Chapter Discussion One Piece Chapter 963: Becoming Samurai

[Salah Eddine]

WBP who appeared are WB himself, Marco, Jozu, Vista, Rakuyo (7th Division), Kingdew (11th Division), Atmos (14th Division),
Fossa (15th Division), as for the Allies who seem to have being part of Main Crew too, we have Epoida, Whitey Bay & Andre

Ofc we know that in next Chapter, Oden will join them along with Izo & Inu/Neko & possibly Denjiro too

It's not safe to say that WB was in his Prime that time, because first of all, we haven't seen his DF yet, we don't know if his Rivalry with Roger started yet or not and it doesn't seem like he have his own Territory (And became Yonko) yet, but he was definitely very close and seeing how Oden clashed with him (It seems both unleashed CoC), it clearly shows us that Oden was truly powerful and no different than the big shots,
i'm sure that in his final years, he was Solid Highest Tier along with Yonko

At first we thought that Oden was just powerful enough to really hurt Kaido & then lose but honestly seeing how powerful he is now, it's really possible Oden was about to defeat Kaido & Orochi saved him & tricked Oden/Helped Kaido which explains Yasuie words and why Kaido respects Orochi and gives him Equal Authority

Also i hope people stop underestimating Swordsmen, i mean Story started with Luffy & Zoro promising to surpass Shanks & Mihawk
And now when we reached the Final Arcs of OP, Oda is again hyping how Powerful Swordsmen are (First by Ryuma & now by Oden)
While highlighting Kaido & BM as Villains, and keeping Shanks/Mihawk for later
So pls stop underestimating those two xD

 

[Rej]

One Piece is somehow suffering I dont know why.
Kawamatsu a Fishman? This is the whackest character reveal in the whole show.

Else the build up was super nice, liked it and now relevant stuff will hopefully happen!

 

[Salah Eddine]

One Piece is somehow suffering I dont know why.
Kawamatsu a Fishman? This is the whackest character reveal in the whole show.

This was obvious, he can't be anything else
Don't see the problem here

 

[Rej]

This was obvious, he can't be anything else
Don't see the problem here

Mink and Fishmen halfbreed?
Oda is just speeding up and doesnt wanna include new races, or new halfbreeds.

Ofc it was obvious, for the quality of the show I'd keep it secret.

 

[Salah Eddine]

Mink and Fishmen halfbreed?
Oda is just speeding up and doesnt wanna include new races, or new halfbreeds.

Ofc it was obvious, for the quality of the show I'd keep it secret.

The problem is that there is nothing "Mink" about him
He was obviously 100% Fishman
Minks aren't just Animals, they are Furry Animals
But Kawamatsu is completely a Fishman with long hair

Oda is doing this on purpose to show how Wano is isolated
They don't know Minks, Fishmen, Devil Fruits .... etc
I mean Devil Fruits were described as Sorcery, other Races as Demons ... etc

And we already have Mysteries of King's Race & that Fox (If he have DF or not), not to mention Kaido's Nature & those Monsters
And we also saw tons of Races in Totto Land and weird stuff so i really don't think Oda is speeding up

 

[Rej]

The problem is that there is nothing "Mink" about him
He was obviously 100% Fishman
Minks aren't just Animals, they are Furry Animals
But Kawamatsu is completely a Fishman with long hair

Oda is doing this on purpose to show how Wano is isolated
They don't know Minks, Fishmen, Devil Fruits .... etc
I mean Devil Fruits were described as Sorcery, other Races as Demons ... etc

And we already have Mysteries of King's Race & that Fox (If he have DF or not), not to mention Kaido's Nature & those Monsters
And we also saw tons of Races in Totto Land and weird stuff so i really don't think Oda is speeding up

from that perspective its okay

But yea Oda is speeding up. He stuffes more and more information in one chapter. This chapter solely was giving us some race conflict build up, some whitebeard pirates buildup, some Orochi build up, generic wano arc build up, generic power scaling.
Things where Oda used multiple chapters back then are now comprimised. Oda basically went from working up aprox 2 plotlines per chapter to like 4 plotlinesper chapter. And yes he always gets back to old plotlines like the Izo stuff recently. And how he ties open plotlines to the rocks plotlines.

