 From Kiyoshiro to Denjiro, Komrasaki to Hiyori, Kukimaru to Onimaru, and even the two faces of Kanjiro. Wano has been filled with figures with double identities. Is this what we have here with Odin, or is this something completely different? Hello my Nakamotachi, this is Joygirl, and we are back with a discussion expanding on the mystery revealed in Chapter 1007. And on that note, to anime-only fans who may have slipped past the warnings on the thumbnail and title, please consider this to be your final warning because we are now wading deep into manga-only territory. And before we begin, I want to take this time to remind everyone to subscribe to this channel if you haven't already, because we do have a chapter break this week and these things are always much more bearable when you have one piece related discussions to fill your chapter void and we would hate for you to miss out on any. With that being said, sit back and get comfortable because this is going to be a long discussion. Firstly, the two more obvious possibilities which seem to have been the first figures to come into people's minds, Bon Clay and Katarina Devon. The reason why these two names have immediately popped up is due to their respective devil fruit powers. Bon Clay as the current holder of the Manemanonomi, which allows him to clone himself into anyone he has touched, and Devon with the Inuinunomi, Moro-Kyubi no Kitsune, giving her the ability to transform into anyone. I mean anyone. In fact, I could be Katarina Devon speaking right now. In all seriousness, on top of their transformation abilities, both devil fruits have been seen in use during the 1-0 arc and this placing may have suggested to some that they still have larger roles to play in the current plotline. However, the likelihood of either of these two characters being the Odin we saw in Chapter 1007, is, I'll have to say, it is quite small. Bon Clay can be easily ruled out since he was last seen still imprisoned at Impaldown and he has no connection to Odin or any of the scabbards which would have made it impossible for him to touch the late Damio's face, not to mention that Kurozomi Higurashi had the Manemanonomi for most of the time that Odin was still alive giving Bon Clay a tiny to practically a non-existent window to have activated his ability. Katarina Devon seems similarly out of place, however unlike Bon Clay, there is at least some connection you can make to tie her to 1-0. For one, her epithet, the present moon hunter, plays with the theme of the moon which is heavily present in 1-0 and her initial concept design actually makes her look like a 1-0 inhabitant such as her clothing which looks similar to Nami's Kunoichi uniform as well as the fact that she was originally planned to be a swordsman. Furthermore, the last time that we saw Blackbeard, he announced to his crew that they must make their way to claim the prize that the Marines are also chasing. This prize in question could have been a reference to Kaido's devil fruit power thereby explaining the Blackbeard pirate's presence at 1-0. However, immediately after this scene, we see Kobe tell Drake that the Marines are unable to become involved at 1-0 due to the lack of manpower. So, if Blackbeard was to follow the Marines somewhere, it would have to be to a different location. There is also the question of how Katarina Devon would know to impersonate Odin without knowing what he looks like. Though we don't know how long she has been in Impaldown, we also don't know anything that suggests that she may have seen Odin before. Due to the unknown extent of her ability, one could speculate that perhaps unlike Bond Clay, it doesn't require for her to touch another person's face to activate her ability but she will at least have to know what the other person looks like. And if we go with this assumption, then the most plausible way she could have seen Odin is through his wanted poster, which was released during his time as a member of the Whitebeard Pirates. However, at this point, Odin didn't have his goatee. Yet, in Chapter 1007, the Odin figure was shown with the facial hair which he only developed upon his return to 1-0. Meaning that if anyone copied Odin's appearance, there would have to be someone who had contact with him and knows his exact appearance following his return to 1-0, which Devon doesn't fit. Furthermore, Katarina Devon was able to impersonate Absalom, was not shown to be able to copy his laugh. Considering how distinct each character's laughs are in one piece, if Katarina Devon's devil fruit power also gave her the ability to impersonate others' laughs, this seems like a detail that Odor would have shown to us. So the fact that Odin was shown laughing in Chapter 1007 seems to hint that this can't be someone impersonating Odin. All of these details aside, the appearance of Blackbeard and his crew just feels out of place at this point. Given what we've seen of Blackbeard so far as an opportunist, it seems unlikely he would become entangled in this fight so soon and even if he was making some moves at Wano, I doubt we would see it until much later in the arc. And now that we're