I had to google to check which SBS it was that the fan theory on Aramaki and Issho was responded to just to make sure I remembered it right. It was volume 76.
D: You know how there was a question in SBS Volume 75 about the admiral candidates?? Well I just figured out the reason behind your final choice of the "Ox" and the "Tiger" so here it is...
→
Hitsujisaru [未申 (坤) - literally "Sheep Monkey"] → Momotaro
Ushitora [丑寅 (艮) - literally "Ox Tiger"] → Kimon [鬼門 - literally "Demon Gate"] → Oni [鬼] (Tiger loincloth, Ox horn)
And the "Oni" in this case would be representing the pirates.
Could the two new admirals "Ryokugyu" and "Fujitora" possibly have been created with the concept that, despite them being people of the Marines, deep down inside they are both Admirals who secretly harbor ill feelings towards the World Government (going against the WG → kind of like pirates?) as can be seen with Fujitora's wish to completely abolish the "Shichibukai" system set up by the World Government? P.N. Tosaka Kouhai
(Translator's Note: The epithets of the first three admirals [Kizaru- literally Yellow Monkey, Akainu- literally Red Dog, and Aokiji- Literally Blue Pheasant] come from the Japanese Legend of Momotaro, where Momotaro befriends a Monkey, Dog, and Pheasant on his journey to defeat an evil Oni in a distant island. This tale is actually based off of Onmyodo [derived from the more commonly known Feng-Shui, a traditional Japanese esoteric cosmology, in which the Ox and the Tiger, aka Ushitora, are the two zodiacs positioned in the Northeastern direction of the Onmyodo diagram and considered to be evil or unlucky. In Momotaro, the Tiger and Ox are represented by the evil Oni.)
O: What? Me, becoming restless? (cold sweat) W-w-what are you talking about? Of course not.
Uhhh, well that was one heck of a complicated theory written on this piece of paper. If you want to, go ahead and try to process it. I haven't said a single thing about whether this theory is correct or incorrect, okay! (cold sweat) Just saying. I j-just happened to throw this postcard in, so that I could show my fans the kinds of questions I've been getting and s-stuff.
I just wanted to copy this to give context. I still feel like Oda can still have Aramaki have issues with the World Government without having him fawn over Luffy.
I'm curious how Oda'll go about it if he actually incorporates Ryokugyu having issues with the World Government into the story (he probably will), but this Akainu appreciation that was revealed this chapter, while kinda painting him as wanting approval and praise, also shows he still admires going all out with dealing with problems like pirates and that he respects Akainu so he'll still probably face the Straw Hats. Plus I really want him to fight one of the Straw Hats 1v1 when the time comes so I'd prefer if he didn't swap sides or anything mid-war.
Regardless of how things go, I can't wait to see more from the Admirals. They're just so compelling and the way they contrast with each other is just so interesting.