Posts made by Nidhoeggr

@Greg So Vegapunk stated that there is no Gum Gum Fruit in the "DF Encyclopedia", but there is this question from SBS volume 45:

"D: Hey, Odacchi! I got a question! About Devil Fruits!! If Kaku and Kalifa said they wouldn't know what their Devil Fruit were until they ate it, how come Shanks knew what Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Mi was before he ate it?? Tell me! Tell me now!! Pleeeease tell me!!! P.N. Shirogitsunekko

O: Well, I think I'll eventually get to explaining more about Devil Fruits in the main story, but you see, there's a book of Devil Fruits. It has info about all kinds of fruit names and abilities, but few of the fruit can actually be identified by their shape. In the case of the Gomu Gomu no Mi, there was a picture and everything, but for Kaku and Kalifa, they were talking about how they wouldn't know until they had finally eaten the fruit. That was in Volume 40."

This clearly implies that
a) a newer version of the book exists, probably edited over time and scrubbed of vital information or
b) that Oda just forgot and this is a small error on his part.

You think we will get some elaboration on this part?

@Cockycent said in Volume 104 Predictions/Discussion:
This hasn't been the best arc

Indeed

Anyway, I hope for an explanation on several things: Hawkins' powers, Tama's family confirmation, Kaido and BM's status, etc. - but I know we will probably just get a bunch of jokes about Gear 5 and the new Emperors. Oh well, it is what it is.

I am just glad its over in a few months

Hilarious last spread, really enjoyed the small interactions and the panel layout this time. Really highlighted the growing bonds of the group and made them feel closer.

@Monquito:

Meanwhile Marineford arc be like;

Hello everyone, My name is Monkey D Luffy, I've come to this worldwide broadcasted event to sing ya'll this song called 'The Fruit Who'sWho lost'.
And this goes like this, Gomu Gomu No Giganto Pistoru♫♪!

Yeah, this part Oda has to explain.

I feel like we simply haven't seen enough of this twist yet to proper judge it. Is Luffy possessed? Is he an actual reincarnation? Is it just an awakening that somehow ties things together? One thing's for sure, though: It will be a long wait…

Apparently this is a comment from the final volume, at least that's what I got from another thread on a different site:

"Originally, it was supposed to be a manga about two characters exploring a world and encountering creatures and other hunters along the way. After consideration with my editor, the story changed. However, for this extra, I wanted to give readers a small taste of what the story initially was about. I hope it meets your expectations!"

If that's true then this is probably one of the worst choices by an editor in recent memory. In any case, I hope we get to see some scraped story ideas and designs in the last volume.

@akagami7:

I could have liekd this more if they removed all the unnecessary narration and internal monologues.

This, it's off-putting because of how dry everything was told. I don't really care about the emotions the author was trying to sell to us in this chapter either, I'm guessing this will end up as a dud.

One of the strongest first chapters in recent memory, really enjoying it.

It's deeply ironic and quite hilarious that MHA is a manga about Western style superheroes that shares the same problems I find quite common in US mainstream cape comics - namely a lack of meaningful stakes, unfilfilling character development, etc.

@fana:

That Akane-Banashi first chapter was really good. The artist did a really good job which is needed for that kind of genre to work. Hopefully he gets more success since he only does the art this time.

Yes, easily the best first chapter since Sakamoto or Blue Box - probably even better than those. I hope this sticks around.

@Hattori:

Shokugeki no Soma was also one year. And it turned out horribly there too.

I think school settings in shonen are just often ill conceived. Authors inevitably don't have the ideas or the drive to fill up three whole years, so the main character ends up the best in their craft by the end of the first.

It's barely about the school part anymore - hasn't been for a while frankly - to the point where I wonder why the academy premise was ever shoved into this series in the first place. Dozens of characters left to languish, and many of the student focused arcs are often viewed as the lowpoints (license exam, class A vs. class B, etc.) too. I feel like it would've worked out much better for the worldbuilding and story Hori wanted to tell if Deku was an intern at a hero agency from the start.

School settings are a wellknown way to increase familiarity with your core audience, high school kids in Japan. However, as you said, it's a very restrictive setting that introduced at least implicitely some expectations, a general timeline, etc. and many authors who arent that into worldbuilding can't handle that.