done with these two master impersonators, let's move on to the big question. Is Odin alive? Considering that Odor is no stranger to the plot device of Fakeouts, it is worthwhile to explore the possibility of Odin being alive and how this may be explained so that it makes at least logical sense. A key thing that we need to examine first is dialogue. As a very detailed mangaka, Odor often leaves some clues in the very specific words he uses and it seems that this may be again the case here. Odin's last thoughts were Hiori. I shall be the first to leave. And whilst this seemed to be a euphemism for his impending death, perhaps it was referring to his departure from the then-present timeline into the future, knowing that he would be reunited with them 20 years later. This seems to correlate to Toki's words, such as when she jokes, who said you were going to die and tells Odin to look ahead to 20 years in the future. Whilst our initial reading of these scenes may have led to interpretations that Toki was just putting on a brave face so as not to upset Odin and then she's talking to Odin metaphorically, not literally telling him to go forth 20 years, but maybe that is exactly what these words meant. Given Toki's devil fruit power, she could have sent Odin to the future. However, this does leave some issues such as the fact that Odin was shown being shot dead at his execution after withstanding a burning cauldron for a whole hour, to which Kaido specifically stated that Odin's body was dead. But Odin didn't display any scars on his head nor his feet in the latest chapter, which would then mean that Toki must have sent Odin to the future prior to his execution. And this seems to be the prevailing thought held by many. In what I can only imagine as an Avengers and Game-esque time travel sequence, Odin was sent to the future for a short period to appear in front of the scabbards and perhaps to do some other stuff and then brought back to the past where he could die in peace knowing that he has set the stage for the future and our present to play out exactly the way it has. Except this contradicts the fact that we've been told that Toki can only use her ability to travel forward, not backwards. And whilst it is certainly plausible that Odin may be able to find a loophole around this, like revealing to us that this is an awakening of Toki's devil fruit, we will still be left with the question of why she didn't then use this ability to move back in time at another point in the story. Such as going back in time to warn Odin of Kurosumi Higurashi who would trick him during his fight against Kaido. The only explanation I have for this would be that Toki would have been able to see that even if certain things could have been prevented, this still wouldn't result in Wano's borders being opened. Everything that has happened had to have played out the way it has so that we could arrive at the perfect moment when Kaido could be defeated and Odin's dream fulfilled. Again, think end game, one scenario out of millions. Except that we know that Odin knew of the 20-year time period because of what he and the Roger Pirates discovered at Raftel. And there's also the fact that it doesn't seem like Odin and Toki are sure of how or when things will play out. Hiyori wasn't sent forth for that very reason. A Kozuki heir needed to stay back just in case something happened to the group that was sent into the future. Furthermore, are we really to accept that Odin just bided his time knowing the tragedy that would befall his scabbards and the rest of the Wano citizens? In particular, his own daughter? Hiyori had to change her identity to become an Oiran. And sure, we could say that as a very high-ranking Oiran and one protected by Denjiro, she may have had a lot more freedom and didn't actually have to entertain men. But Odin, being the proud warrior he is, it doesn't seem to fit his personality to just sit back and accept all the suffering of so many people. Even until his last moments, Odin remained the headstrong and reckless badass sacrificing himself so that his scabbards would be saved. There's also the fact that from what we have seen of Toki's Devil Fruit ability, when someone is sent forth in time, they also disappear in the present for the same amount of time that they have been propelled forward. For example, the scabbards disappeared for the 20 years that they were sent forth. If we are seeing an Odin who was sent forth by Toki in Chapter 1007, even if he was brought back, he should have disappeared for that long. Unless that is also explained by way of a loophole. And if we go back to examining dialogue, the fact that Odin says, I've missed you to the scabbards seems to contradict the possibility of time travel. If Odin was sent forth in time, though it might have been 20 years since some of the scabbards saw him, it should have only been a very short time for Odin. So it doesn't make sense that he has missed them when he would have seen them only recently. This line by Odin is what really bugs me because it also seems to rule out another possibility I was considering. Examining the last two pages of