第32回：So a seabeast, a gorilla and a crocodile walk into a bar…

These underwater beasts are essentially aquatic mammals so it’s easy to think of them as ’mermmals’, however, they’re many times the size of their land lubber relatives. Most varieties have upper bodies similar to their terrestrial equivalents while their lower bodies closely resemble aquatic creatures, mainly fish. Many, if not most, appear to have fins for appendages, although there are some variants who have actual arms and paws such as sea cats and sea dogs.

Their physiology and lore hasn’t been expounded on by Oda-sensei, but it would *seem* that the larger their terrestrial relative is, the larger they have the *potential* to grow. While the sea squirrel and sea rabbit are nothing to shrug at, they don’t appear to be on the same scale as Hody’s sea elephant or sea gorilla.

In an interview from late 2009, when describing how some early influences in life helped him develop the story of Strong World, Oda-sensei mentioned a panel from the comic ’Kaibutsu-kun’. The scene in question? A gorilla fighting a crocodile! Was Oda-sensei thinking about that when he drew this panel?

Chapter 777, that number carries the same lucky connotations in Japan as it does in many other countries. This alignment of same numbers is called a ’zorome’ which could also mean, ’Zoro’s eye’ so it’s probably no coincidence that several close-up shots of Zoro’s eye were featured in this exciting chapter.

As for his new moves, I was interested in Horse Demon!

The series’ charming worst-kept-secret, the identity of the *mysterious* man, was presented with respectable weight for expectant fans but that was far from the only stand-out point of the episode. Let’s look at some of the original scenes added to the anime in Episode 679.

In the comic, after Kinnemon arrived at the underground port via lift in Chapter 745, in the next chapter he suddenly appeared with Robin and gang, briefly mentioning having had trouble with former toys that (SOMEHOW) mistook him for Doflamingo. Running with those sparse lines, the anime’s creative team explored Kinnemon’s mishaps at the lift leading up to the successful escape from his pursuers. It’s difficult to argue that the additional material gives us a deeper understanding of Kinnemon as a character but his progression is certainly easier to follow, something the story can only benefit from at this point.

Sabo’s comments regarding the differences between Luffy and himself, after being top-hatted by Koala, were pretty deep!

Sabo: …I think it through before I let loose.
Luffy: …Luffy just follows his instincts.

It comes off with a little less ’oomph’ in English but the original Japanese explores the difference between the ’recklessness’ of Luffy and Sabo. Whereas Luffy is just ’reckless on instinct’, Sabo ’calculates his recklessness’.

These lines took me aback because it sounded like something that Oda-sensei penned but I didn’t recall this line from the comic. Could it be!? Had *I* forgotten a line from One Piece!?!? (it happens, shocker right?) Thumbing through Volume 75 revealed no such line so this is all Toei. Good job guys! Anyone else wonder what kind of ’recklessness’ Ace is? My guess would be ’reckless on emotion’. What do you think? Send your thoughts to the link at the bottom of the page!

The battle between the former toys and Mingo’s Supreme Officers! Ensnaring enemies in a chain of snot? Keep it classy, Trebol.

The birdcage coming from Doflamingo’s string clone was an interesting and effective original touch we didn’t see in the comic. Ever wonder how many strings Mingo actually can control at once? Sounds like more material ripe for the SBS!