General & Others Full analysis on why Wano has been a total failure (acts 1 and 2)
- Thread starter lee33
- Start date
I should clarify, there is a huge difference between pretime skip and post time skip One Piece. Sure they both still use the same formula but the amount of nonsense devoted in post time skip is staggering. Pretime skip divulged a lot of information about the central plot points of One Piece whereas Post time skip Oda just keeps adding more and more and more and more mysteries to the story without addressing any of his previous ones which is the thing that frustrates me the most. Like dude we are 25 years into One Piece and over 1000+ chapters, it is about time we get some answers but nope, nothing.
Yep, exactly my sentiments! Oda is acting as if we are still in chapter 1 hiding these mysteries. The only reason he doesn't reveal anything is because he knows very well there is nothing grand about the mysteries.
Yep, exactly my sentiments! Oda is acting as if we are still in chapter 1 hiding these mysteries. The only reason he doesn't reveal anything is because he knows very well there is nothing grand about the mysteries.
1 Year Later i'm here to debunk this thread.
First, the Wano arc does not stretch its storyline in length.
The rhythm in addition to being a largely subjective concept when talking about reading, in the case of One Piece the arcs are long but not slow, and the same for the open doors in question I can understand this feeling when you follow the story with a weekly rhythm but not a problem of manga in general.
I will detail why and how here:
In One Piece, there are indeed a lot of things to follow, parallel stories, secondary characters and the final confrontations are often a happy mess, but that's why we appreciate this frenetic energy.
Oda is the type of author who is able to throw 10 narrative lines at you at the same time, to make them go in any direction and to make them come together in a single climax, and it's not given to all authors.
But maybe that's what's wrong with following his story one chapter at a time, Oda is a guy who has an overview; he knows where he's going but will never take the most direct route to get there, with him it's really organized chaos that really rewards readers if they pay attention to the details, but reading it straight through without Waiting from one chapter to another... it's fluid.
And most importantly the landing is managed, at the end all the narrative lines rejoice, each person has the opportunity to shine and find a conclusion to his personal plot.
It's a bit to give you a metaphor, like seeing a dozen intertwined headphones that unravel one after the other is very satisfying.
But that satisfaction can only come after seeing the frustration of those tangled headphones.
That's why I absolutely disagree with your thoughts on the length but also on the fact that mysteries are not yet solved, from the beginning of the manga we are promised the big answers only at the end.
First, the Set Up for Wano didn't start in Thriller Bark, we just heard about the island in this arc but the two have no direct connection other than Zoro getting Shisui.
The Set Up for Wano starts at Punk Hazard but you have to measure what you say, at Punk Hazard we set up the alliance, the business around the smiles with Caesar as well as Doflamingo but as for Dressrosa, Zo and WCI this are certainly arcs which have a link with Wano but which above all tell their own story.
These are not just Set Up arcs so from this point of view this argument falls apart, Wano recounts the fall of two emperors and has the consequences of launching the race for One Piece, this requires time and a good construction which Oda did perfectly, but to say that the other arcs only existed for Wano is wrong.
Secondly to say that Wano is not used for anything other than power ups is not an argument to discredit a bow, that a bow is a filler does not make it directly bad to begin with, but also one cannot judge a unfinished work so easily because sometimes certain points put in place take on importance much later, the proof with the Skypiea arc for example which before the events of Wano with Gear 5 had no real use other than to gain gold and today we see that this arc is degraded linked to the mythology of the world of One Piece.
Skypiea hasn't been a bad arc so far on the pretext that it was a "filler" no it hasn't changed its quality at all, because the goal of a manga is above all to tell a story, to move, to intrigue etc...
But hey, all my tirade is useless because the Wano arc is no longer a filler since it brings back power-ups for the characters, but also development and advances the overall plot of the world of One Piece (Reverie , 2 Yonko dead, Pluto ancient weapon, etc.).
This is where we see that you lack analysis, to have power-ups what do you need? You have to beat Kaido, and to beat Kaido what do you need? Yes you need a plan as well as a build up and we will see later that this argument will turn against you.
It's just your false definition of what is a "filler" arc, a filler arc is an arc that does'nt have any consequences on the characters, the world of one piece, it's not because it doesn't answer certain mysteries that it's a filler, and above all important point I repeat it's not because it's a filler that it's bad.
Third yes entering Wano is difficult because the borders are closed, there are 2 ways to enter, the first is to pass the waterfall by hanging on to the carp, which Luffy and the crew of Big did Mom. Or behind the waterfall where the port of Mogura is located, which transports boats and materials up to Hakumai using a bubble, no one can cross this passage without the authorization of Orochi or Kaidou .
It is a risk to be taken which can condemn a badly maneuvered boat to death, then for the case of the Navy if they do not occur in Wano it is also because Sakazuki fears the Samurais of the country and that the country is under Kaido, a Yonko.
There is no time wasted we are told about the difficulty of entering Wano in chapter 910 and the risk undertaken to get there, and it is something true, due to the climate it is very hard to Going to Wano, you have to use the carp to go up the waterfall, which only the Mugiwara have managed to do.
