第78回：J.P. Morgans

MORGANS! What’s the verdict, people? Devil Fruit user!? Homie turned newspaper baron!? Genetic quirk!?

Let’s examine the facts.

Devil Fruit user?
This is possible if we assume that he’s in his beast form. Morgans’ lack of claw arms, like Pell’s in man-beast form, suggest that if he is a Devil Fruit user, he *must* be in beast form here. Odd choice for someone who doesn’t need to fly at the moment but that’s simply speculation.

Homie turned newspaper baron?
It’s possible that Mom found a giant seagull-like bird and put a soul into it, but are we really supposed to believe Mom would create a homie just to head up a newspaper company? A newspaper that she seems to have little more than a passing business-related interest in, while Tottoland even has its own newspaper?

Genetic quirk?
If Morgans were truly a unique one-off genetic miracle Mom would snatch him up in an instant for her collection. This is, in my opinion, the least likely possibility.

Bird person!?

Changing gears at the end here, isn’t Morgans’ newspaper the same newspaper that runs the fictionalized adaptation of Germa66?

The same comic which stars a Marine whose name is coincidentally the same as Sanji’s mother? If Sanji was somehow able to perform an act of heroism at this wedding, might that have an effect on the comic? After years of being mocked in Wanted posters, Sanji might finally get some legitimate worldwide recognition!

The ‘transmissions’ we keep hearing about seem fairly important to Whole Cake Island’s defense and information system but we still don’t know very much about them or their regulation. It’s interesting to note that the word for these ‘transmissions’ in Japanese is 念波 or ‘nenpa’ (sense waves) which is not a ‘real’ word. The nuance suggests something similar to telepathic communication. The word’s similarity to the Japanese word ‘denpa’ (electric waves) is irrefutable especially since denpa means ‘signal’, as in your smart phone signal.

These transmissions seem to be a linked network of communications similar to the internet.　But how are all of these transmissions handled?

What is their link with transponder snails? And the biggest question in my mind, are nenpa transmitted by Homies? For proof of the connection to homies, we go back to Napoleon, a homie himself, receiving a ‘transmission’. Did *he* receive it or is there a transponder snail hidden away in him? Note that there’s a specific *beep beep* sound emitting from Napoleon, *not* the traditional *puru puru* of transponder snails.

If there is a network of communications among homies it doesn’t seem to be a hive-like sense of awareness. If that were the case, Bege would clearly have been found out by the tea party door. Regardless, if nenpa are indeed homie-linked that would be extremely useful. We’ve specifically seen homies keeping track of characters such as the Vinsmokes. But just imagine what could happen if someone who could control the nenpa communications was to meddle with them! The whole of Tottoland could fall into chaos!

An oldie but goodie, did you know that Karoo’s voice actor is actually Hiroaki Hirata who also voices a little-known character named…Sanji!

One can hardly be blamed for missing this bit of trivia since Hirata-san’s name is disguised in the credits as ‘Sokotsuya’ (Mr. Scatterbrain).

Hirata-san is the earliest member of the voice acting cast to adopt this nickname with the other main voice cast adopting ‘branch office’ variations of the name for their own sub-character roles.

Here are a few of the aliases from the main cast:

■Mayumi Tanaka – Monkey D. Luffy
Sokotsuya Hamadayama Branch – Oars, Fake Chopper/Wild Fox

■Kazuki Nakai – Roronoa Zoro (adult)
Sokotsuya Nishi Kobe Branch – Kung Fu Dugong, Pierre, Jigoro, Goat-Ape Zombie, Saldeath, Drip, Kinoconda

■Akemi Okamura – Nami
Sokotsuya Musashino Branch – Sue, Gonbe, Cocoa, Aphelandra

■Kappei Yamaguchi – Usopp
Sokotsuya Shinagawa - Eyelash, Manticora, Snailphone, Minotaurus, Dogra, Manjaro, Viola’s Rocking Horse, Bariete

■Hiroaki Hirata – Sanji (adult)
Sokotsuya – Karoo, Chuchun, Dogpen, Magra, Demalo Black,

Episode 777 hits the jackpot and treats viewers to a lovingly crafted romp down One Piece’s memory (sea) lane. Shigefumi Shingaki’s key animation soars in this transitional episode which introduces intriguing new royal characters while bringing back some familiar faces.

A gracious chunk of the episode is dedicated to a retelling of moments from the *epic* Alabasta arc which were critical to Vivi’s core character and her relationship with Luffy.

Fans definitely needed a review of Vivi’s relation to the crew! Alabasta might not seem that long ago for some but since the Strawhats and Vivi parted ways it’s been 15 years of real time in the comic and animation. What’s to boot (and this is particularly difficult for me to believe) it’s even been a whopping DECADE since the theatrical *retelling* of the arc, Episode of Alabasta! Wow, in this digital age where popularity is a passing phase, luckily for us, One Piece continues to go strong!