Who would have ever guessed that Izos recruitment into the WB pirates is basically a result of the Rocks era ending. Which was a fuel for both Oden and WB to move on.
Oda filling up the stuff is actually speeding up. Increasing the pace and when Oda does it recently then its more likely to fire back and it always gets criticized, like people criticized the WCI plot.

And Naito basically said if you wanna catch up to OP it makes sense to start with Volume 91 and you can skip WCI because relevant stuff starts now with wano arc.

I am curious to see Jinbei and Kawamatsu dynamics if any will be there else i rly dont care about him being a fishman and how he ended up on Wano. It was dropped and I was like "uhm okay he is a fishman lets move on".

 

[Salah Eddine]

from that perspective its okay

But yea Oda is speeding up. He stuffes more and more information in one chapter. This chapter solely was giving us some race conflict build up, some whitebeard pirates buildup, some Orochi build up, generic wano arc build up, generic power scaling.
Things where Oda used multiple chapters back then are now comprimised. Oda basically went from working up aprox 2 plotlines per chapter to like 4 plotlinesper chapter. And yes he always gets back to old plotlines like the Izo stuff recently. And how he ties open plotlines to the rocks plotlines.

Who would have ever guessed that Izos recruitment into the WB pirates is basically a result of the Rocks era ending. Which was a fuel for both Oden and WB to move on.
Oda filling up the stuff is actually speeding up. Increasing the pace and when Oda does it recently then its more likely to fire back and it always gets criticized, like people criticized the WCI plot.

And Naito basically said if you wanna catch up to OP it makes sense to start with Volume 91 and you can skip WCI because relevant stuff starts now with wano arc.

I am curious to see Jinbei and Kawamatsu dynamics if any will be there else i rly dont care about him being a fishman and how he ended up on Wano. It was dropped and I was like "uhm okay he is a fishman lets move on".

Oda did say many years ago that he tries to put as much content in one chapter as he can, this isn't something new tbh
And the examples u mentioned are about Flashback Chapters, and there is a limit to Flashbacks, no matter how interesting they are, Oda can't waste like 2 Volumes on them, it ruins the Main Story, so he tries to finish most long Flashbacks in just one Volume (This isn't the first time really)

Also i need to remind u that not long ago, Fans were fed up by how Oda prolonged Udon Plot and really criticized it and said that Oda need to speed up, and c'mon let's be honest, we are still in Build Up part of Wano and nothing major happened yet really and we are like almost 60 chapters in this Arc (It's already longer than most other OP Arcs)

Oda also said in MF that he could have added tons of contents and make each Chapter have like 30 Pages (Or 50, forgot exact number)
But due to Limited number of Pages, he have to remove lot of details and focus on what is needed
Not to mention that he leaves lot of Content for Anime to make, which is really helpful since they are like 1 Chapter per Episode (Sometimes less)

And you just answered yourself, you said that Relevant stuff starts from Wano and readers can skip WCI and yet Oda decided to waste like 80 Chapters for that Arc even though it wasn't really needed since BM is gonna be a Main Villain in Wano too
Not to mention that Fans actually criticized WCI for bring so slow sometimes (Like Seducing Wood Chapters & BM Chase that went forever)

Based on Oda's words, i think it's really simple and here is how Oda works:
He definitely wants to finish One Piece as soon as possible (Said it many times) so yes he wants to speed up
But every time he gets a new idea, he makes sure to add it and prolong Story (Said it many times too, he said he planned Arcs to be 30 Chapters and they end up like almost 100)
Shichibukai & Supernova & Vivi ... etc are more than proof
Chapters are limited by Number of Pages & Anime need Content to not catch up to Manga so Oda tries to compile as much as he can in Chapters