You have to explain to me where the time is wasted in this, I have the feeling that you are using random words.
For Marco's post I agree that he wasn't really helpful but at least on a return to chapter 1059 on this really minimal plot, it's still a detail in the story.
Then you ask us why Oda gives us a tour of the island, shows us its inhabitants and these different places.
Oda does this because the essence of One Piece has always been adventure, exploration, visiting an island and meeting its inhabitants, just as in Alabasta there were several places in Wano too and that is exciting to discover them, not only for the adventure aspect but also for the emotional and thematic aspect.
It gives us the dramatic context of the arc, what the Mugiwara will have to answer and also why they will fight, the story of the inhabitants of Wano is very touching and reinforces the emotion as well as the desire to see the hero win.
Without all this setting up the arc wouldn't have the same emotional impact at all, not the same interest, especially since if we start thinking always with a view to saving time we can off screen all the fights and summarize the flashbacks in two pages while we're at it? If Oda hadn't developed the inhabitants, if he hadn't exploited the geography of Wano as he did, many people would have said that he botches the arc or that he doesn't care to tell a story, including me so once again this point of your criticism is absurd.
Then, you are not precise on the statistics which you raise, Luffy and Zoro on the 16 chapters of act 1 spent only 4 of them to face "fodders" (the 913, 915, 916 and 917) , 2 fights one against Basil Hawkins which will give us a good introduction for the character and train behind the coming of Kaido and also one to recover O-Tama which will strengthen the Tama / Luffy link which has its place in the themes of the arc (Ace's promise that Luffy will keep in his place, increase in joy upon release) and will have its importance afterwards.
It is also because Luffy and his friends fought these "fodders" and recover the ark of abundance that Kaido will go to the capital of flowers, it is the heart of the scenario so to sum it up to just Luffy who fights fodder for nothing is objectively false, not an opinion.
Concerning O-Tama, we come back to the same problem that I mentioned above, we must ask ourselves characters capable of presenting us with the effective dramatic context, directly seeing the consequences of industrialization and poverty with a character introduced into the arc is a much better way to go than writing it down on a piece of paper (show don't tell), complaining about O-Tama's development when his backstory with Ace is only 5 pages long in chapter 912 it's incomprehensible, not only are we developing O-Tama makes her a touching character, but you're nitpicking on 5 pages in total in an arc of 148 chapters.
Bref l'introduction d'O-Tama était une très bonne chose qui a donné à Luffy une quête personnelle dans l'arc, en plus d'être un bon personnage réellement émouvant qui a totalement sa place dans l'histoire qu'Oda nous raconte.
On the other hand on the point "Deus Ex Machina" you are wrong, a Deus Ex Machina is an unexpected character or event coming opportunely to resolve a dramatic situation.
In O-Tama's case it's been prepared since meeting the character, so it's not a Deus Ex Machina but simply a weapon the Mugiwara have against Kaido's crew, it works because O- Tama joins them mostly thanks to the bond she established with Luffy and the others.
To continue on this point you say that this ability of O-Tama cancels the 100 chapters of Dressrosa and the 50 chapters of Punk Hazard, I have rarely heard such nonsense.
The whole history of Dressrosa only revolves around Smiles? The history of Punk Hazard only revolves around smiles? The smilies are just what binds Caesar to Doflamingo and Kaido in the chain, it's not what these two arcs are about, we want to destroy the Smilies factory and get rid of Caesar because Law had sworn to bring down Doflamingo and also because it was necessary to start an altercation with Kaido.
Especially since the characters couldn't have guessed that O-Tama would be on their side or that such a power existed so their actions are totally coherent, nothing to do with "lazy writing" you can't don't judge that if you don't know how a story works and how storytelling works.
For Yamato it's simply impossible because the character is retained at Onigashima and anyway we had his development at Onigashima in the end, O-Tama is a much more relevant choice given the themes addressed and an irreplaceable character because 'She plays a crucial role during the war (inconsistency in your speech).
In the case of Toki we see a new inconsistency in your speech, you complain on the one hand that the development of certain characters is not necessary and on the other that Toki (a very secondary character) does not have been developed, I don't know if it's bad faith or stupidity.
Oda did not want to develop Toki and his link with the forgotten century because he intends to do so later in due time, One Piece is an unfinished work and therefore it cannot be excluded that certain questions will find their answer more late, that's totally the case here.
Oda is not going to reveal all the secrets of the world of One Piece to Wano Kuni, he reserves that for the Final Saga, just be patient and stop judging a work only by the prism of hype, revelations .
As for the intrigue between Law and Hawkins to start Hawkins has nothing against Law, he just wants to capture him because it's his job, it's his role within the hundred beasts crew.
The plot between Hawkins and Law (I counted) is spread over a total of 14 pages in an arc of 148 chapters, in other words you nitpick on a detail, and the purpose of this subplot is to reveal the spy Drake, to give elements of characterization which will justify the defeat of Hawkins later, to give a personal intrigue to Law in the arc, to free the Samurai prisoners of Orochi etc.
