第55回：Please Remember It #2

We’re venturing into some deep, potentially end-game, fan-talk territory here so get out your decoder rings, jot down some notes and let’s take a closer look at a who might be one of the most important, if not revealing, characters of the New World saga! Of course I’m talking about none other than…

Momonosuke! “Whaaaat!?” Stick with me here. From the second chapter of his character’s reveal Momonosuke has been a massive source of integral series information; all wrapped within the deceiving veil of a child’s whimsical and throwaway banter. Folks, you gotta know just how important this guy is! Oda-sensei has been skillfully using Momonsuke as a hint-dropper for many jaw-dropping revelations. Don’t believe me? Allow me to prove that even his *name* was a hint for his surprising origin as the Kozuki heir.

I present, Momonosuke’s name-boxes for his reveals as a dragon and as a human:

“Yeah? So what?” SO WHAT!? Some of you may remember from my VJump articles- sorry, Japanese release only- that these name boxes struck me as somewhat odd since they conflicted with Kinnemon’s *name-scroll* introduction.

It seemed that instead of the famous name-box design (or as I call them, ‘Oda Boxes’) Oda-sensei used scrolls instead of boxes for the reveal of characters from Wano, or characters *pretending* to be from Wano. Kanjuro’s reveal in Chapter 754 was again reason for an eyebrow-raise as Kanjuro followed the same design.

Poor Momo! Did Oda-sensei forget about him?

Nope.

Another example, now we know that Wano is being terrorized and manipulated by Kaidou but as far back as Chapter 685, Momonosuke was dropping MAJOR hints suggesting their connection:

Sound familiar?

Just a few chapters later we had another hint onboard Sunny that I discussed way back in the 5th edition of this column! (Japanese only T^T) These are far from the only examples of Momonosuke’s massive hint bombs. But that’s not what we’re here to discuss today, right? We’re here to talk about Chapter 820 and an *amazing* line from Momonosuke. Here it is:

Psh! Yeah right, Momonosuke. I’m soooo sure you met Roger. Right!? Folks, if there’s one thing we can depend on, it’s that Momonosuke is a reliable and honest character so long as bosoms aren’t involved. I contend to you that Momonosuke is not lying, it’s not a throwaway joke scene and that Momonosuke has indeed ‘met’ Roger. Or, at least, a certain *form* of Roger. In Chapter 817, we learned that Momonosuke has an ability to hear things that so-called normal people cannot.

In the same scene, Kinnemon dropped the information that this ability runs in the Kozuki family while Dogstorm and Cat Viper recall a man who said the same. We’ve heard this before:

And another time:

We don’t know exactly what the ‘voice of all things’ is, nor do we know that it’s a single voice or a single entity. But we do know that even though Luffy can hear at least some of these voices too. What if these voices, or rather, tapping into these voices, is an advanced form of Colors of Observation? Furthermore, going a step beyond Luffy, what if Momonosuke and his family don’t only *hear* the voices, but also have the ability to *see* them, even long after the ‘speaker’ has left the mortal coil?

Anyway, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. The point is, you should really go back and reread scenes with Momonosuke (*and Kinnemon!*) because they offer up some AMAZING and even spoilery hints as to what direction the story is moving, Momonosuke’s past and maaaaaybe even a certain someone’s hotly-debated Devil Fruit ability.

While the battle between Luffy and Doflamingo rages on, let’s take a step back to appreciate one of the finer details in the episode and a very old running gag from the anime; one that has even found its way on to official merchandise. Of course I’m talking about the text on Luffy’s bounty poster. Ever notice the block of text underneath the bounty price?

The full unobscured message reads:

‘KONO SAKUHIN HA FICTION DETHUNODE JITSUZAISURU JINBUTSU DANTAI
SONOTA NO SOSHIKI TO DOITSU NO MEISHOU GA GEKICHU NI TOUJYOU
SHITATOSHITEMO JITSUZAI NA MONOTOHA ISSAI MUKANKEIDETH’

Which is somewhat roughly romanized Japanese that translates to:

“As a work of fiction, any names that may appear in this production have no relation to those of actual persons or organizations.”

This is actually a hidden anime-only joke that’s been around at least since Luffy received his first bounty in Episode 45.

The anime debut of Gear 4th was tremendous and visually triumphant but it also raised a huge question about the technique and its unique design;

particularly what *appear* to be tribal-like Color of Arms designs on Luffy’s chest. The January 27th edition of Kappei Yamaguchi’s regular column on One-Piece.com featured an interview with series director, Toshinori Fukasawa.

Although the interview is only in Japanese, Fukasawa-san reveals that there seems to be a ‘secret’ behind the design of the Haki markings. Very interesting, especially when one considers that for a brief moment, before we see Luffy’s bare chest, the designs seem to overlay Luffy’s…DEVIL FRUIT!?