the last chapter, I thought it was odd that Odin would go to the trouble of showing us the treasure repository from the outside and then a sequence of panels to show Odin opening the door to the room from the inside. Given the different designs for the doors where it seems to be a push and pull door from the outside but then sliding doors or Fusuma from the inside, I considered whether this was some sort of hint. Sure, there could be two set of doors, but then why go to the trouble of showing us the room from the outside? I wondered whether Odin could be appearing in the present from the past, not having actually time traveled but by way of a portal. We don't know exactly how Toki's time travel works, but it's possible that she may have to open up a portal to the future. So is it possible that Odin hasn't actually entered the future but is appearing to the scabbards through a portal? Perhaps the Tasuma doors which he opened are actually the doors of the portal and this could explain the smoke around his legs. Except Odin's line gets in the way again. If Odin is just appearing in front of the scabbards it means he hasn't separated from them for a long period so he should have no reason to have missed them. And yet it's as equally hard to say that Odin has been physically separated from them for that long because he himself hasn't aged. So it doesn't seem like Odin somehow survived his execution and has been hiding for 20 years because he still seems to be his young self. As you can see, whatever time travel trick could be used to provide an explanation for Odin's survival requires a very long-winded explanation. Odor would have to undertake a complex web of explaining time loops not to mention that Odin being alive could result in a massive disappointment to the majority of the fan base. Admittedly Odor has employed the use of fake deaths before but not on this scale. Arguably bringing back Odin, a character in contention of being perhaps the best character ever put to paper largely due to how contained his story was would be a huge disservice to his character and this would be entirely different to when other side characters were brought back because having them live doesn't impact the story to this extent. I've discussed Odor's use of death in his story before and Odin's death is definitely one that fits into the category of significant moments which are used as catalysts to spark plot and character developments. I mean the entirety of the Wano arc and the current battle unfolding is premised on Odin's death. This raid on Onigashima instigated by the Scabbards is to avenge their fallen leader and carry on his will to save Wano and then open its borders per his request. Indeed, Odin's exact words are I want you to open up Wano in my stead. If Odin returns, what would their purpose be? In addition, whilst Odin's strength would certainly come in handy in the fight against the Yonko especially as we now face two it could take away from Luffy's role in the arc not to mention the countless other characters who are being set up to play an important part in this war. Furthermore, there are inconsistencies between the Odin we have seen in the past and the Odin we see in Chapter 1007. We won't spend too much time here because I did mention this in the chapter review but like we said there is the lack of any scars on his body or burn marks on his feet the smoke surrounding his legs as if to suggest this is an illusion I also noticed a strange line above Odin's right eyebrow and I combed through all the panels we have seen Odin previously and we've never seen this feature on his face. Now perhaps this is just a stylistic drawing Odin included to add expression to his face in the latest chapter but why now? There's an interesting theory that one of our Nakama actually drew my attention to which could resolve this question between a living or a dead Odin and that is the possibility of this Odin being a ghost and this was made possible when Big Mom blew up the sacred tree or Shimboku in Japanese which was the tree to which Sasaki was tied to. So I did some reading and it is a very intriguing possibility one that has substantial connections Considering that we're in the midst of the Fire Festival a celebration to mourn the dead Odar may have drawn inspiration from the Bon or Obon Festival a Buddhist custom in Japan where families honour their ancestors whose spirits are set to revisit their loved ones during this time. This latter part seems to support the possibility of the spirits of Odin and possibly Toki returning here. In one piece the sacred tree of Onigashima was decorated with Shimanawa which according to Shinto believes can ward off bad spirits and are often tied to Yorishiro objects which house spirits during ceremonies. Cutting down a sacred tree is considered to bring misfortune and perhaps this has manifested in the release of spirits such as Odin and Toki who were stored in these sacred artifacts. This could explain why Odin was not shown with any scars as he is neither dead nor alive but has appeared in the form of a ghost whose physical ailments has been cleansed away with his