So I apologize for posting just text with little/no pictures. I wanted to briefly articulate why solving every problem by handing your characters unearned power ups destroys conflict and tension in a story. I’ll bring up a point I made a few weeks back:
At the end of the day, the one thing that any story should get right, is it’s conflict. The ability of a fictional story to get you to suspend your disbelief and not know whether or not the characters you’re rooting for can actually succeed or fail. This is the source of tension and ultimately what makes triumphs feel memorable. A story that cannot get this right, is a story that fundamentally has no meaning.
If I can run at 100 miles per hour, and I run a race where in order to win, I only need to run 80 miles per hour, there is not much tension because everyone knows what the outcome will be.
If I can run a race at 100 miles per hour, and I race an opponent who can also run 100 miles per hour…well now we have actual tension, because nobody really knows who is going to win and who is going to lose, or if there’s going to be a tie. The tension comes from the idea that we don’t know what is going to happen.
But if I can run 100 miles per hour, and I’m facing an opponent that can run 200 miles per hour, and half way through the race I suddenly unlock ability that allows me to run at 400 miles per hour in spite of the fact that I’ve been training for years and never discovered this ability before…then ladies and gentlemen, there is no longer any conflict in my story. My win was completely unearned because I was simply handed the ability to win for free, having done nothing myself to earn that win. I was faced with an impossible scenario to begin with, but I still won because the plot just handed me a win for no good reason.
This is not about Sanji, he may be the victim of this discussion as the most recent Ass Pull powerup in One Piece was handed to him this week, but this speaks to a greater trend and problem in Oda’s writing:
There is straight up no tension in One Piece anymore. There is no question of “can Sanji actually beat Queen?” Now the question is “what ability will Oda hand Sanji for free that wins the fight for him?”
Sanji is not the only culprit here. Every mid-arc powerup Zoro has ever unlocked has been an ass pull powerup as well. Every single one. From arbitrarily discovering the unexplained “breath of all things powerup”, to manifesting the completely unexplained Asura powerup from the depths of his ass hole against Kaku, to being handed Oden’s sword completely for free, every big powerup greenboi was handed has come at no personal cost or reward. Descendant of Ryuma amirite?
Luffy is the most heinous offender in the manga but I’ve discussed him at length in the past. The only thing I’ll say here is that it should be as clear as day to everyone, that the “Haki blooms under extreme conditions” bullshit that Oda fed us during the Katakuri fight, is the biggest ass pull line of dialogue in Shonen history, as no other character has ever had a Haki bloom in the middle of battle whereas Luffy has so far had 2.
Sanji unlocking his exoskeleton during the Queen fight is far from the only ass pull powerup that we’ve ever seen in this manga full of ass pull power ups. There is no longer any tension in the OP story when every character will simply be handed the power ups required to win their conflicts by Oda no matter how unearned or nonsensical they may seem.
Discuss your opinions on the state of ass pull power ups in One Piss.
@Owl Ki @Blackbeard @TheKnightOfTheSea @Light D Lamperouge @TheAncientCenturion @comrade @Sentinel @MarineHQ62 @Seth @HA001 @Shepherd @Cuistot @VersusPhD @Mr. Anderson @Den_Den_Mushi @dizzy2341
At the end of the day, the one thing that any story should get right, is it’s conflict. The ability of a fictional story to get you to suspend your disbelief and not know whether or not the characters you’re rooting for can actually succeed or fail. This is the source of tension and ultimately what makes triumphs feel memorable. A story that cannot get this right, is a story that fundamentally has no meaning.
If I can run at 100 miles per hour, and I run a race where in order to win, I only need to run 80 miles per hour, there is not much tension because everyone knows what the outcome will be.
If I can run a race at 100 miles per hour, and I race an opponent who can also run 100 miles per hour…well now we have actual tension, because nobody really knows who is going to win and who is going to lose, or if there’s going to be a tie. The tension comes from the idea that we don’t know what is going to happen.
But if I can run 100 miles per hour, and I’m facing an opponent that can run 200 miles per hour, and half way through the race I suddenly unlock ability that allows me to run at 400 miles per hour in spite of the fact that I’ve been training for years and never discovered this ability before…then ladies and gentlemen, there is no longer any conflict in my story. My win was completely unearned because I was simply handed the ability to win for free, having done nothing myself to earn that win. I was faced with an impossible scenario to begin with, but I still won because the plot just handed me a win for no good reason.
This is not about Sanji, he may be the victim of this discussion as the most recent Ass Pull powerup in One Piece was handed to him this week, but this speaks to a greater trend and problem in Oda’s writing:
There is straight up no tension in One Piece anymore. There is no question of “can Sanji actually beat Queen?” Now the question is “what ability will Oda hand Sanji for free that wins the fight for him?”
Sanji is not the only culprit here. Every mid-arc powerup Zoro has ever unlocked has been an ass pull powerup as well. Every single one. From arbitrarily discovering the unexplained “breath of all things powerup”, to manifesting the completely unexplained Asura powerup from the depths of his ass hole against Kaku, to being handed Oden’s sword completely for free, every big powerup greenboi was handed has come at no personal cost or reward. Descendant of Ryuma amirite?
Luffy is the most heinous offender in the manga but I’ve discussed him at length in the past. The only thing I’ll say here is that it should be as clear as day to everyone, that the “Haki blooms under extreme conditions” bullshit that Oda fed us during the Katakuri fight, is the biggest ass pull line of dialogue in Shonen history, as no other character has ever had a Haki bloom in the middle of battle whereas Luffy has so far had 2.
Sanji unlocking his exoskeleton during the Queen fight is far from the only ass pull powerup that we’ve ever seen in this manga full of ass pull power ups. There is no longer any tension in the OP story when every character will simply be handed the power ups required to win their conflicts by Oda no matter how unearned or nonsensical they may seem.
Discuss your opinions on the state of ass pull power ups in One Piss.
@Owl Ki @Blackbeard @TheKnightOfTheSea @Light D Lamperouge @TheAncientCenturion @comrade @Sentinel @MarineHQ62 @Seth @HA001 @Shepherd @Cuistot @VersusPhD @Mr. Anderson @Den_Den_Mushi @dizzy2341
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