The mangaka of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, has once again answered fan questions in the new SBS edition 109. Although the edition has not yet been officially released, we already know which questions were asked to the creator. In doing so, he reveals something about a character that has not been seen until now.
Which character is it about? A fan asked Oda what the member of the Seven Samurai would look like who defeated Ace.
When Saint Saturn wanted to enlist Bartholomew Kuma as a member of the Seven Samurai, he explained that the predecessor samurai of Ace had been defeated. However, we did not learn anything about his identity in the process. Thanks to the fan question, we now know a little more, as shown in the tweet by pewpiece:
The former member of the Seven Samurai who was defeated by Ace was named Hanafuda. Oda remains true to his hallmark, naming characters after cards or card games. Hanafuda is indeed a Japanese card game played with slightly thicker cards.
Oda reveals more facts about Hanafuda:
- His hobby is collecting mythical Zoan fruits. This includes, for example, the Devil Fruit of Yamato from Wano Country. It is unknown why he collects them.
- His height is 5.14 m.
- Hanafuda is known by his nickname “King of the Lizards”.
The image also shows that Hanafuda would have fought with a scythe. There is a morning star on the ground; however, it is unclear whether the chain is directly attached to the scythe as a weapon. But just his strange hobbies lead fans to conclude that he might have been in cahoots with a very specific pirate.
One Piece is full of pirates. In a video, MeinMMO shows you which ships are the coolest:
Possible connection between Hanafuda and Kaido
How is Hanafuda received by fans? In the reddit forum, some think that Hanafuda looks like he could be a former member of the Beast Pirates. This is the pirate group that operates under Kaido’s command.
Hanafuda has several characteristics that would make him perfect for the crew:
- His name is a card game, which fits the pirate crew members who are also named after card games.
- His lizard nickname integrates well into the Beast Pirates, as they consist of various human-animal combinations.
- His hobby of collecting mythical Zoan fruits also fits. Kaido is building an army of Zoan users, but not with the original Devil Fruits.
- With his appearance, he would also fit in well. His shoulder plates would look like Kaido’s horns.
Hanafuda could possibly have been the predecessor of Doflamingo and could have supplied Kaido with SMILE fruits. There might be more behind Hanafuda since Oda would otherwise only be sketching characters that have not been seen yet. The longest anime battle in history is over – Has finally determined a winner after a year and 61 episodes
