As much as I wanted Luffy to actually get Ace's fruit, I just found these two SBS's and there were two particular questions that Oda had to answer.
This pretty much already confirmed that Luffy was always going to stick with just the Gomu Gomu no Mi, no matter how intense the story is going to get.
Here's a link to the two SBS's I'm talking about, so that you can check them out for yourselves and make sure that both of them are legit.
What do you guys think?
D: In the ONE PIECE of these days, all kinds of strong ability users whom even Luffy can't compete with have been appearing, one after the other. In general manga and anime, I feel that the protagonist is established to be the strongest of all, but why did you decide to turn Luffy into a pretty weak-looking rubber Devil Fruit user? P.N. Do your best Japan
O: Ahaha, that is true. It must seem like a mystery when you consider all the other strong and cool abilities. The answer is simple. I have picked the most ridiculous ability. If the protagonist were the typical strong guy, I doubt I could continue on with this for long. No matter how serious the story gets, Luffy is there to stretch and inflate. He always give me a chance to fool around. That's the kind of manga I wanted to write.
O: Ahaha, that is true. It must seem like a mystery when you consider all the other strong and cool abilities. The answer is simple. I have picked the most ridiculous ability. If the protagonist were the typical strong guy, I doubt I could continue on with this for long. No matter how serious the story gets, Luffy is there to stretch and inflate. He always give me a chance to fool around. That's the kind of manga I wanted to write.
D: Now that so many Devil Fruit have appeared in the series, do you ever wonder if it would have been better to make Luffy eat a different fruit other than the Gomu Gomu no Mi?
O: Nope. I absolutely agonized over this before the series began, but not at all since. I love the idea of a rubberman. Well actually, I've flirted with the idea of the Ero Ero no Mi (Love-Love Fruit) maybe 13 times since then.
O: Nope. I absolutely agonized over this before the series began, but not at all since. I love the idea of a rubberman. Well actually, I've flirted with the idea of the Ero Ero no Mi (Love-Love Fruit) maybe 13 times since then.
This pretty much already confirmed that Luffy was always going to stick with just the Gomu Gomu no Mi, no matter how intense the story is going to get.
Here's a link to the two SBS's I'm talking about, so that you can check them out for yourselves and make sure that both of them are legit.
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You must be registered for see links
What do you guys think?