Volume 104 Predictions/Discussion:

While the choice of Hiyori panel is a little silly, that image of Luffy was also the one photographed for his new bounty poster, which gets revealed in the volume, so it's got some reason for being there.

Saying the cover gives the impression that Luffy and Hiyroi are close is a bit ridiculous. It's like saying the volume 103 cover implied Law and Kid would use their awakened attacks against Kaido. It's not that literal, they're all on there together because they're important characters to that stage of the story.

I dunno. Just felt weird to me for some reason. lol

Daz

The placement of Momos body makes it look like Hiyori is biting into a painfully spicy sausage

"Ow, it burns! Just like the Korozumi! Ow"

Johnny B. Decent

@Daz Hey now, just because he's a dragon doesn't mean they are like the Targaryens, Daz. :P

redon

Volume 104 cover, titled “Shogun of Wano, Kozuki Momonosuke”. Included chapters from 1047 to 1055.

alt text

danie

Yeah, the completed version makes me not dislike it so much(I like it) but it still would have been better to feature lighting Luffy and human Momo!

The face Hiyori makes in 1051 before she hugs Momonosuke would have been better too.

Captain M

I don't mind it in colour, though it's still far from the series' best cover. But what's this about there being only nine chapters in it? By my math, that's almost 20 pages of extra space at the end, and this time there's no movie coming out to source bonus material from. How thin is the spine going to be on this one's English release after the cut all the fanart and ads for Japan-only merch from the end?

I suppose a short book with a padded set of endpages is the price we pay to still have a regular volume release despite the break month. And it means the Yamato fakeout isn't being used as a cliffhanger for volume readers, which is probably for the best.

Captain M

I'm guess, also, that the spine has to be Luffy and Momo. Hiyori's face is way too obscured. But the choices surrounding this volume are catching me off-guard at every turn, so perhaps I shouldn't sound too confident in that.

danie

Did the Big Mom arc have a nine chapter volume? I think all the Wano volumes prior to this one had either 10 or 11 chapters.

1055 is a better ending than 1056 at least.

puffing.cinema

Maybe Road to Laftel will be included (I forgot the name, but that series of sketches released while Oda was on break)?

danie

Road to Laugh Tale, yeah.

Captain M

@danie We haven't had a nine-chapter volume since vol 61 all the way back in 2011. Since the average chapter length dropped from 19 pages to 17 it's been generally accepted that there aren't quite enough pages for a full volume in just nine chapters anymore. Might have to reconsider that logic now.

Captain M

@puffing-cinema Ooh, this would have been a pretty good way to compensate, but I don't think they'd fit. Even cutting the covers and table of contents, they were still 15 pages each, so there's not going to be room for more than one of them without some significant rearranging.

Although, one per volume for the next four volumes could be one way to do it.

danie

If volume 61 was the last volume that only had 9 chapters then it shouldn't really come as a surprise that this one does too!

You can only come with a 9 chapter volume after a month long break after all. That's the rules.

Captain M

Signatures are dead but the covers compilation lives on!

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Robby

That's easily one of the worst covers in a while. It was obvious we were going to get Luffy in that pose, but Momo's positioning over the mouth just looks... bad.

QueenTangerine3*

The finalized version looks a lot better, but it's still definitely not one of the best.

Deicide

According to the Wiki, volume 104 only has 9 chapters, ending in 1055. Can anyone confirm?

(Uh, nevermind, you were talking about it just a few posts above. So, it's confirmed)

black-leg jex

@Captain-M said in Volume 104 Predictions/Discussion:

Signatures are dead but the covers compilation lives on!

It's crazy how Wano alone almost takes up that whole bottom row. Heck if you think about it, the last chapters of Wano will be in the next volume so I guess you ould say that row is all Wano.

danie

Yeah, 17 more volumes to match pre time skip!

Captain M

@black-leg-jex More still when you remember that the first few chapters of Wano are in the end of volume 90. The Water Seven Saga is the only thing that comes anywhere close.

But I'm hoping for an Egghead cover for volume 105, something with a noticeably different vibe to put some variety on that row before it's full.

electricmastro

@Captain-M said in Volume 104 Predictions/Discussion:

@black-leg-jex More still when you remember that the first few chapters of Wano are in the end of volume 90. The Water Seven Saga is the only thing that comes anywhere close.