physical death. It could also explain why Odin is drawn with smoke surrounding his ankles which could be a hint that this figure is not a real life figure but instead a spirit and it could also be what Odin meant when he declared to Kaito that his soul would live on. But I did have a question as to why would Odin and Toki spirits be housed at Onigashima? Their home was in Kuri which is where Toki was last seen and Odin was executed in the Flower Capital. So if their spirits are present it would make more sense that they are tied to sacred artifacts on mainland Wano and not Onigashima. An explanation which could justify this is that according to Shinto beliefs Yorishiro don't necessarily have to house spirits but could simply attract them. And whilst in the past the Shimunawa repelling evil spirits may have been warding off Odin and possibly Toki spirits as they would have been considered bad spirits in the eyes of Kaito and Orochi. Now that these artifacts are gone Odin and Toki spirits may be free to present themselves. And personally whilst I really like this theory I am still left with some hesitation. For one, if this is a ghost Odin how did he interact with physical objects such as opening the door? And also this would mean that we are now dealing with the supernatural and whilst we have encountered ghosts or spirits before in one piece this has predominantly been explained by way of devil fruits. The only other spirit we have seen outside the connection to devil fruits is the Klaibutomun which represented the spirit of the going Mary but even that could be considered slightly different as the Klaibutomun was explained to be the incarnation of a ship as opposed to what we would have here with Odin the ghost of a dead human. Nevertheless, reading up on this did make me curious about some more of traditional Japanese beliefs about spirits and reviving the dead which leads us to another possibility Fukuro Kujuu The Oniwabanchu leader is likely based on one of the 7 lucky gods in Japanese mythology who has the same name as well as a similarly elongated forehead. Fukuro Kujuu, known as the God of Wisdom, Luck, Longevity, Wealth and Happiness this deity is also the only one of the 7 gods who is said to be able to revive the dead. Considering the other parallels the One Piece character has to this mythological deity it isn't so far-fetched to suppose that this ability to resurrect the dead is one that the Oniwabanchu leader possesses particularly when we consider that Fukuro Kujuu is known to be an extremely skilled master of Ninjutsu. This could also mean that Fukuro Kujuu is responsible for both Odin in Chapter 1007 as well as having been the mystery figure himself back in Chapter 1004. Perhaps the shadows which seemed like strands of hair were his earlobes after all. In all seriousness, the last time we saw the master ninja he was acting very shady and slipped off with only Hote noticing him. Is this the reason why? Was he working to revive Odin? And if so, why? We don't know why Fukuro Kujuu would be acting this way unless he was a double agent and had been on the Alliance's side all along and perhaps this is why he first questioned Robin instead of capturing her straight away back in Orochi's castle. Or perhaps he's actually working with Orochi now if the latter is still alive. But this still wouldn't explain for his size as the figure in Chapter 1004 was seen to be considerably smaller than Kinamon and Fukuro Kujuu himself is 7'3'' or 221cm tall and thus not nearly as small as the silhouette nor did we see his classic protruding forehead which would be surely hard to miss. So let's move on to some other characters which could make more sense. Starting with Onimaru who I think might be one of the most logical explanations. The Komagetsune companion of the former Shumotsuki Damyo has the ability to shapeshift and transform into a human as we have seen through his human form Yukimaru. Furthermore, when transforming from Yukimaru back into his Fox form Onimaru was illustrated to be surrounded in smoke which is also likely to occur in his reverse transformation from his Fox to human form which could be the reason why Odin is shown with smoke around his legs at the end of Chapter 1007 if this is actually Onimaru. Another possible hint is one of the swords Odin is holding which has a similar pattern to one that Yukimaru was seen with previously though the shape of the hilt is somewhat unclear in this chapter. As for why Onimaru would choose to transform into Odin we know that he is a staunch ally to the cause and he has at least one personal relationship to one of the Scabbards Kawamatsu and it also just so happens that both Onimaru and Hiyori were last seen at Ringo so it's possible that the two crossed paths. As I've mentioned before the silhouette from Chapter 1004 can only be Toki or Hiyori and if it is Hiyori then it would also likely follow that Odin is indeed Onimaru. It would make sense that Hiyori having not seen Kinamon for 20 years only to see him in that state currently was shown crying and then left the room before the Scabbards would wake up wishing to stay true to