With the release of ‘One Piece’ on Netflix, many have embarked on reading and watching the adventures of Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and the crew as they navigate the treacherous waters of the Grand Line. But there’s a character created in the style of ‘Where’s Waldo?’ by Oda, who first appeared in Chapter 44 of the manga and has been continuously appearing since then, always in the background and with a changing personality: Don’t you know Pandaman?
Where is Pandaman?
Originally, Eiichiro Oda created the character many years before even dreaming of becoming a mangaka to participate in a character design contest for the series ‘Musculman’ (known as ‘Kinnikuman’ to fans of the original version). Oda has usually jokingly answered all the questions about this enigmatic character, a man with a panda head who was at the Baratie and has been following the Straw Hats ever since.
Even after the time skip, he’s always hidden among the crowd or appearing behind a tree, a tradition that has also made its way into the anime. You have to have a keen eye to spot him, but when you do, it’s quite satisfying. This cameo status has only been broken on two occasions: in the video game ‘Grand Battle!’ where he’s one of the fighters, and in a special episode of the anime.
It’s pure filler, and if you’re only interested in the canon, you can skip it. However, in the fourth special episode set in the Edo period, Pandaman is known as Pop and ends up crossing paths with the pirate clown Buggy himself. In fact, in the anime, once his appearances became popular, he even had his own bounty: 3,333,333 berries.
And, of course, he makes his appearance in the Netflix series, albeit in a very peculiar way: he’s one of the shrubs in Kaya’s house, next to the well where one of the characters is thrown to their fate. Will Pandaman be a crucial character at some point in the saga? Will it be revealed that he actually held the key to the One Piece all this time? Honestly, I won’t deceive you: it doesn’t seem likely.
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