I firmly maintain my position that Oda's choice of setting was one of the most important decisions in his whole career as it allowed for closed off arcs while also making room for sages, filler, exposition from other ends of the world, information starvation/filtering etc. in a very natural way that almost no other manga that in a modern urban or school setting can.

It's hard to describe how little I care about almost all of the conflicts because they are so underbaked. The Todoroki subplot is just one angsty edgelord asshole against his family of… dubious qualities, Toga's subplot maybe got 1 or 2 chapters of development overall and her supposedly mirroring of Ochako is just nonexistant, the entire Spinner mutant thing was only built up in passing at best and Schiggy and AFO are... lame. Just talk no jutsu and get it over with already, Hori. Maybe we will get some Vigilante cameos in the final war, but I doubt it.

@Robby:

Will be interesting if it turns out in the end Blackbeard DOESN'T have haki and that's why he was so desperate for that fruit.

The Yami Yami No Mi does not only suck in DF powers, but Haki itself. It's why he cant use Haki, but it also applies to anyone he touches… Might be fun. Or the fruit could just suck in Haki as well as DF powers and we just didn't saw BB use Haki because Luffy wasn#t used to perceiving it. Any way works.

Yeah, I feel it should have stayed invisible if only to keep it more vague when it comes to older characters. This way you could still pretend people like Lucci had some sort of Haki.

This felt disjointed at times during the early village introduction section, but maybe it was on purpose seeing as this entire village might just be some special illusion/training ground/whatever. Interesting enough to keep reading for now, I guess.

Thank your respective dieties for this, I am not sure I could have survived LA Ed.

I could accept it if a Marine on-panel says "Rokushiki is how we officers train for Haki" or so. Headcanon for CP9 during EL could be that they were a bit rusty or whatever so their Haki wasn't as polished as it used to be.

@Lord:

colored manga is an abomination

I like them for rereading, as long as they follow the official color schemes.

@electricmastro:

Well, somehow I don’t get the feeling Wano has largely helped Usopp become a more popular character, and maybe the same could be said for Brook.

Another reason why I hope we actually get a Davy Back Fight against Shanks. I can see both Sanji and Zoro being out of commission after Wano so if next arc is indeed Elbaf a DBF would be the ideal vehicle to give the other party members something to do.

@Zar:

If that image takes into account the international votes there's also that to consider. Some characters were hurt by the international votes (or conversely, pushed further down because international voters preferred other characters). Others were pushed up (like Nami and Robin).

Would love to see a breakdown by country.

Interesting, but I am more looking forward to the Jump Festa in a few days so we can finally get the date for Part 2.

@electricmastro:

Looks like Usopp, Brook, and Franky have been decreasing in popularity over time.

I don't get it in case of Brook (who had great moments on WCI) and Ussop (he is always precious), but Franke I can see: He barely did anything after Senor Pink and unlike Ussop he doesnt have the "Starting 5" bonus.

@Nectar:

I think Hori comes up with great worldbuiding ideas. He just doesn't focus on it enough. Heroes basically acting as local and national security, The Hero Safety Commission, A.I. robots, Everything in My Hero Vigilantes, heteromorph discrimination, etc. It's all there but stuck in the background. I still can't over Deku not calling out the people who tried to kill Fox Woman based solely on her appearance and Horikoshi having no one (not even a heteromorph hero) comment on Fox Woman saying she was turned away from other places based on her looks.

Shinsui's mind control quirk somehow being evil, but nobody seemingly caring about a literal acid woman is akin to that. But I think he got burnt by his previous cancellations. Sensei no Barrage and especially Oumagadoki Zoo focussed a lot more on his other, stronger artistic merits and he got cancelled pretty fast and other people already noticed his overabundance of popularity polls. I don't know if its because of the fanbase itself being more shipping focussed or other internal reasons, but to me it paints the picture of someone who finally got his big break but got impostor syndrome - more explosions, more of the popular boys, less unpopular worldbuilding and SoL because cancellation is just around the corner. Armchair psychology, I know - but I get slight deja vu's to Bleach's run and Kubo's blatant favoritism of Hitsugaya.

On another note, when will we get a Vigilante anime and finally tie that plot into the main series?

@glass:

Aoyama being the villain over invisi girl was so much better tbh. Aoyama got a lot more attention throughout the series, him going to AFO because he wants a quirk makes a lot more sense than invisi girl going to remove a quirk, it brings back the point that not everyone without a quirk is as lucky as Deku. The execution of the chapter was super rushed and very awkward but the scene with aoyama crying was actually pretty well done imo.

