CURIOSITIES

R: Oda-sensei, hello. I just have something I’d like to ask you. On the cover of Chapter 518, there you could see the home of the CP9. This looks like very similar to the east tower on the Jian Xin Yu in my hometown “Wenzhou” in China, so did you draw inspiration from it? I have to ask this.
O: Oh, it’s that tower without a doubt. It’s the training ground of the CP9, and I thought for me, who has grown up in a generation of Kung Fu movies, a Chinese oriented setting would be fine. I assume that’s why I chose it. I intented to take my cue from far away landscapes, but I’m proud to know there live people who read One Piece. Thank you for the letter.

The Holy Land Mariejois is the capital of the World Government and functions as the primary path which individuals seeking to enter the other, far more tumultuous and dangerous side of the Grand Line, the New World, pass through. This route is open only to persons within the jurisdiction of the law; in other words, Marines and World Government agents. This elegant capital furthermore serves as the headquarters of the World Goverment, the main governing body of the One Piece world. Mariejois’ significance and unrivaled importance is also illustrated by the fact that the Reverie meets here on a regular basis in order to discuss current international events and propose and implement solutions.

The Holy Land of Mariejois shows a very strong resemblance to the Château de Chambord, located in France. It is one of the world’s most recognizable châteaux because of its distinct French Renaissance architecture which was never completed. It was constructed by King François I.

*Chapter 814 Spoilers

So many of our latest suspicions were correct in that the Vinsmokes are prominent figures in the underworld. And a twist..they are assassins!! Now we know what the Vinsmokes are. But for them to be only a family of assassins and wield enough power to get an only alive poster for Sanji shows how powerful the head of the family is. And that also means Sanji has two older siblings who must be powerful as well.

My fascinations from this chapter are:

1. Why is a family able to have the WG’s and the Yonko’s co-operation at the same time? It’s unprecedented as far as I know.
2. Why are the WG even co-operating with assassins when they have the Cipher Pol at their disposal?
3. Cipher Pol don’t seem to be related to the Vinsmokes, Sanji didn’t recognize them at Water 7 or seem to be familiar with them.

Ultimately, just who are the Vinsmokes and why are they so powerful? They’re playing both sides. Perhaps, they’re Black Mailing the WG?

Cavendish has an unusual condition, where he possesses a combination of narcolepsy, sleepwalking and Dissociative identity disorder. His inner personality, Hakuba, awakens when Cavendish falls asleep and grants him incredible speed, to the point that he moves too fast for the eyes to track; even with Haki he can barely be seen. Due to this, back in theRommel Kingdom, everyone believed it was the wind that was slashing people. As such, the phenomenon became known as the “Kamaitachi of Rommel“. An even greater example of Hakuba’s speed is that he instantly defeated Dellinger, an executive of the Donquixote Pirates, without even being seen, who himself is renowned for defeating opponents with his speed.

As a fighting style it is not ideal for match-style fights like the competition in Corrida Colosseum. Though he defeated the twenty strongest fighters in Block D instantly, in the end it led to Rebecca’s victory (as she was the only one who managed to see and barely block his attack) as he promptly fell asleep afterwards. It is also not ideal for fighting alongside comrades as Hakuba will attack both enemies and allies alike.

Cavendish has been shown to be able to surpress Hakuba to a degree where he can access his incredible speed without losing control, but only for a very short duration, and he will still fall asleep afterwards.

Many people think that Bonney may be Big Mom’s daughter and I agree. Like Lola and Purin, being named similarly to sweet foods: Lolly and Pudding, Bonney is also named similarly to a sweet food. Jewelry Bonney’s name can actually be phonetically pronounced by Japanese people as:
‘Jujubes Bonney’. Jujubes are French Candy/Sweets , fitting the French theme of the Big Mom Pirates. Also, another French sweet food, Bonbon – is similar to her name. Her name clearly fits.

Bonney has bright red lips similar to Lola and Big Mom, whom are likely her relatives. They all have pink hair and all of them can eat excessive amounts of food as well as ALL THREE of them having the same heart shaped lips! She has also been shown on a Cake Island/Ship, likely associating her with Big Mom.

Sabo was 10 years old when Dragon took him under his wing. When he joined the Revolutionary Army, he had already accepted their ideals. So Hack, who was the training instructor for orphans, decided to teach Sabo as well. But unfortunately Sabo was already so strong, that there wasn’t anything Hack could teach him.. Finally, Sabo ended up taking the training from Dragon himself, and kept on becoming stronger and stronger along the years.

When Sabo was 13 years old, Koala (age 14) joined the Revolutionary Army. Hack and Koala took good care of Sabo and they often undertook missions as a team.