Was that simply a design choice or does it hint at something deeper in the power of Haki and Devil Fruits?

The GOLD trailer has been released!!! Are you guys and gals ready for this high-stakes, “ENTERTAAAAAAAINMENT!”? Let’s take a look.

Whoah! Pointy golden thing! What’ve we got here? Looks like this is one of the double bow designs on the giant pleasure city/ship Gran Tesoro. With a length of over 10 kilometers (over six miles!) that’s roughly the length of 6 Star Destroyers from Star Wars! Inside we can see at least one large port, a downtown, the casino district and even a complete theme park!? Several gambling games have also been worked into the motif of the ship’s design. I’m most interested in that gigantic roulette which encompasses the casino district with a golden tower in the center. Is that Tesoro’s mansion?

The man who appears to be our villain, Gild Tesoro! ‘Tesoro’ is Spanish and Italian for treasure while his first name ‘gild’ is a process of coating a material in a thin layer of gold. Holding true to Gild’s namesake, his flashy outfit above literally depicts a gilding process with the gold pattern melting over the white base design. Physically speaking, Gild looks like a fusion between Crocodile and Doflamingo which makes for a self-confident and sinister combination I’m looking forward to jeering.

In Column #53 we considered the possible significance of something called the ‘Gold Stella Show’ which appears on the ace of spades from the GOLD movie poster. Lo’ and behold, here it is again! I wonder what kind of show it is!

Here we get a glimpse of Chopper, Luffy and Usopp in their ‘onboard’ outfits from the start of the film. Given the animal and Kintarou themes it seems that the crew *will* be reenacting Kintarou. Looking forward to seeing Bear Franky! FILM Z featured an opening with the crew reenacting a cherry blossom-viewing party so I’m sensing a pattern here. I wonder if the next film will also feature quintessentially Japanese aesthetic themes in the opening as well!

Nothing to say about this other than Luffy looks *so* great here ^_^

Is this the casino district? We see here the ‘WILD COW’ steak restaurant next to the, uh, ‘HAPPY DANCE’ dance club? Looking to the sky we see…wait what?? We actually can’t see the sky! Is this possibly underneath the golden roulette tower fountain?

There’s a background character here who appears strikingly similar to Heraclesun inside a casino. Fans might be reminded of Rain Dinners but I suggest taking a look back at Croc’s casino and dare you to compare the two. This is on a completely different level!

Keep your eyes on the slot reels. It’s just a guess but these make great opportunities for hidden characters or messages.

The Straw hat in their gambling getup! Where did they get those outfits!? And check out that ride! Did they rent that out? How could they afford all of this? Did they hit the jackpot or something? I wonder if that’s going to be an important part of the story.

Having eaten the Gol Gol Fruit, Gild seems to be able to control gold with Paramecia-like abilities. It’s possible that Gild is like Pica in that he might not ‘make’ gold, but rather can ‘control’ existing gold. This would be different from a character like Mr. 3 who literally creates wax with his ability. Also check out those rings that he wears, I wonder if he’s less ‘accessorized’ than he is ‘weaponized’.

Following up his appearance in FILM Z, Sakazuki will also be appearing in FILM GOLD. Is he bothered by pressure from the powers that be staying his hand with respect to Gild? Does his appearance here mean the Marines are plotting to move on Gild? If Luffy gets involved that’s gonna be a HUGE mess! No complaints here of course. I wonder if we’ll catch a glimpse of Green Bull as well!

So, exactly *how much* money do you think they lost here?

Oh my gosh! What’re these? They’re so cuuuute!★

NEVER MIND! THAT’S TERRIFYING! Motion-sensing owls!? Ohhhh, I get it. Video snails only show an image but if these owls sense movement they can automatically activate alarms by calling. Looks like the Straw Hats are trying to sneak into a secure area. Is that Carina with them? Huh? Isn’t she on Gild’s side? Is there something hiding behind her shining smile?

Looks like there will be a battle aboard Sunny! Zoro’s in his ‘onboard’ outfit so does that place this scene at the start of the film. Is this battle the trigger for the Straw Hats to visit Gran Tesoro?

What’s this place!? It looks like a downright McDuckish-sized vault! Oh no! Check out Luffy’s arms here, they’re being coated in gold! And is he…flying? If he’s gilded does that mean Gild can control his movements!?

J, Japanese clothes? Why? It looks like they’re being slowly covered in gold! Is Gild going to make statues of them??? Wh, WHY!? LUFFY! THEY NEED YOU!

The film’s July release in Japan will answer all of these questions and more! I can’t wait!