The idea of there being more people who tried to gain a quirk is good, but the rest is just meh. We need more credible threats for this supposedly final fight that is happening soon. Just Shiggy for Deku, Dabi for the Todoroki's and potentially Toga for Ochaku is not enough. Nobody gives a damn about random Nomu vs underdeveloped students and the traitor plotline was THE opportunity to give the enemies one more character, remove some allies and have some actual tension. Hori squandered that.

@fana:

I have overestimated the author.

He really just wants to get it over with. This way there is literally nothing the traitor adds to the story except ticking off another box on the "unresolved plot points" list for Hori - no new villian that gets added to bolster enemy ranks, no tension because it is obvious Aoyama is guilt-ridden and actually good and no narrative purpose either really.

At this rate I am pretty sure Spinner and Toga will be afterthoughts as well so he can focus on the edgelord parade.

@Jabra:

And that is, without a shadow of a doubt, more breather chapters with intimate crew interactions. It doesn't have to be the whole crew, a focus on 2-3 at a time would have been fine.

If you have some time on your hands I would suggest watching 3 filler episodes of the anime in particular, I think they demonstrate perfectly what I've been missing in the last decade:

131. The First Patient! Anecdote of the Rumble Ball (this one is pure gold)
132. The Navigator's Mutiny! For an Unwavering Dream!
133. Inherited Recipe! Sanji the Curry Iron Chef!

Alternatively, the Shokugeki no Sanji spinoff is also a perfect example of what I'm talking about (not necessarily every chapter, but the general idea).

Sure one could argue that these sort of chapters should be relegated to the anime team or spinoffs, and I agree to some extent, but it wouldn't have hurt to be more generous in the manga as well.

I feel you, we need more of this. That one chapter where the crew ascends from FI to the NW is still so good because its exactly that.

@Barkworm:

Funny how Good-future-Franky becomes less robotic with time (gets rid of the shoulders and grows a Tom-like beard to hide his robot chin) while Bad-future-Franky goes full battleship. I'm not sure what message is behind this or if there is any to begin with.

I actually wonder if we will see those designs again during the epilogue in… 10 years or so, hah. Would be kinda cool.

@Robby:

I find it so weird that people constantly hype up the G8 arc. Yeah it was a good arc especially for filler… but it kind of showcases how poor a job the anime has done that in 23 years that's the ONLY thing unique to the aniem people really remember fondly and point to as "super worth keeping and considering canon." That and Ace travelling with the crew for a few minutes during Alabasta, but not the actual filler stories there.

And that was like, 19 years ago.

Anime fillers are 95% bad, I agree. G8 was a great and unusual setting for OP though and personally I just want more smaller breathers in between big story chunks as I still view One Piece primarily as an adventure series. I have no doubt in my mind that Oda would be able to churn out better material for the short Ace interlude than the anime staff did, but that still doesn't change the fact that having such a segment in the anime was a good decision that improved the War saga simply by giving Ace more of a presence. Likewise, G8 being primarily about crew interactions and comedy is a nice juxtaposition for the Davy Back Fight and Water 7. And going from TB to Sabaody arguably did Brook dirty as his time spent with the crew wasn't exactly long even if we assume they had off-panel adventures.

If I was the main showrunner for the anime though I'd scrap 90% of filler (extended fight sequences - especially for off-screened stuff - is fine), go seasonal and adapt the cover stories like they did with Coby and Buggy.

@Zar:

Honestly just cutting out a bunch of characters.

I'd be tempted to cut out all the Samurai except Kin'emon and have the samurai storyline focus entirely on him and Momo. Reason he went to Dressrosa? Strawhats went there and got dragged with them. And to Zou? To recruit the Minks. On Wano the other samurai could be combined with those yakuza types so they're the strong figures Kin is trying to recruit. Hell remove Hiyori and let that panel time go towards Momo and Tama, remove Orochi and give some of his traits to Kaido so he feels like a more relevant villain for mainland Wano. Dunno who'd be the traitor in this scenario but they could work directly for Kaido and maybe even be one of the flying six.

Just… condense things.

I feel like we could have done with just 4 or 5 samurai, but give those more prominent screentime.

