Oda's Deep Thoughts

How to Read

Keep it Green

Once you open the main page, please keep it open in its own tab or window for the duration of your browsing. The text alone is over 37,000 words and the code itself is far more than that. It's a memory drain on my server and as frequent visitors know, my page usually exceeds bandwidth usage at the end of each month. The guide is now double the size of its previous incarnation and remains the single-largest memory drain on my site. Please be considerate when browsing and access the data. As I don't profit from my site, whether the site is accessible or not has little impact on myself and the only ones who will be adversely affected are readers looking for information i.e. you.

Finding Information Fast

I constructed the bulk of the guide alone and with little knowledge of code beyond HTML it's not within my ability to create fancy pop-up Java or Flash-enabled conveniences. And so, for the sake of convenience, the guide proper is a single page. This means that while the length of the page is considerable, it's extremely easy to find anything you're looking for almost instantly. This can be achieved with the following shortcuts:

Ctrl+f for PC users or Cmd+f for Mac users. Keyboard shortcuts might be old-school but they also get the job done quickly.

Reading the Guide

Considering the many additions to the guide, while I think most of it is self-explanatory, here are some detailed explanations that may help you understand the layout.

1. These are the issue numbers of Weekly Shonen JUMP. While there are 52 weeks in a year, due to so-called 'double issues' there are usually only 48 (actual) issues published per 'publishing year' despite their numbering. For reference, Shueisha's 'publishing year' (i.e. starting with Issue #1 and ending with the last number of a year) does not actually start and finish at the end of December. Issues switch over to a new 'publishing year' as early as late November. Visual cues help differentiate between years such as the color and font style of issue spines and the layout of the table of contents.

Also keep an eye out for 'double issues'. If you see a volume number listed as, for example, '35+36' the plus in the middle indicates that this was a 'double issue'. Although this might give the impression that such an issue contains twice the amount of chapters, it does not. It simply indicates that there will be no JUMP released the following week. These usually occur around national holidays. Aside from double issues, JUMP will only cease publication for a week on short notice in the case of extreme nationwide emergencies such as the March 2011 Great Earthquake of Eastern Japan.

2. This is, as per my research, the actual release date of a given issue. There are instances where these may not match the advertised street date of a given issue. Reasons for this are detailed in the guide proper.

3. This gold asterisk denotes that there may be an inconsistency with the release date, reasons for which are detailed in the guide proper. It could also denote a Saturday release.

4. This is the chapter number of One Piece. In the event that Oda took a break, this space will be labeled as 'Break'.

5. This gold asterisk is the explanation for possible date inconsistencies or a Saturday release.

1. Blue text in brackets indicates that these words were not originally used by Oda. I have added them in English for ease of reading since the authors' comments are, generally speaking, dramatically abbreviated as is. In all cases, attempts were made to preserve the exact same meaning and nuance implied by the author. In any cases where the implications were ambiguous, I did not add any words.

2. Asterisks are self-explanatory. You may follow them directly below Oda's comment for detailed information.

3. Here you will find information within brackets relating to the corresponding asterisk. In the event that there are no more mentions or instances related to this topic, the brackets will close at the end of the explanation. However, if there are more mentions or related comments, the brackets will remain open, as pictured above.

4. As you can see, this line appears where there is more information related to the topic. In this case 'See also:', it means there are other mentions of this topic by either Oda, other authors or editors. Note that only the first instances of a topic will include the test 'See also' followed by at least one clickable link. In subsequent appearances, those chapters will be linked back to that first instance. In short, not all appearances are linked to one another. Only the first appearance is linked to all other instances. Note that the brackets from the above explanation fully close on this this line keeping the related information together.

5. This is a clickable link to subsequent mentions or appearances of the above topic. Clicking it will take you directly to the listed chapter or issue. You may return to the original instance by clicking the appropriate chapter link found at the destination. Once clicked, links will change to a pink color so you may easily distinguish between what you have already read. Note that on the main guide I have not linked to instances of reoccurring topics which appear within my own definitions as it would only clutter the main guide. However, you may find links to such information by using the Relation Charts (explained in detail below).

1. Related comments, like topics, are associated to the comment via asterisks. Related comments differ from 'topics' in that while they may not mention the exact same people, places, locations, etc. they do follow a similar motif.

2. Not all related comments are linked to one another. Like the topics, they have a 'root'. The root is the source of all related comments pertaining to a specific motif. All related comments are linked back to their root, from which you may visit them all with ease.

1. The right-most column is reserved for comments from other authors and Shueisha's editors that relate to One Piece. As pictured here, the first appearance of an author is always accompanied by a brief description of them and their work. However, in the case editors, I have listed only their family name for swift and easy distinction from authors.

2. After each author's name follows one or two of the author's showcase series for easy recognition.

3. This is the author or editor's comment. As things can easily get crowded in this column, I've tried to differentiate the comment from any explanations which I've provided, by bolding the text of the comment. As with Oda's comments, these are linked by topic and related motifs.

Using Relation Charts

Relation Charts are essentially lists of every instance of person, group, etc. pertaining to a related topic. For example, while Osamu Tezuka is mentioned once by name, he also appears in definitions that I have provided. If you're looking to find absolutely every instance of Osamu Tezuka and don't feel like sifting through Ctrl+f (or Cmd+f), then this is your next best option.

Listing the data in this way also helps readers see how many times Oda mentioned someone by name or vice versa (I'm glaring at you, Yoshio Sawai!). Also, since reading every single comment is quite a chore, these charts allow you to see some topics that you otherwise may have missed.

Points to Note

All dates have been verified, checked, rechecked, re-rechecked, re-re-rechecked, re-re-re-rechecked and sometimes, re-re-re-re-re-rechecked. That said I'm still human. If you have any questions or comments about suspicious release dates, please contact me.

I made a design choice not to bold and italicize every instance of 'Weekly Shonen JUMP' in the main guide. This was entirely a design choice as it appears many times and italicizing with bold sometimes interferes with the format. I might change my mind but the current choice is a deliberate, albeit poor punctuation, choice.

You'll notice lack of punctuation at the end of some comments. That's because they were originally published without punctuation. In an effort to remain as authentic as possible I've intentionally left them that way in almost every instance up to approximately 2002. When I have time I will look over the comments from 2002 forward and make sure they are accurate.

You might notice that many entries are abrupt with heavy use of contractions and colloquial phrases. Authors are given a character limit for their weekly comment entries and it's all they can do to express something meaningful with just a few characters. The abbreviated nature of the translations are intended to convey the familiar and sometimes hectic nature of the comments.

As you read, you might think to yourself, “Wow, Oda’s really milking the merchandise isn’t he?” Please consider that his comments stem from two objectives far more important than greed:

· He genuinely wants to get information about different ways to enjoy One Piece to fans of all ages

· He has a responsibility to the people working on the various incarnations of One Piece to support them and their jobs

One Piece has grown into something of an industry itself, so just keep that in mind when you see him plugging movies or video games X weeks in a row.