what she said to Kawamatsu that she didn't wish to distract the Scabbards. Instead she may have teamed up with Onimaru and requested that he present himself as Odin to be a re-invigorating motivation for the Scabbards to remaster their strength. This could also give further purpose to Onimaru's character and Devil Fruit as he could now further aid the Alliance. Personally I was satisfied with Onimaru's role I think his part in arming the Alliance with enough katanas and protecting the Shimotsuki Pride is a very admirable character arc so whilst I personally don't think his reintroduction is necessary for his character it certainly wouldn't detract or be unfitting to the story. Something that is unfitting however is whether Onimaru can transform into any human examining his Gukimaru form it could be described to be quite animalistic in particular his face is marked with patterns some of which seem to resemble whiskers and the eyebrows he has as Onimaru as well as a very rounded nose similar to the tip of his fox form and if we consider these features a little longer it's even possible that we may have seen another one of Onimaru's human transformations before which would suggest that Onimaru is able to transform into different humans though this would also further suggest that he isn't however able to transform into a human without retaining some of his animal characteristics furthermore both this unnamed figure and Gukimaru were always shown heavily coated and clothed as if needing to hide his body this seems to imply that Onimaru is limited in how human he can seem which does raise the question whether Onimaru is able to transform into a complete human or a particular individual for that matter for which we simply do not have a definitive answer however seeing as there is nothing to concretely rule out such an ability the possibility that this Odin we saw in the latest chapter is actually Onimaru remains one of the most convincing possibilities which would also tie nicely with how the mystery figure in chapter 1004 would then have been Hiyori and Hiyori more so than Onimaru is definitely a character whose role and arc seems unfinished in the story considering her position as well as the large role she played in the earlier Wano acts it does seem amiss that she's missing out on all the action here at Onigashima which could be resolved here if she is indeed the mystery figure and with that being said moving on to another figure whose character arc seems unfinished Bunbuku Okay, so I'm not sure how seriously to consider this possibility but Hitetsu's teapot who has turned into a tanuki following his consumption of the Inu Inunomi model tanuki may also possess the ability to transform into a human if we follow Japanese folklore regarding the raccoon dog coupled with the fact that the title of the chapter where Odin was revealed is Mr. Racoon Dog it seems like Oda may have planted the hint right in front of our eyes there's also the fact that unless Bunbuku is going to come into relevance somehow why exist as a character? Oda has proved time and time again that his setups have some sort of payoff even ones which seem like they're merely for comedic relief for example, we saw this recently where the Smile Devil Fruit users whom seem to have outrageously quirky designs for the sake of providing comedy actually had further use after being converted over to the Alliance's side where their unique Smile Devil Fruit Zoan forms granted them particular abilities to aid the Alliance though Oda revealed in SBS 93 that Bunbuku ate a Zoan Devil Fruit we haven't actually seen its ability yet and this may be the perfect opportunity to do so we've seen in the past such as through Funk Freed that an object can transform into a both hybrid and full Zoan form and what we see of Bunbuku now though unconfirmed seems to be its hybrid teapot Tanuki form but knowing the folklore behind the Tanuki it's possible that we'll see another greater transformation but this does raise the question of why Bunbuku would choose to transform into Oden perhaps he was put to the task by Tama whose young and pure mind thought that it would be a good way to motivate the scabbards but this explanation seems like quite the stretch especially as Tama would have no way to know what Oden looks like perhaps another explanation could relate to Hitetsu who could also be here at Onigashima there's one line of Hitetsu that's always stuck out to me when he told Luffy that he too has been waiting for someone for a very long time and maybe this will come into play here whilst I doubt that the man Hitetsu has been waiting for is an Oden impersonation by his own teapot the one Tenkuyama was waiting for might actually be Toki perhaps Bunbuku can only transform once and Oden is currently stored as the teapot's next transformation and Toki's arrival could have been the signal for when the transformation could be activated and a plan put into place the possibility of Oden being Bunbuku is quite a wild one but it just seems hard to believe that Oda would go to so much work creating a meaningless character with a devil fruit which has quite a