All of these are from his Statements really, so it's understandable
Anyway, i just wanted to reply to explain why Story is sometimes fast and sometimes slow, i totally respect & understand your opinion
And it definitely feels bad when we wish for more content, longer fights, better revelations ... etc but don't get them

 

[Nocvius]

At first we thought that Oden was just powerful enough to really hurt Kaido & then lose but honestly seeing how powerful he is now, it's really possible Oden was about to defeat Kaido & Orochi saved him & tricked Oden/Helped Kaido which explains Yasuie words and why Kaido respects Orochi and gives him Equal Authority

A theory:
Kaido was nearly killed by Oden. It's a possible feat after this chapter shows how Oden was able to stand toe to toe against Whitebeard.
Oden used his Togen Shirataki on Kaido, inflicted that big "X" wound around Kaido's ribs.

How did Kaido survive & Oden lose?
1. Kaido surviving may have something to do with Big Mom.
Big Mom mentioned that Kaido owes her a favor for life a long time ago.
Big Mom also said this during WCI to Luffy "That isn't something you can defeat". Maybe she referred to Kaido's "immortality".
And speaking about "immortality", one may get that from Ope Ope no Mi.
It is possible Big Mom knew the previous Ope Ope no Mi user & made him perform a miraculous surgery on Kaido.
Whether it was the immortality surgery or not, the point that Big Mom saved Kaido's life remains.
And the fact that Big Mom knows where Wano is, and now she's even here in Wano, is probably not a coincidence.

2. Oden "lost" because of that snake Orochi.
This chapter teased Sukiyaki's death by the hands of Orochi, most likely from poisoning.
Orochi then accused Oden, just like that Yasuie's stolen money case (that was a foreshadowing).
With that, the entire country labeled Oden a criminal, and he was executed in the Flower Capital just like Yasuie died.

 

[Rej]

Oda did say many years ago that he tries to put as much content in one chapter as he can, this isn't something new tbh
And the examples u mentioned are about Flashback Chapters, and there is a limit to Flashbacks, no matter how interesting they are, Oda can't waste like 2 Volumes on them, it ruins the Main Story, so he tries to finish most long Flashbacks in just one Volume (This isn't the first time really)

Also i need to remind u that not long ago, Fans were fed up by how Oda prolonged Udon Plot and really criticized it and said that Oda need to speed up, and c'mon let's be honest, we are still in Build Up part of Wano and nothing major happened yet really and we are like almost 60 chapters in this Arc (It's already longer than most other OP Arcs)

Oda also said in MF that he could have added tons of contents and make each Chapter have like 30 Pages (Or 50, forgot exact number)
But due to Limited number of Pages, he have to remove lot of details and focus on what is needed
Not to mention that he leaves lot of Content for Anime to make, which is really helpful since they are like 1 Chapter per Episode (Sometimes less)

And you just answered yourself, you said that Relevant stuff starts from Wano and readers can skip WCI and yet Oda decided to waste like 80 Chapters for that Arc even though it wasn't really needed since BM is gonna be a Main Villain in Wano too
Not to mention that Fans actually criticized WCI for bring so slow sometimes (Like Seducing Wood Chapters & BM Chase that went forever)

Based on Oda's words, i think it's really simple and here is how Oda works:
He definitely wants to finish One Piece as soon as possible (Said it many times) so yes he wants to speed up
But every time he gets a new idea, he makes sure to add it and prolong Story (Said it many times too, he said he planned Arcs to be 30 Chapters and they end up like almost 100)
Shichibukai & Supernova & Vivi ... etc are more than proof
Chapters are limited by Number of Pages & Anime need Content to not catch up to Manga so Oda tries to compile as much as he can in Chapters

