Eiichiro Oda seems to have One Piece thoroughly planned out. It's as though all his key characters, settings and plotlines are written down somewhere as he's been steadily working on conveying every detail since 1997. With all the important stuff accounted for, Oda has plenty of time to play around with the tiniest background details. Thus, he has made a little game for One Piece fans: finding Pandaman.
Pandaman is sort of the Waldo of One Piece. He makes brief, blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearances as a background character in various settings and time periods. He doesn't seem to have any foreseeable influence on the narrative; he's mainly just there for fun.
The origins of Pandaman are actually not from One Piece. In 1998, Oda designed Pandaman as a character for the Kinnikuman 77 Mysteries tribute book. Oda has since reused Pandaman for the aforementioned One Piece cameos.
If anyone wants to look for Pandaman, there are key features to watch out for. His defining characteristic is a unique panda head, complete with dark, circular eyes and ears as well as a mouth that's shaped like a 3 resting on its side. He's a little easier to spot in the anime as his black-and-white head contrasts the colors of the rest of his body.
Pandaman's body changes in each appearance, though there are some frequently used physical traits to look out for. The word "PANDA" may appear across his forehead. He has a human torso that is technically muscular, but he's often drawn skinny in his cameos to make him harder to spot. He also has red, heart-shaped tattoos on each pectoral, and since he's often shirtless these can be a little easier to spot. His arms are black with green bamboo tattoos and bamboo leaves sprouting out of the elbows. He also wears a green sash-style obi, black shorts with flame patterns and lace-up boots. None of these features are guaranteed to show up, but they are the most likely ones to appear.
Pandaman is often drawn among large groups of people, so fans must remain vigilant and keep a watchful eye for him. It might only be possible to see his head poking out from behind several people or skimming the edge of a panel. He's usually so small that fans have to look at each and every person in a group or crowd to find him.
Pandaman can first be seen in the manga in Chapter 44, "Three Cooks." In the anime, he debuts in Episode 16, "Protect Kaya! Usopp Pirate Gang Takes Action!" Anyone looking for Pandaman should begin from one of these points.
In addition to Pandaman, there are a number of other related characters who make cameo appearances. Pandawoman can be seen in the background of Amazon Lily, an all-female island, and she first appears in Chapter 517 and Episode 409. She has Pandaman's face, but a feminine body and pigtails.
There's also Tomato Gang, a debt collector to whom Pandaman owes money, but chooses to run from. He has a long, black coat, an oval-shaped head, a handlebar mustache, a wavy tuft of hair and what looks like a handgun but might just be konbu-maki. He's exclusive to the manga and debuts in Chapter 179, "The End Will Be in Alubarna."
Aiding Tomato Gang is Unforgivable Mask, who looks like Pandaman but has a panda-like mask, black swim briefs and boots. Though he appears in neither the anime nor the manga, he can be found in other media like One Piece Color Walk 2. Beyond these characters, there are even more cameos to look out for, which aren't associated with Pandaman.
As of Chapter 1034, "Sanji vs Queen," Pandaman has made around 263 manga cameos. As of Episode 987, "His Dream Broken?! The Trap That Lures Sanji!" Pandaman has made roughly 108 appearances in the anime. He also has miscellaneous cameos throughout the franchise's other installments.
Despite his surprising omnipresence, it's unlikely that Pandaman will have an influence on One Piece's overarching plot. He appears in too many different places to have a concrete history. Maybe Oda will surprise the fans but, for now, Pandaman is just a fun Easter egg.
