Highlights
- One Piece SBS volume 107 reveals the backstory of the character Hibari, an important member of the Marines and a member of the SWORD faction.
- Hibari’s close relationship with Koby is highlighted, showcasing their history together and how she came to admire him after he saved her during a war.
- While the author is unsure if Hibari has romantic feelings for Koby, it is evident through her actions and the way she responds around him that she is in love with him. Fans hope to see more moments between them in the future.
One Piece volume 107 is finally out and there are quite a lot of interesting things that Oda has revealed in this volume. As always, the SBS corner of this volume has given fans access to quite a lot of intriguing information on various characters.
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Of course, the vast majority of SBS is usually based on jokes as Oda often does not want to reveal too much in the SBS sections, however, the supplementary information that he believes isn’t all that necessary to be added to the main story is often revealed here. One Piece SBS volume 107 revealed quite a lot of interesting details and among them was the backstory of the character Hibari, along with how she first met Koby.
Who is Hibari?
Hibari is an important member of the Marines in One Piece. She was introduced to the fans recently in the story, in the Final Saga. Hibari was revealed to be a member of the SWORD faction of the Marines. Fans know that any member of the Marines can join SWORD when they offer their resignation. The Marines are not inclined to accept this resignation, however, the person handing in the resignation can simply do what they want and even take part in combat against some of the strongest fighters, such as the Yonko. Otherwise, doing things such as these would be absolutely impossible for these powerful Marines.
The fact that Hibari joined SWORD is proof in itself that she is one of the bravest members of the Marines and, at the same time, an incredibly skilled one as well. Fans have not seen much of her in the story just yet, however, in the Final Saga, she’s likely going to be heavily involved. In fact, she has already played a great role in One Piece during the Egghead Island arc. After Koby gave himself up to the Blackbeard Pirates, Garp rushed to his rescue but he did not do so alone. He got with himself a powerful group of the next generation of the Marines and among them was Hibari as well. Hibari played a significant role in trying to defeat members of the Blackbeard Pirates and freeing Koby up.
She certainly showcased her incredible sniping skills to the fans and also proved herself to be an extremely capable fighter. Fans immediately took up an interest in this intriguing character and it was only a matter of time before they started asking the author for a flashback. It appears that the author has now delivered on the flashback of the character Hibari.
How Koby Saved Hbari
Given that Hibari is so close to Koby, it shouldn’t be a surprise to any fan that these two characters share a lot of history. Hibari didn’t just come to admire Koby from afar. In fact, the two have been very close and have experienced dangerous situations together. The most defining one of them was announced by Oda in One Piece SBS volume 107. In this volume, Oda explained in intricate detail how Koby and Hibari met for the first time. It appears that Hibari was caught up in some sort of war before she met Koby. By this time, Koby was already in the Marines. However, Hibari certainly wasn’t. This means that this event happened at some point during the last 2 years and it is likely that Hibari had not joined the Marines officially at this point.
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Being caught up in the war, it was difficult for her to survive. However, Koby came to her rescue. When he did rescue her, she revealed that her toy bear had been left behind on the battlefield and it certainly meant a lot to her. Koby decided to go back for the bear and, a few days later, Koby returned completely in tatters. Koby received an earful from his seniors and had to go through a lot because of his decision. However, Hibari was incredibly happy to receive her bear once again. This is the moment when she was infatuated with Koby as well and she gained a lot of respect for him. In fact, she ended up naming her bear Koby Senpai and that is certainly a very sweet touch.
Is Hibari In Love With Koby?
The question of whether Hibari is in love with Koby or not is something that Oda touched upon in One Piece SBS volume 107. According to Oda, he is not an expert at dealing with romance so he isn’t sure if Koby and Hibari have something special going on. In fact, Oda stressed repeatedly that he isn’t sure if Hibari has feelings for Koby. However, one look at this character and it is clear for anyone to see that she is in love with Koby. She has come to admire him ever since the day he saved her and her bear. At the same time, fans have also seen Hibari in the manga on several big occasions and the way she responds around Koby is proof enough that she is in love with him.
These two characters are perfect for each other and fans can only hope that they get more moments together in One Piece in the future. When it comes to whether her feelings are reciprocated or not, fans haven’t seen enough from Koby just yet. However, they do know for a fact that Koby is respectful towards her and cares about her quite a lot. These two are very close friends and certainly share a very deep bond. It will, of course, take more than just that for a relationship to blossom between these two characters. If Oda has to give Hibari a proper relationship, then there is going to be no better guy for her than Koby.
Hibari As The Future Of The Marines
Hibari is going to have a huge role to play in the future of One Piece. She is the future of the Marines, as mentioned by Garp. Even though she was frozen by Kuzan on the Pirate Island, that still doesn’t mean that she is going to be insignificant in the future. Hibari has a lot of potential within herself and her skills in sniping, especially using tools developed by Vegapunk, are incredibly immense.
Fans can only hope that this character gets to shine a lot more in the future of One Piece. Together with Koby, she is certainly among the next generation of Marines that can, in many ways, heal this organization from the inside. Koby and his fellow SWORD members are going to be the future of the Marines, just as Garp mentioned, and Hibari is certainly an incredible candidate for the leading positions in the future as well.
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 app. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1098, is set to be November 12, 2023.