As for my changes to the story:

1. I'd probably split Green Bit and Dressrosa a bit more narratively and geographically so they can work as two arcs belonging to the Dressrosa saga instead of just one mega arc.

2. Add G8 as a proper little arc between Skypeia and LRLI. It should have been canon as it showcases both a different side to the Marines as well as foreshadow Akainu to lay the groundwork for both War saga and the appearance of Aokiji a bit later.

3. Add back the mentioning of Shiki between Shanks and WB's conversation and add Strong World's movie plot as a small arc between TB and Sabaody. Oda would probably have to change a bit more in the arc itself to not contradict powerscaling and showing off too much of Marineford, but I feel like it was a cool movie and Shiki is a funny villian.

4. Make room for at least one small detour in the NW so we can properly visit one island not related to the entire main plot that started in PH. Maybe have the Strawhats interact with Urouge there or so. And as someone who enjoyed those early anime filler episodes about the crewmates working on their dream, I feel like it would be nice to have that as the focus of a small arc as well.

5. Add a proper seabattle. I don't care if it gets added in 4) or whereever, but it needs to happen. I want the Gaon Cannon to go BOOM.

6. Expand the interaction with Ace during Alabasta a bit more, I found it hard to care that much about Ace since we barely saw him.

In general I'd just add a bit more breathers so we can properly relax and aren't just tied to constant mega arcs. This is an adventure series after all and I feel one or two smaller, low stakes adventures would pull a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to building up crew interactions and newer members like Brook. Oh, and add more single panel doublespreads in general: Oda does a lot of very dense doublespreads these days but I think a good dozen or maybe two dozen of them should have been single-panel ones for better impact. The scabbards looking at the sea, some Kaidou moments, etc. Push the other panels for those pages onto others - would add maybe 1 or 2 chapters overall in the grand scheme of things, but make it feel that much more epic.

Otherwise I agree with Robby that I wouldn't really change the story too much.

@Zik:

• Never been satisfied with Luffy's "rivals". Law's great but he's basically the biggest non-SH character/ally. Kid is a joke to me. The rest were lame or haven't been in the story enough but its basically Bonney and Urouge, they seem like they'll serve different purposes. So I would've added a 13th worst generation member. I dont know why Oda teased us with events during the 2 years the crew were training separately. Yeah he's not gonna cover it but he could've done a lot more teasing about the 'incident in ×', the 'tragedy at ×', etc.

I'd love to see what that incident at Rocky Port was. Coby and Law must have done something to warrant their reputation, but we will most likely only find out via SBS…

Well, that is on them then. A shame…

@DarthAsthma:

Slight disappointment at Oda not revealing the Samurai names in that chapter itself but doing it in an SbS I kind of expected there was more to come but according to the SbS apparently not….

There might be still more to this, seriously hope we eventually get the full picture of this particular story string on Wano.

@Nekketsu:

Cut him some slack. Only a few of us can be Oda, Togashi or Inoue.

True, but when a story is called My Hero Academia and all of its strongest arcs are about comp. low stakes, SoL-influenced school adventures with a focus on coming of age themes and interpersonal relationships I wouldn't exactly picture the current endgame of the manga as its natural conclusion. Did people hate the School Festival arc that much outside of our bubbles?

I expect a bit more than the bare minimum, though. But just to iterate my main complaint with him again: I think he has a knack for SoL and appealing character designs (unless we talk hero costumes), but is utterly bland when it comes to worldbuilding, story buildup and stakes. I hope his next series capitalizes on his strengths more or gives him an editor that can put him on the right track.

@black-leg:

! Oof. On the one hand I do feel bad for Aoyama (for two reasons). On the other hand this basically keeps him as a good guy and the way it has been revealed just makes me think that Hirokoshi suddenly remembered he had set up this plot-point and is trying to make sure there isn't a loose end, even though it probably won't mean anything.

! Yeah, this is just barely better than the way the reveal happened at the end of the last chapter. It really feels like Hori is just hastily going through loose ends because he simply doesnt give a shit anymore and just wants to end the manga.

What's this bit with Bellemere about, anyway? I am curious.

Killer's fruit is hilariously sad. He may be emotionally scarred forever, but maybe that isn't so bad….

@KageKageKing:

How they will manage Bohemian Rhapsody then?

