Oda Reveals The Death Of A Shichibukai 

One Piece is currently in the Elbaf arc, and since the story arc has been ongoing for a while now, fans finally got their first Elbaf Volume. It goes without saying that Elbaf has been phenomenal so far, and that the story is only getting richer by the second. With tons of lore reveals and some very exciting battles at hand, Elbaf is becoming better as it goes on. The Elbaf volumes are ones that fans absolutely must buy, and with that, they also get access to the SBS corner.

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With the release of One Piece Volume 111, fans got a new SBS corner from Oda, and in it, some very exciting questions were answered. Of course, like usual, Oda made use to include some very comedic answers in there, but, for the most part, exciting information was revealed to the fans. Undoubtedly, one of the most exciting bits of information in this volume’s SBS concerned the death of a former Shichibukai, Hanafuda, who was introduced by Oda rather recently in the story.

Hanafuda, The Former Shichibukai Who Fought Ace

• Ace Beat Hanafuda And Gained Popularity
• Hanafuda Was Removed From Shichibukai

Hanafuda is a character who fans don’t know much about, given that he hasn’t made an appearance in One Piece so far. However, he most certainly has been mentioned in the plot, especially recently. In One Piece chapter 1100, Ace was brought up once again, and this time around, it was revealed to the fans that he had beaten a member of the Shichibukai.

Of course, this led to the opening of a Shichibukai spot, and Kuma, as fans know, was up for the position shortly after. In the manga, this is all that the fans were told. However, as One Piece continued, fans found out more details about this event. Particularly, in One Piece Volume 109, Oda revealed bits and pieces about the Shichibukai that Ace defeated, and this is what he had to say:

Question: In Chapter 1100, the Warlord that Ace beat, which was being talked about by Kuma and St. Saturn, what was that person like?

Answer: He looks like this. His name is “Hanafuda”. His hobby is collecting Ancient Zoan Devil Fruits. On what he’s scheming behind this remains unknown up to now. His height is 514 cm. His other name is “King of Lizards”

Clearly, this guy was a monster in combat and was most definitely very tough. It is quite clear from his character design and his personality that he was connected to Kaido, the King of Beasts, especially due to his hobby of collecting Ancient Zoan Devil Fruits.

Fans immediately made the connection, but large parts of his story were still left under the covers. At the very least, he was a powerful pirate and fans knew that the fact that Ace defeated him meant that he must’ve been quite a challenge.

How Hanafuda Died In One Piece

Hanafuda Couldn’t Reach His Children

In One Piece Volume 111, Oda was asked about Hanafuda once again, and this time around, he was questioned about Hanafuda and his connection to Ulti and Page One. Of course, this seems to have been a very good guess as it most certainly isn’t an obvious one. Fans knew that Hanafuda would be connected to Kaido in some way, however, his connection to Ulti and Page One was most certainly not known. Regardless, One Piece Volume 111 expanded upon it greatly and clarified to the fans what exactly Hanafuda meant to Ulti and Page One, and along with them, Kaido as well. The story is most certainly fascinating, to say the least, and here’s what Oda had to say:

Q: In volume 109’s SBS, it was revealed that Hanafuda exists. Is he the father of Ulti and Page One?

O: Huhhh~~~!!! You… You are talking about. That guy. The former warlord of the sea who got taken down by Ace. I thought I hid it really well… Whatever, yes he is (lol).But what you really meant to ask is the relationship between Hanafuda and Kaido right? As pirates, they have clashed in the past, but ultimately formed an alliance due to their common goal. He has such faith in Kaido that he would entrust his own children to him. His hobby of collecting zoan fruits is to help strengthen the Beasts Pirates too. Hanafuda is one of the many who was captivated by Kaido’s strength and gave their all to help him ascend the throne of the Pirate King. After being defeated by Ace and being banished from the shichibukai, he was killed by pirates whom he made a grudge against while on his way to his children.

As is clear from Oda’s answer, Hanafuda was a very powerful pirate and at some point in his life, he had two children, Ulti and Page One. He also knows Kaido very well, and the fact that they clashed with each other just goes to show that Hanafuda wasn’t a joke. Of course, that in itself is a given, especially knowing that Hanafuda was a Shichibukai.

For Kaido to make an alliance with Hanafuda must’ve meant that he was a monster in his own right, and the fact that he was super impressed by Kaido’s strength and Ideology only meant that he would go out of his way to help him become the Pirate King.

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Eventually, Hanafuda came across Ace and lost the battle to him, and here, fans can assume that he was badly injured. Having been removed from the Shichibukai after this fight and carrying severe injuries, he likely became the target of the pirates who stood as his enemies. After losing, he wasn’t protected by the Government anymore, which only meant that he would be easy prey, especially when injured. On his way to Wano Country, where Kaido operated and his children, Ulti and Pay Pay were, he died following the pirate assault.

Hanafuda’s Legacy

His Children Are Still Alive

Although Hanafuda met quite a tragic end, he still lives through his children, Ulti and Page One, who he entrusted to Kaido at one point. They’re his legacy. It is also interesting to note that both Ulti and Page One have an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit. Given that Hanafuda hunted for Ancient Zoan Devil Fruits, it is highly likely that he gave Ulti and Page One their respective Devil Fruits, and it could’ve been his last gift to them. Hopefully, in the future, fans will find out more about Hanafuda through the story of Ulti and Page One, who might join up with Yamato soon enough.

One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus apps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1141, is set to be March 2, 2025.

One Piece

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

• 

  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

• 

  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)