But I'm hoping for an Egghead cover for volume 105, something with a noticeably different vibe to put some variety on that row before it's full.

104's cover is prob meant to correlate with the face Hiyori makes when she preaches about the burning of Kurozumi. I'd see no need to make 105 a Wano cover after that.

Captain M

@electricmastro Exactly. This cover screams to me "last illustration of the Wano arc," whether all the chapters are in there or not.

The question for volume 105 is if it'll focus more on the worldly factors like Cross Guild and Blackbeard, or build up the new Egghead arc.

electricmastro

@Captain-M said in Volume 104 Predictions/Discussion:

@electricmastro Exactly. This cover screams to me "last illustration of the Wano arc," whether all the chapters are in there or not.

The question for volume 105 is if it'll focus more on the worldly factors like Cross Guild and Blackbeard, or build up the new Egghead arc.

Yeah, and if so, then this would make Volumes 98 and 100 the only volumes so far to have recruitment-interested Yamato on it, as if to say that those volumes, at least by Oda, are the ones deemed most worthy of having Yamato on them. Volume 98 in particular, since it has Chapter 994, the only chapter to have Yamato's name in the title.

Captain M

@electricmastro I'm not quite picking up the point you're making here. Were you just really hoping for one more Yamato cover?

electricmastro

@Captain-M said in Volume 104 Predictions/Discussion:

@electricmastro I'm not quite picking up the point you're making here. Were you just really hoping for one more Yamato cover?

Not necessarily, though that would have been nice. I was just thinking how it might be in line with the thought that Yamato is more relevant of a character earlier in Act 3 than later in Act 3, due in part to how Momo is arguably the most relevant character by the last part in Act 3. It makes sense since Momo is also on Volume 102, several volumes after last appearing on Volume 94.

Ivotas

In volume 25 we had that random mineworker dude on the cover. The point that only the most relevant characters are put on the cover should have died back then already. Unless...

Captain M

Yeah, while I would say that Oda takes some care not to overuse one character across to many consecutive covers (save for Luffy of course) and tries to get a decent spread of any arc's players featured, he's ultimately going to follow what makes a good illustration, or at least one that sparks his passion, at the end of the day. The random miner, Sengoku's goat and Senor Pink's groupies speak to the kinds of things that catch his imagination despite being minor elements to us readers, while Orochi's complete absence from Wano's covers shows how prominent a character can be skipped completely if other ideas come up and resonate with him more at the right moments.

Ivotas

Right you are. Still waiting for someone to claim this dude is important because the only other characters on the cover are the guys who are now Emperors with the GOAT in the middle.

NameWaster

It seems not the first time that the amount of chapters included differed from what was strongly expected right upon release.
Now in regards to the colours and overall look of the finalised version I have to say I am more accepting of it although I would have liked to see adult human Momo and maybe not Gear 5th again right after the last one.

ScotchInformer

Vol.104 spine

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NameWaster

It looks like Hiyori is getting ready to take a bite out of Momo

electricmastro

@Ivotas said in Volume 104 Predictions/Discussion:

In volume 25 we had that random mineworker dude on the cover. The point that only the most relevant characters are put on the cover should have died back then already. Unless...

Not saying every character on covers are always the most extremely relevant (unless we’re talking about the most relevant to jokes), but that to an extent, there can be a method to the madness/certain intent to characters being featured more often than others, because otherwise it can’t exactly be claimed that every character on covers are irrelevant, correct?

I mean, am I making sense or am I not making sense here?

Bugs

@Ivotas

The goat is going to turn about to be Imu and god, I'm going to hate it

.access timeco.

@NameWaster said in Volume 104 Predictions/Discussion:

It looks like Hiyori is getting ready to take a bite out of Momo

Peaches are born to be eaten!!

Tabasco Boshi

spoiler

electricmastro

@Tabasco-Boshi said in Volume 104 Predictions/Discussion:

spoiler

So Momo has appeared on 6 covers so far. Interesting.

.access timeco.

SBS is starting to leak

R: Odacchi, on chapter 1057 Hiyori says "Kurozumi are born to burn". I loved it, I could feel the cold breeze going away and a warm embrace as I thought of them burning, but my friend said it was uncharacteristic of you to say someone should be punished because of their family. Is my friend right? Please answer, if I don't find out I will die... I will die... I WILL NOT DIE!!! HEE HAW!!!