Source: SBS Volume 80

Chapter 124 Page 1. Sanji carrying a suitcase having the words “The Secret” and number 1830 while pointing to a sign board with the name Tsuru, who could be Vice Admiral Tsuru who was stationed at North Blue 13 years ago, where Sanji is born. Could this mean Tsuru know about Sanji’s past and Vinsmoke family? Oh, and the chapter name “This Tea is Really Delicious”

 

Marco ate a Devil Fruit referred to as a Mythical Zoan type; an immensely powerful type of Zoan Devil Fruit, said to be the rarest type, even rarer than Logia fruits. His Devil Fruit enables him to transform into a phoenix. It is because of this ability that he is identified as “Marco the Phoenix”. While this fruit’s power is classified as a Zoan, due to the uniqueness of the phoenix, the additional powers it grants may be considered similar to those of Paramecia (the somewhat “superhuman” power that affects the user’s body: regeneration) and Logia (the generation of blue phoenix flames).

This Devil Fruit gives Marco increased physical attributes (as is with all Zoan types) and the rare ability of flight, as well as the possibility of launching aerial attacks. During the Battle of Marineford, Marco showcased his aerial maneuverability by traversing quickly across the battlefield and supervised the assault in Whitebeard’s place. He can transform his feet into phoenix talons, with which he can slash his enemies.

Like other Zoan users, Marco is able to take a hybrid human-beast form. However, Marco’s control over his transformations seems to be the greatest of any other Zoan user shown so far, as unlike most other Zoan users (Laffitte, Chopper, and Onigumo, possibly being the only known exceptions), Marco can transform selective parts of his body into phoenix form without changing his whole appearance. In his most commonly seen human-beast form, Marco only transforms his arms into wings of fire (sometimes choosing to maintain his hands) so that he can fly and still attack with standard kicks.

The fruit’s greatest attribute, however, is that by transforming into a phoenix of blue flames at will, Marco can regenerate any wounds with the blue fire he generates, much like how a phoenix is said to rise from its own ashes. Because of this, Marco is very resilient and can take a huge amount of damage in his phoenix form with no visible consequence other than the time taken to regenerate. He was thus able to block a barrage of simultaneous lasers from Kizaru, and even intercepted, with the help of Busoshoku Haki, Akainu’s magma punch, an attack that was so damaging it burned and eventually took the life of the fire Logia-user Ace; the latter feat suggests that phoenix flames are superior to Akainu’s magma and Ace’s fire, or this could have just been due to Marco’s healing powers. These blue flames are not hot and they do not burn or spread like normal fire; instead, they are what allow him to heal, though there is a limit to the regeneration and are referred to as the “Blue Flames of Resurrection” Marco can recover from any damage he accumulates in his human form by reverting to his phoenix, or hybrid phoenix form, or just by summoning blue flames around his body. He has even been seen recovering using mere scattered flames and turning into his human form simultaneously, proving that he is quite resilient and calm when prepared for an impact. This allows him to even recover from any injuries taken while touching seastone, but only after he stops being in contact with it. This gives Marco a huge advantage that no Logia user has, since the damage done to Logia users with their powers disabled remain permanent. This is not the case with Marco, as he can heal when necessary.

Despite the fact that it cannot be used as a weapon, he can still summon the blue flames around his person, in his human form (possibly by partially shifting into his hybrid form or full-phoenix form), as seen when he engulfed his arm with the said flames as he prepared to confront Akainu.

Other than the aforementioned weaknesses, Marco is also susceptible to the standard Devil Fruit weaknesses like any user.

Are you a little confused about the recent events in the New World? You can no longer tell who is allied with whom and who is against whom? Here is the solution! Two explanatory pages from the last issue of Weekly Shonen Jump!

*Here is the Translation:

Kaido and Doflamingo had business dealings.

Law and Doflamingo are connected by fate.

Law/Luffy crushed Doflamingo.

Law/Luffy targeting Kaido.

Drake is under the umbrella (?) of Kaido. (Note the question mark).

Luffy has respect/promise towards Shanks.

Luffy and Big Mom are antagonistic towards each other.

Capone is under the umbrella of Big Mom.

Kid/Apoo/Hawkins targeting Shanks.

Kid/Apoo/Hawkins battled/at war/hostile towards Kaido.

Weevil targeting Blackbeard.

Kuzan collaborating with Blackbeard? (Note the question mark).

Kuzan and Sakazuki are antagonistic towards eachother.

Sakazuki hunting/searching for Bonney.

Blackbeard heading to Rev. HQ? (Note the question mark).

Sakazuki was nominated for the position of fleet admiral after Sengoku had retired. Kuzan, however, was against the idea of having him become the new fleet admiral and the two admirals battled each other for the position on Punk Hazard. The battle lasted for ten days and their respective powers caused Punk Hazard to permanently be frozen on one half and burning on the other. In the end, Sakazuki ended up as the victor of that battle, although both men were seriously wounded. Sakazuki, however, decided to let Kuzan live because they were comrades.His new leadership has given the Marines a stronger sense of Absolute Justice. Not wanting to serve under Sakazuki, Kuzan decided to resign from the Marines. After becoming fleet admiral, Sakazuki decided to relocate the Marine Headquarters to the New World in exchange for the G-1branch.

As fleet admiral, Sakazuki instituted a mandatory draft to bolster the forces of the Marines; Admirals Fujitora and Ryokugyu were recruited in this draft.