significant real life basis if he isn't going to use it in some way unless he is trying to throw us overthinkers off in which case I'd have to say he has been very successful another character whose role doesn't seem finished in the arc, Kanjiro Kanjiro's devil fruit ability to bring drawings to life brings forth the possibility that the Oden figure in the room with the scabbards is actually Kanjiro's drawing except there is the big problem that as far as we know Kanjiro is dead however this may not be enough to rule Kanjiro out whilst he was last seen lying on the ground after being defeated by Kiku his death wasn't necessarily confirmed and to dispel any thoughts that the Kanjiro we saw back then was a painting I do want to point out that he was most likely the real Kanjiro and not one of his paintings because if it was a painting he should have disappeared when Kiku slashed him as seen when Kinemon previously attacked his drawing nevertheless I do like the idea of Kanjiro still being alive as a scabbard revealed to have been a spy for his character to be finished off so swiftly feels strange speaking from my experience of reading the series characters aren't so easily discarded in one piece even those who are reprehensible so I am waiting to see Kanjiro's reintroduction and perhaps even somewhat of a redemption and one way I can picture this happening is if Toki is the figure whom we saw in chapter 1004 actually arrived in the room with Kanjiro I mentioned before in the discussion surrounding the possible candidates for the mystery character that Toki is the most likely candidate when we consider how Law knew to send the scabbards to the treasure repository of all places if we remember that we saw a mystery figure on the boat with Marko and Neko this same figure would have been with the group when they arrived at the entrance to Onigashima's castle which is where all the scabbards regrouped before initiating the raid I imagine that Toki was in the vicinity but not wishing to reveal herself to all the scabbards quickly left before they all met up which would thereby mean that she was close by when Kanjiro was defeated and fatally injured and in the mystery figure candidate discussion I played out a scenario on how Kanjiro may be converted to becoming a full-fledged scabbard after a conversation with one of the other retainers however, what if we actually see a conversation between Kanjiro and Toki? After the scabbards entered the Onigashima castle Toki may have tended to Kanjiro's wounds to which he would have laughed and mocked her asking why she is helping someone who betrayed her and her husband and Toki could simply answer that she knows Odin loved Kanjiro and would have accepted him regardless at the end of the day though he was acting Kanjiro spent so much time and suffered everything that the rest of the scabbards did whilst he remained loyal to his family name I find it hard to believe that Odin didn't impact him at all and I think a conversation of this nature may just tip him over to the other side and result in him following Odin for real however, this still does raise the question of why Kanjiro chose to draw an Odin figure to life is he too ashamed to face the scabbards himself and decided that this is how he would make up for his actions instead? Did Toki ask him to do this? Or perhaps Kanjiro hasn't switched sides at this point and is still working for Orochi, who is also alive and now out to seek vengeance against Kaido with the help of Odin's retainers and as they know the scabbards would be the last people to help them pretending to be Odin is their best bet and fueling the scabbards to defeat Kaido without having to incur the scabbards fury themselves all speculations aside if this was a drawing of Kanjiro's it makes sense that Kanjiro drew Odin with different swords as he would know that the other scabbards would pick up on this detail if Odin was shown with a fake enmar and Amino Habakiri also Kanjiro is one of the only candidates who would know exactly how Odin looked close to his execution and if we go back to the smoke surrounding Odin's legs though Kanjiro's paintings don't actually feature this Kanjiro himself has been seen with similar smoke surrounding him which may suggest that this is not simply a painting but Kanjiro himself in disguise and an easy way to confirm if this is the case would be to get a glimpse of Odin's hand to reveal that this is actually Kanjiro though whether Odin will make it that easy for us however is an entirely different question in classic Odin style a reveal has left us with more questions whilst the appearance of Odin has sent us into haywire and whilst I'm pretty confident that having Odin being alive is not the way to do this I still have faith in Odar to resolve all of these questions in a way to fit the story and that brings us to the end of today's discussion I am very interested in your thoughts on how Odin's appearance is to be explained so please do leave your comments below and please subscribe if you haven't already as there are plenty more One Piece intrigues to discuss This is Joygirl and I'll see you again soon