All of these are from his Statements really, so it's understandable
Anyway, i just wanted to reply to explain why Story is sometimes fast and sometimes slow, i totally respect & understand your opinion
And it definitely feels bad when we wish for more content, longer fights, better revelations ... etc but don't get them

oh, no man, you are completely right

fact is Oda built himself a network and people that see more than just one thing will...how do I say...easily see the network and be intrigued by it

for example I would have kept Kawamatsu's origins for some other part of Wano and insert a tad bit more into it than plainly taking away material to hype

also Oda is running out of material to hype after dropping the Imu and the Rocks bombs
that's why we are getting the Oda and Naito reveals recently I feel

+OP has alot of competition right now and Oda and team has expectations on sales probably.
that's why blunt statements like "you can skiip and start from volume 91 on" are just for the sake of pushing manga sales ( heard it also from other youtubers recently)

You know I dont even have a bad feeling about Oda if its about what he wanna do, I have more of a bad feeling of Odas surroundings.

 

[Ranger]

OMG!!! It was so hype to see the original Whitebeard Pirates!!!

Epoida and my gurl White Bay??? No way! There was some other big guy too that I thought was Jozu for a second before seeing young Jozu.

Also Vista was already looking swol af in his younger days! And Marco was just a boy xD so cute!

I can’t believe that Oden just straight runs up and “Brooks” Whitebeard by asking him to join instantly hahaha

Also the part where Oden’s retainers suddenly became really dignified was both hilarious and soooo heart warming!
100/10 chapter would read again:lazydance:

 

[Rej]

OMG!!! It was so hype to see the original Whitebeard Pirates!!!

Epoida and my gurl White Bay??? No way! There was some other big guy too that I thought was Jozu for a second before seeing young Jozu.

Also Vista was already looking swol af in his younger days! And Marco was just a boy xD so cute!

I can’t believe that Oden just straight runs up and “Brooks” Whitebeard by asking him to join instantly hahaha

Also the part where Oden’s retainers suddenly became really dignified was both hilarious and soooo heart warming!
100/10 chapter would read again:lazydance:

oh Oden is fascinating and how he approaches people, that indeed was big art by Oda and hyped me up for the next chapter
sadly my focus now again moved to the Whitebeard pirates I will forgive Oda if he gives us some nice Oden, Scabbards and WB pirate dynamics next chapter.

Remember the party the Heart Pirates, the Strawhat Pirates and the marines with Smoker and Tashigi had on Punk Hazard after Ceasars defeat? It was forging a bond back then, I hope to see something similair here.

 

[stala_dynar]

They all looking so cute! just look at Kiku playing with Neko :lazylaughplz: endless cuteness!!

it's great to see how they changed and learned how to be real samurai and got respected and appreciated as such! They look amazing!

young Marco though lmao looks super funny

 

[AaronC]

Dude how much gas is Oden going to get, not even sweating clashing with Whitebeard. Even though Whitebeard doesn't appear to be in his prime here it still doesn't shake the fact that Oden is at the very least somewhat comparable to him at this point in time, which is crazy.

I guess Oden scarring Kaido wasn't just a combination of luck and Enma hax.

 

[Jake Wu Long]

From my perspective, if Oda don't accelerate the flashback, we may see:

•Oden's join to WB's crew after the clash
•How Oden knew Lady Toki and more about her origin.
•Children's Momo & Hiyori's birth.
•A situation of climax happiness before the fall
•Orochi's deal with Kaido.
•War againts Oden and Kaido & Orochi's victory.
•Oden assassination and his last words.

How many chapters are going to be until the flashback really ends?

 

[Suppiluliuma]

Beautiful chapter!!
Haven't enjoyed an OP chapter like this for quite a while..

And having my favourite character in OP, Whitebeard makes this chapter extra glorious for me.

From my perspective, if Oda don't accelerate the flashback, we may see:

•Oden's join to WB's crew after the clash
•How Oden knew Lady Toki and more about her origin.
•Children's Momo & Hiyori's birth.
•A situation of climax happiness before the fall
•Orochi's deal with Kaido.
•War againts Oden and Kaido & Orochi's victory.
•Oden assassination and his last words.

How many chapters are going to be until the flashback really ends?