Sadly without Mockey Ratt by the looks of it

@zeltrax225:

I'm so happy for Witch Watch. There's not going to be a spiritual successor for Gintama and although Witch Watch do come close at times, it will not be the same and that's fine.
But the author really have taken what he has learnt from his previous works and I really hope for long term success for this series. At least I'm glad it has found stability for now.

What about Me & Roboco? That's pretty good as well.

Would be cool if she could actually turn it off, though. Just like with Kanjuro I like it when people lie about their true powers.

@otakufan:

Also, depending on what they've dug up about her time away from Alabasta, they could very easily take the route of "She's not really Nefertari Vivi. The true princess of Alabasta was killed and replaced years ago by the nefarious Baroque Works agent Ms. Wendesday, who eluded capture when the Marines defeated Crocodile and dismantled his organization."

That cunning and vile Monkey D Luffy! Furthering his father's and his own ambitions by replacing the gone-too-soon Princess Vivi with a scheming assassin who was also one of his temporary crew members! I hope Akainu saves us from this menace just like he saved us from the son of Roger.

@Nectar:

or even Deku himself

But… how? And why? That's some fine tinfoil these people are wearing.

Banger opening that really fits the 00s setting, but at this point this is just part of the course. Can't think of even an average opening song outside of Chase tbh.

@black-leg:

Ah, the anime is becoming seasonal. Finally we might get some decent pacing and animaton

That and an official DB Kai treatment might just be too good to be true.

@Retro:

! Obvious? Most folks said it was the electric guy

! In what world isn't the person who can turn invisible instantly the #1 suspect when it comes to spying?
! It's why I said boring: Because it is so painfully obvious and logical that even though I appreciate the consistency for this "twist", I also lament its lack of ambition. Hori has a knack for character designs (even though I think his hero costumes need some work), but he did almost nothing with most of class A and B even though design-wise they could easily provide enough for 2 or 3 main casts of lesser manga. Imagine if there were 2 or 3 traitors in each class, secretly working together for a planned attack on the school: Hori could prune the school cast, establish some more villians not only for Deku but for the other Academy kids as well and actually justify combining class A and B narratively. I am sure there are plenty of people out there that are frustrated by his lack of focus on certain students and this would solve a lot of issues… and if he is wary of accidentily using the "wrong" aka less popular characters - no problem: He dropped plenty of small hints for a lot of students; just wait for popularity poll results and act based on that.

@black-leg:

! And it turns out the most obvious answer was the correct one. Damn.

! Also the most boring one, a shame Hori never even tried to give 80% of the class the same amount of development certain 2 fan favourites got…
! I still think it should have been a group of traitors so he can kill off/remove half of both class A and B and merge them for the final half.

It's just a shame that we really only get the bare minimum of worldbuilding when Hori is in a good position to capitalize on global trends, etc. to absolute turn MHA into something way bigger than it is; his barebones approach to lore, side characters and a quite frankly boring main villian is what holds it back.

Apologies if this has been asked before, but what is the current stance on G-8? For me (and probably many others) it is one of the few instances of filler I actually enjoy and I wonder if there will be a version that includes it at the end of Skypeia? I realize One Pace's idea is to cut as much as possible, but are some of you maybe thinking about doing a seperate, extended cut for that?

Now that is how you do an anniversary opening, absolutely amazing. Hope that once we hit that final episode in like a decade or so we will get a similar one.

@zeltrax225:

How worried should we be since this is the same producer and studio for One Piece?

"Yo ho ho he a took a bite of gum gum" - worried.
@Robby:

Kakegurui, Speed Racer, Japanese Death Note, the Kenshin movies, oldboy, My Love Story, Lone Wolf and Cub, Bunny Drop, 20th Century Boys, Himizu, Nana, Prison School, Detroit Metal City, Orange, GTO, and a shit ton of romantic series all converted to live action just fine.

Its not that anime can't be made into live action and be done well, its entirely about the approach.

I meant Western adaptations, should have specified more. And out of those you mentioned I have only seen a few but I did not enjoy Death Note, DMC and Oldboy (both versions) either. The Korean movie was better than the Western one though. But I liked Hentai Kamen if that counts

If it has to be related to the crew themselves, Oda should do his own little Gaiden after OP is over where he officially canonizes Strong World and the G8 arc by giving them proper manga treatment