@electricmastro:

Indeed. He had it in mind even back when Oda drew Chapter 19 back in 1997.

https://i.ibb.co/9b0f3zn/6-CDB6-A76-F2-F3-4-B55-A937-B186-E467-A083.png

So Oda knew that,and made Buggy ruin Roger's hat anyway (when he first fought with Luffy). Heavy.

Jesus Christ this forum is more fanboyish than i remembered! Yes,its great that Oda loses times with chapters devoted to great characters like King Baum,Hyogoro and Pound. Really awesome! sarcasm

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@electricmastro:

Not sure if this was a greatly appropriate place to mention this, but I found this interesting in light of the debut of Yamato:

“I finished reading Glass Mask, so now I’m reading Rose of Versailles. Oscar was a woman?!” - https://www.viz.com/blog/posts/mangaka-musings-06-09-19

Yeah we talked about it at the time he made such declaration,i made a theory that he would have introduced a character similar to Oscar,and then….Yamato happened! By the way i think Oda did read Rose of Versailles also because of the French Revolution,probably the Revolutionary Army will share some elements with the French revolutionaries. Greg agrees with this theory.

First of all Yamato is not a transgender. O-Kiku is a transgender,Yamato is just a Oden fan-girl. Second,if Yamato joins i think Sanji wont be too "pervert" around her,because altough Yamato is a girl she is still a tom-boy,and Sanji usually acts more "pervert" with women who are more feminine,so i think he and Brook might act as perverts once or twice but then they will do it more just with Nami and Robin. Now that i think about it,recently its just Nami that gets the pervert actions of Sanji and Brook,Robin not so much in recent times. By the way,altough i know that Oda is a good person and that he respects diversity,dont look at him like a "politically correct" person,this attitude belongs more to western stories that japanese stories. They dont really care about all of this. Just think about when Sanji gets scandalized because the okama gave him blood in Fishman Island…yeah,not really politically correct,right? But thats ok of course Oda meant well he didnt want to offend anyone.

@Deicide:

My take on it is that Oda is referencing an established structure and thus will keep it close to it. It’s like if Oda were to make a character recite a haiku: he wouldn’t change the basic haiku structure, or the reference is lost.

If kabuki theater typically has 5 acts, Oda will keep it 5 acts in Wano. Or else, why make it seem like a kabuki play at all?

The truth is they dont typically have 5 acts. There are plays with 3 acts,and there even plays with 31 acts! (yes you've read it well)

I agree with Greg on the fact that its not certain that we will get 5 acts,altough people still keep giving it for granted,and also about the fact that Oda might never answer on the mistery of Crocodile in the series. It could be material for spin-offs or interviews made years later Toriyama-style. By the way Crocodile and Doflamingo are some of my favourite characters in the series,and are some of the best villains. Some people thinks that if Croco and Dofla were the Yonkou instead of Kaido and Big Mom the series would have been even more interesting. Considering how Kaido and Big Mom are a little disappointing as characters for me at the moment (yes,yes,lets wait for the Rocks flashback,but right now i'm not liking them at the same level of Croco,Dofla,and other OP villains of the past) that would have been very cool indeed!

@LightningAce:

Oda doesn't need to apologize for anything. If he's ill, he needs to take care of himself. His well being is the most important thing for us all.

I think you misunderstood the sense of the way he will apologize. Thats Japan work ethic. He is not apologizing with the tone "sorry i commited a crime" he will just say he is sorry for the disservice he did to the readers. By the way i have to say that i find the rethoric "we only care about Oda's health" (like he was a family member or a friend) a little hypocrite. Oda knows what to do with his life,if he wanted to end the manga and living a healthier lifestyle,he could anytime he wants,Shueisha wouldnt stop him i think (they just want it to be comunicated around a year in advance) but as long as he wants to continue with the manga,its his choice and we cant be angry with the fans who just wants to read the manga

Another character that i am noticing is very loved is Bonney. When it will arrive her moment,i think she will do great. Now its X-Drake turn,and i think he will be very succesful too,while i dont think Hawkins and Apoo are very loved by the general audience,but maybe i'm wrong.

So do you really believe Oda just spoiled us when Luffy will find the One Piece,and what will happen after that? Nah i dont buy it. My interpretation of his words is like the one Artur wrote in his website,so basically the story ends with Luffy finding the One Piece,and of course we will see the aftermath but it will be something shorter than a final war,which will happen before Luffy finds the One Piece. Yeah i remember what Whitebeard said,but he could be wrong about a war happening after the discovery of the One Piece. So basically the manga will still end in 5 years according to Oda.

I think Kaido will get a flashback but the Acts will be only 3. There is no way that the Alliance lose this battle and all the most important members comes out of it alive without Kaido and Big Mom resulting as complete fools.

Ace drawn by Boichi awesome