Yeah, I'd love to know all these details, especially how Oden met Lady Toki. Perhaps she appeared the same way that Kinemon et al appeared in Wano 20 years later.. a light in the sky at Kuri mountain.

 

[God_Usopun]

Look how worried WB was when he sensed the man. The dude had conqueror clash with WB. A beast indeed

 

[Nessos]

How many chapters are going to be until the flashback really ends?

Compared to previous BG stories

• Skypia - 7.5 chapters
• Water 7 - 6 chapters
• EL - 7 chaoters
• FI - 6.5 chapters
• DR - 6.5 chapters
• WCI - 2 chaptets

we can expect this one may also take 6-8 chapters. 3 chapters done -> 3-5 chapters done. Based on our knowledge of time we can expect what happened next.
So far we had

• 41 years ago: 16 year old Oden got exiled
• 39 years ago: 18 year old Oden became Daimyo of Kuri
• 33 years ago: 24 year old Oden saved Kawamatsu, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi
• 30 years ago: 27 year old Oden clashed with WB and joins his crew

What comes next

• ~29 years ago: Oden meets Toki (puts a bun in the oven )
• 28 years ago: Momo is born
• 28 years ago: Roger started his journey(0-3 years till Oden joins his crew)
• 26 years ago: Hiyori is Born
• 25 years ago: 32 year old Oden decided to return to Wano
• 24 years ago: Roger died
• (22 years ago: Roger, Oden, Inu and Neko visited Skypia*)
• 20 years ago: 37 year old Oden dies

*definetly messed up. In 820 Inu and Neko also mentioned they were in skypia.so.I was hoping 301 have us a hint when Roger and Oden met, but Gandord said 20 years ago (should have been at least 23 years ago).

 

[crazyclown]

Compared to previous BG stories

• Skypia - 7.5 chapters
• Water 7 - 6 chapters
• EL - 7 chaoters
• FI - 6.5 chapters
• DR - 6.5 chapters
• WCI - 2 chaptets

we can expect this one may also take 6-8 chapters. 3 chapters done -> 3-5 chapters done. Based on our knowledge of time we can expect what happened next.
So far we had

• 41 years ago: 16 year old Oden got exiled
• 39 years ago: 18 year old Oden became Daimyo of Kuri
• 33 years ago: 24 year old Oden saved Kawamatsu, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi
• 30 years ago: 27 year old Oden clashed with WB and joins his crew

What comes next

• ~29 years ago: Oden meets Toki (puts a bun in the oven )
• 28 years ago: Momo is born
• 28 years ago: Roger started his journey(0-3 years till Oden joins his crew)
• 26 years ago: Hiyori is Born
• 25 years ago: 32 year old Oden decided to return to Wano
• 24 years ago: Roger died
• (22 years ago: Roger, Oden, Inu and Neko visited Skypia*)
• 20 years ago: 37 year old Oden dies

*definetly messed up. In 820 Inu and Neko also mentioned they were in skypia.so.I was hoping 301 have us a hint when Roger and Oden met, but Gandord said 20 years ago (should have been at least 23 years ago).

Very neat stuffs, thanks for this timeline. In the version I read, Gan Fall said Roger visited Skypiea "more than 20 years ago" which line up to the timeline.

It is possible that Lady Toki was also onboard Whitebeard and Roger's ship? Doesn't sound right but the timeline implies thats what happened. I think the flashback will skip most of the part where Oden is pirating and focus on the +- 5 years from him returning to Wano until his death, those 5 years must be pretty rough.

 

[Rell45]

One Piece is somehow suffering I dont know why.
Kawamatsu a Fishman? This is the whackest character reveal in the whole show.

Else the build up was super nice, liked it and now relevant stuff will hopefully happen!

Wat I kinda felt he was a fish man

 

[Beky]

Oden is legit no joke. Question is how he lost tho. I mean from what i can tell he lost pretty easily to Kaido. There was no mention of a big slash , only scar he gave to Kaido

Also LOL at young Marco, dude legit looks like a pineapple