If there is any problem with "One Piece" itself, then without a doubt, its somewhat chaotic power system is an issue that can never be avoided.
As everyone knows, the Summit War arc of the "One Piece" manga completely ended in 2010.
However, the question of who was actually stronger between Akainu and Whitebeard during the Summit War arc continued to be debated until before he transmigrated, becoming the eternal Summit War for One Piece fans.
He even felt that after this statement was released, this place would likely become a battlefield for a summit war of its own.
Besides that, there is the introduction of the Haki system and the issue of Luffy's power scaling.
In reality, he didn't think there was any problem with the Haki system itself.
Because the appearance of the Haki system was meant to provide non-Devil Fruit users with a means to counter Devil Fruit abilities, especially Logia-type abilities, and to grant powerhouses another dimension of combat capability.
In this regard, the Haki system is undoubtedly a success.
If one had to say there was a problem, it's that the Haki system was introduced too late.
You have to realize that just this year, the first Logia-type Devil Fruit user, Smoker, has already appeared, yet a mature Haki system won't appear until ten years later.
Just thinking about this time span is absurd.
After all, many long-running manga don't even last ten years in their entire serialization lifespan.
And compared to the Haki system, he felt that the issue of Luffy's power scaling was actually even greater.
Two years later, especially in the famous Wano Country arc, Luffy's combat power skyrocketed as if he were riding a rocket, giving birth to numerous famous memes.
For example, Kaido becoming "Master Teacher Kaido," Rayleigh becoming "Mediocre Teacher Rayleigh," and also "one club teaches Ryou, two clubs teach Advanced Conqueror's Haki, three clubs teach Gear 5."
Although Ryou was actually taught by Hyogoro, the latter two are indeed inseparable from Kaido.
In short, the first moment he learned he would be meeting Oda Eiichiro, he had already wanted to chat with him about this topic.
Returning to the video.
Regarding this question, Oda Eiichiro said: "Mochizuki-kun is truly sharp. Indeed, on this issue, the situation with "One Piece" is slightly special, and this is also a result of my deliberate design."
"Actually, when I first created Luffy, what I envisioned was an unconventional, powerful protagonist who was a 'fully-realized character' right from the start."
"Therefore, regardless of mentality or combat power, Luffy was already very strong when he officially set sail. In fact, up until now, there hasn't been an enemy that Luffy couldn't handle."
Akira: "What about Smoker?"
Oda Eiichiro: "Ah, I almost forgot about him. Maybe it's because in my heart, he isn't an enemy? After all, he is a quite upright Marine character. (Laughs)"
"In short, I really didn't consider increasing Luffy's combat power from the beginning."
"In my original creative plan, Luffy's strength was already very powerful, so I hoped more that "One Piece" could focus on the story, the adventure, and the interesting battles themselves."
"Not only that, my original plan was to finish the story of "One Piece" within five years, but in the process, I wanted to draw more and more content, so it slightly deviated from the original plan."
Was it really just "slightly deviated"?
When he first heard this classic "five-year completion plan," Akira couldn't help but chuckle, and now watching the video from outside the scene, he still almost couldn't hold it in.
After all, Oda Eiichiro's "five-year completion plan" started being talked about from now, and even in later generations, he was still "planning to finish within five years," and who knows how many five-year periods have passed.
It is a pity that because "One Piece" is currently only serialized up to the beginning of the Alabasta arc, the issues regarding power levels haven't really become prominent yet, so there wasn't much that could be discussed in detail.
Furthermore, perhaps due to time constraints, much of the content they discussed wasn't edited into the final cut.
For instance, they also discussed some settings regarding Logia-type Devil Fruit abilities around Smoker, including ways to restrict them.
In this part, he slightly threw out some settings for the Haki system, such as being able to let non-ability users touch the elementalized bodies of Logia-type ability users and the like.
It's just unclear how much Oda Eiichiro took in.
And under these circumstances, how long would it take for a mature Haki system to be brought out by him?
Having said that, although the audience outside the scene had no way of knowing this content, for them, being able to learn a part of the story behind the creation of "One Piece" was already worth it.
As an author discussion session, Akira was naturally asked quite a few questions, but not many ended up in the final cut.
The most important one was about the identity of Emiya Kiritsugu.
Oda Eiichiro: "By the time this discussion video is released, Mochizuki-kun's "Emiya Kiritsugu" should have already been published, right? Then I'll just ask directly."
"Actually, after "Fate/stay night" started serialization, I noticed that the protagonist Shirou's adoptive father is also called Kiritsugu."
"So I'm a bit curious, are these two the same person?"
Akira: "Yes."
Oda Eiichiro: "? Really?!"
"But is it really okay to just say it like that?"
It wasn't just Oda Eiichiro who was shocked by Akira's straightforward and crisp answer; many viewers watching the video outside the scene were too, and a wave of exclamations immediately erupted at the venue.
For readers following Akira and "Fate/stay night," as well as other related works, the identity of the two Kiritsugus is currently one of the hotter discussion topics.
No one expected Akira to openly reveal it in such a situation.
Akira: "It's fine, I never intended to deliberately hide it; I just couldn't find an opportunity to state it directly in the manga. (Laughs)"
Oda Eiichiro: "I see."
"But in that case, I'm even more curious: how exactly did the Kiritsugu in "Emiya Kiritsugu" become the way he is in FSN?"
Akira: "Well, that part of the content is truly the part that cannot be randomly spoiled, so please look forward to it."
This part of the content passed quickly, and next, they began to talk about the first "One Piece" theatrical movie to be released next year, serving as the conclusion of this video.
The host and voice actors also took the opportunity to return to the stage, starting to focus on this matter and promoting the theatrical movie.
After the promotion ended, this "One Piece" segment completely concluded, and as the audience began to leave, Akira and Rin also prepared to depart.
Just in time, Hisashi arrived as promised and was waiting for them backstage.
Oda Eiichiro seemed to have scheduled a gathering with the voice actor teachers, so he had to stay here for a while longer.
So Akira smiled and said: "In that case, we'll head out first."
"Take care."
Oda Eiichiro smiled and said goodbye, then added: "Next, let's wait to meet again at the upcoming Shonen Jump New Year's party."
"See you then."
Akira smiled and agreed.
The Shonen Jump New Year's party is an internal gathering for Shonen Jump, with the main participants being currently serialized Manga Artists and editors from the editorial department; the overall atmosphere is quite relaxed.
Except for special circumstances, the Shonen Jump New Year's party is a gathering that serialized Manga Artists must attend.
In reality, Akira had also been looking forward to this New Year's party for a long time.
Besides Oda Eiichiro, he would finally be able to meet other Manga Artists.