O: YOU GOT ME THERE!!! But I am glad you are going to live to read my answer. In fact, I got many letters asking me that.
What you saw was the shortened version of what truly happened. The line Hiyori said was "Kurozumi are born [as mere pieces of this endless play of horror that carry us all. Kozuki, Shimotsuki... only labels that tell us what role each of these puppets must serve on this grand stage. But behind the lines that control us is no puppeteer! We move according to no man's will, but echoes of distant memories. Threads that move by themselves, habit and self-indulgence. It is the hatred that engulf us and we gladly carry along, the names bestowed upon us reduced to burdens that condemn all, and with us a poor nation that serves as fodder to petty disputes of its "nobles". Is it over now? Can we happily declare victory upon the corpses of our enemies, sure their lineage now dead will not bring another act to this never-ending dance? I refuse to accept that! No nation that builds its happiness upon the scorn of the defeated will see the break of dawn. As the smoke reaches my eyes, I can finally see it clear: we are not dancing, after all! No, look closely - the quivering spasms of these puppets are likened to dying moths. For our feet are bare as we walk upon burning coal and our misery is] to burn!".
I wanted to show it all, but I couldn't fit it in the chapter. But the citizen watching the play got the full version and screamed along. So moving!!

EDIT: how people believed this was real???

theackwardstation

So... Oda felt pressured to reply in an SBS the controversy of a chapter that has not been released in volume yet?

That's interesting.

theackwardstation

I think it's great that Oda has "fixed" the bad connotations from that Hiyori line.

I've been defending here that there's a "good faith" and a "bad faith" interpretation of that line when you take context into account, but I've always stressed that the bad connotation was so offensive that it needed a correction or better explanations from Oda. He couldn't just leave it like that. So I'm glad to see that Oda is acknowledging the problem and purposefully making his intentions clear.

Captain M

@access-timeco Got a source on this one, buddy? SBS leaks aren't usually this early, tend to be accompanied by pictures of people the physical volume in-hand, and generally don't have such coherent (let alone eloquent) initial translations. This reads like copypasta.

theackwardstation

@Captain-M I think this is too competent to not be real. And the reason it leaked so early is the relevancy.

electricmastro

@theackwardstation said in Volume 104 Predictions/Discussion:

I think it's great that Oda has "fixed" the bad connotations from that Hiyori line.

I've been defending here that there's a "good faith" and a "bad faith" interpretation of that line when you take context into account, but I've always stressed that the bad connotation was so offensive that it needed a correction or better explanations from Oda. He couldn't just leave it like that. So I'm glad to see that Oda is acknowledging the problem and purposefully making his intentions clear.

That all said, I can still see certain other Wano citizens taking whatever line Hiyori said in such a way that they’ll feel compelled to be nasty to any Kurozumi children or anyone else they feel deserves hatred and blame for Orochi and Kaido’s tyranny and enslavement.

This isn’t even about Hiyori either at that point, but more so how anyone can possibly take anything a speaker says the wrong way in the most twisted ways, even if said speaker has the best of intentions. Would definitely be an interesting way for Oda to take things even if he has no plans to make Hiyori the bad guy.

Ivotas

Oh, Oda has fixed the infamous line? How so?

Captain M

@theackwardstation It's too competent to be real. Look back over any recent volume's SBS leaks and it starts with Japanese images followed randoms offering up translations of varying quality, generally recounting the important info in dot point form rather than full questions and answers. If - big if - there was a photo of the Japanese page to go with this text I might believe it was coming out half a week sooner than normal, but there's nothing. Even a photo of the physical volume in someone's hands without showing a specific page would up the believability about a hundred points, but there's no evidence of volume 104 in the wild in the most recent posts of any social media or forum I can think to search.

All this beyond the issue of talking so directly about a chapter that's not even in the volume.

Deicide

@access-timeco I'll doubt this is real until we get further confirmation.

First, because the mentioned chapter is not even in this volume, so I doubt SBS would address it.

Second, because the translation of such an intrincate text would be up to debate for days as we'd only get the japanese original at first.

So, I call this an elaborate prank. For now.