Volume 89 Predictions/Discussion

[Devil G.]

That's one good cover, I appreciate focused ones like this.

[Captain M]

I didn't get what I expected, but I got exactly what I needed. This is gorgeous, I can't wait to see it in full, without the magazine text in the way.

Interesting look at the colours of Mirroworld. Toei's had it totally pink and purple and made it look very dark. I had figured it was pale green and yellow, like the backdrop to vol 85's cover, but apparently the wall colours vary a bit in Oda's mind. Interested to see what they do with it in the digital colour manga.

[Lao G]

THis is actually the first volume since 48 to depict only 2 characters. And I must say it’s gorgeous.

[Captain M]

THis is cruelly the first volume since 48 to depict only 2 characters. And I must say it’s gorgeous.

Not to mention the fourth ever to be so minimalist.

[kosaurus]

How about this ?

[RickM.]

Yes! That's exactly the cover I wanted! Loved It!

[Captain M]

Another thought: all the letters in the title have a checker thing going on except the O at the start. Kinda feels like an oversight to me. Maybe it'll be fixed for the actual release. If not that, then the digital release. I mean, it could be deliberate, but I don't see what the logic behind the choice is.

[Kaido King of the Beasts]

I haven't seen a cover like that in a really long time, and it looks great. Not only the character minimalism, but that angle! Looking forward to seeing it in HD.

[AvocadoInTheRain]

So, Red Gear fourth is now canon,

Was it ever not? I always figured it was gear 2 + haki given all the steam.

Also lol, the teeth.

--- Update From New Post Merge ---

Another thought: all the letters in the title have a checker thing going on except the O at the start. Kinda feels like an oversight to me. Maybe it'll be fixed for the actual release. If not that, then the digital release. I mean, it could be deliberate, but I don't see what the logic behind the choice is.

The straw hat is the lighter colour in the O.

[.access timeco.]

In the manga Gear 4th was black and blue instead of red but that was changed in the anime. I suppose Oda decided to go with the anime colors now (or maybe the anime used those because Oda had already changed his mind).

In this cover you can see Katakuri's has a blue shade, though. I wonder if BM's will have a different color (pink?) and we'll have each character with their own.

[Captain M]

In the manga Gear 4th was black and blue instead of red but that was changed in the anime. I suppose Oda decided to go with the anime colors now (or maybe the anime used those because Oda had already changed his mind).

In this cover you can see Katakuri's has a blue shade, though. I wonder if BM's will have a different color (pink?) and we'll have each character with their own.

I reckon we'll find that the Gear Four forms are colour coded. The blue-grey we've already seen for Boundman on vol 79's cover. Red for Snakeman here. I'd guess Tankman will have its own colour as well, if it ever gets on a cover, or just when the colour version reaches it.

[.access timeco.]

I reckon we'll find that the Gear Four forms are colour coded. The blue-grey we've already seen for Boundman on vol 79's cover. Red for Snakeman here. I'd guess Tankman will have its own colour as well, if it ever gets on a cover, or just when the colour version reaches it.

If Oda was going for a color for each "-man" I suppose he would have warned the anime team to not change Boundman's, specially to one he planned to use for another form (and the anime wouldn't have used the same color as Boundman for Tankman). Or, if things got to this point, he wouldn't use the same color the anime used for Boundman for Snakeman.

He probably just decided to use red instead of blue for G4.

[Crossword]

In this cover you can see Katakuri's has a blue shade, though. I wonder if BM's will have a different color (pink?) and we'll have each character with their own.

The anime has flirted with this idea a bit. Aside from Gear Fourth's red highlights, I recall Vergo's Armament Haki having purple highlights, Doflamingo's being light blue, and Burndy World's from that special being green.

[Captain M]

If Oda was going for a color for each "-man" I suppose he would have warned the anime team to not change Boundman's, specially to one he planned to use for another form (and the anime wouldn't have used the same color as Boundman for Tankman). Or, if things got to this point, he wouldn't use the same color the anime used for Boundman for Snakeman.

He probably just decided to use red instead of blue for G4.

He may have decided on colour coding only recently, after the anime made its choice. It may have always been intended, but miscommunicated, or the anime decided red would look better with their art style and rolled with it, because adaptations make changes like that sometimes. Remember bright pink Gear Two? These things happen. Either way I don't think Boundman's colours are going to be retconned. They've been shown too blatantly on the volume cover to take back and change.

We won't really know for sure what Oda's thinking until we get another colour Gear Four illustration I suppose, though I'd be willing to call the colour manga's version a confirmation if that comes out first. (or if someone like Greg can offer insight, but I don't think it'd be right to @ him about it before the cover goes up officially on the website.)

[Kaworu]

The cover's amazing. Now to ruin it.

Spoiler:

Katakuri's just a normal dude with normal teeth in the top left section yelling "AHHHHH"

Nevermind, access saw it too. The perspective and angle of the cover is by far my favorite part. Very unique.

[Captain M]

The cover's amazing. Now to ruin it.

Spoiler:

Katakuri's just a normal dude with normal teeth in the top left section yelling "AHHHHH"

Nevermind, access saw it too. The perspective and angle of the cover is by far my favorite part. Very unique.

The mirror shows the version of himself his family knows, a distorted reflection of the real thing. Deep, deep mochi symbolism.

Or Oda just understated the fangs so bady it gets lost if you can't see the tips of them under Luffy's steam. That's fine too.

[YoungWhite]

He may have decided on colour coding only recently, after the anime made its choice. It may have always been intended, but miscommunicated, or the anime decided red would look better with their art style and rolled with it, because adaptations make changes like that sometimes. Remember bright pink Gear Two? These things happen. Either way I don't think Boundman's colours are going to be retconned. They've been shown too blatantly on the volume cover to take back and change.

We won't really know for sure what Oda's thinking until we get another colour Gear Four illustration I suppose, though I'd be willing to call the colour manga's version a confirmation if that comes out first. (or if someone like Greg can offer insight, but I don't think it'd be right to @ him about it before the cover goes up officially on the website.)

According to Naotoshi Shida, the anime made G4 highlights red because the animation team was in talks with Oda so it's very possible that Oda changed his mind & retconned the color.

[Captain M]

According to Naotoshi Shida, the anime made G4 highlights red because the animation team was in talks with Oda so it's very possible that Oda changed his mind & retconned the color.

Now that is interesting. But I can't help feeling it doesn't line up with timeframes and the like. If the manga colour for G4 was only decided when it was put on the vol 79 cover - volume released October '15, so the illustration was probably completed sometime that September, and the anime colours were revealed in an episode that aired January '16... A 4 month gap between anime and manga colours sounds like a lot, but considering how long in advance anime episodes would have to start production (hey what is the exact timeframe for that?) the decisions can't have been made too far apart. Seems odd Oda would change his mind of G4's look so quickly.

[Kaworu]

The mirror shows the version of himself his family knows, a distorted reflection of the real thing. Deep, deep mochi symbolism.

Or Oda just understated the fangs so bady it gets lost if you can't see the tips of them under Luffy's steam. That's fine too.

What if... It's the way he imagines himself fighting Luffy. "I'm going to fight my senpai with perfect teeth, just like his!"

[Crossword]

I don't think coloring would be that big of an issue for anime production. There've been occasions where an episode preview video or image will show a character colored one way, then when the episode actually airs that week it's something else. This has happened to at least Cracker and Sugar from what I recall.

And it could always be a case of the anime team coming up with the idea first and Oda deciding that he liked it enough to keep.