So yes for 14 total pages in the arc the yield is excellent, it couldn't have been done in a better way.
Now I'm going to answer all your questions about the characters, O-Toko exists to give us the dramatic context of the arc, to give weight to Yasuie's death and finally for a secondary character she does very well what we expect from her.
For the red scabbards they are 9 yes it's true, but we are talking about a group of characters who shine as a group rather than by their individuality, each of them told their own little story in the story and enabled us to better present to us the greatness of soul of Oden Kozuki.
Kin'emon is the one we met at Punk Hazard and who introduced us to the stakes of the arc, Izo is an ex-member of Whitebeard's fleet who had his role in the arc by killing a member of the CP0 and as a tertiary character that's enough, Ashura Doji saved the 9 scabbards of Kanjuro thanks to his sacrifice and had a great story with Oden, Kiku also in addition to losing his arm in front of Kaido which has was a proof of the antagonist's superpower in the arc, Denjiro it was he who countered the traitor's plan and killed Orochi and raised Hiyori so that she would become Komurasaki once an adult, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi defeated Jack and Perospero on their side, and Raizo it is he who is at the origin of the link with the Minks and the Mugiwara and justifies their departure to Zo.
The only red sheaths that weren't really useful was Kawamatsu, but hey, here we go into the details.
Then, Oda never wanted to develop the Beast Pirates, in One Piece he never developed the antagonists apart from Doflamingo and Big Mom, it's not a fault it's just that developing them n It's absolutely not a necessity, it doesn't add anything to the plot and above all there's nothing to tell with them, we don't need to have development on the antagonists and that doesn't matter the manga.
Now I would like to know how much time was wasted on Orochi and his henchmen, how much time have we spent on this? Orochi is an important character in the arc, it is because of him that the country of Wano knows desolation and it is he who led Kaido to come to Wano.
He is an essential character to explain all this and in addition to being linked to themes of the arc as well as personal intrigues for many characters, he is also linked to the whole story of Oden, the one that gives an epic and dramatic dimension to the arc.
The time spent on the character in Act 2 is about Komurasaki's faked death, O-Toko, as well as Yasuie's death which is essential because in addition to giving even more weight to the release of the arc via additional death and to be interesting thematically, it allowed to change the direction and allow the alliance to go to Onigashima.
You have the right not to like the plot around Orochi but to say that it's bad, or that it wasn't useful or relevant is wrong, all these characters there had a link with the overall plot of the Wano Kuni arc and participated in the defeat of Kaido or for example for characters like O-Toko or Hiyori mostly participated thematically.
Oda's greatest strength is to create characters that he easily manages to make empathetic, and all this contributes to making his story alive, and this since the beginning of the manga, in short let's move on.
Then in your big block you say that Luffy was One Shot by Kaido only for the hype, so again it's obviously wrong, Luffy's defeat led to his training in the prison, his meeting with Hyogoro who could teaching him the Ryuo without which he would never have been able to defeat Kaido.
In addition to giving us a striking show of force from Kaido, it helps justify Luffy's victory.
You also say that the Advanced Conqueror's Haki was only introduced for the hype when we are disadvantaged that it is the only way to defeat Kaido, it is totally coherent because Rayleigh tells us that Haki develops especially during situations perilous.
Then, Big Mom did not come to Wano Kuni only for the hype but especially because it was necessary to start the fall of the two Yonko at the same time so that behind the final saga could start, this is how Oda planned to conclude his story, there was no need for an additional arc dedicated to Big Mom when Luffy had just beaten Kaido which placed him directly as more powerful than the latter.
Finally to wrap up this point, no fight in the arc was rushed apart from Franky vs Sasaki, Zoro vs King is Zoro's best as well as longest fight.
The same for Sanji vs Queen which is Sanji's longest fight, the same for Robin, Jinbei, or even Nami, I invite you to compare the number of pages of Wano's fights to the number of pages of Alabasta's fights for take into account, the fights in Wano are the most complete and also the best of the manga, both in terms of narrative and in terms of action.
Your theory about Oda not managing his screentime well falls apart, absolutely nothing is sloppy in Wano, everything has the necessary duration and the right pace.
Jack and Perospero vs Inu and Neko were only off screen for part of the fight, his ending was shown to us and they got to take their revenge.
We were told they'd get revenge and they got revenge, we didn't focus on that plot as much as you're trying to make us believe, we were told about it in the Zo arc and on the death of Pedro, and in those two specific cases it was relevant because they were defining moments in their arcs in which we took advantage to build their desire for revenge.
Since the beginning of your review, in addition to having a lot of points that are false, it is also on a lot of details that you put your finger on, all the useless or irrelevant things that you have put forward to try to discredit the arc in the end only represent 6 or 7 chapters in total out of the 148 that Wano has, and on top of that the majority of what you consider useless, I would even say all of it for the moment is only a consequence misanalysis/understanding of the arc or how a story is told.
Moving on, so you're complaining that the Carrot fight was off screen which is true but to answer this criticism finally whether the fight was shown to us or not it's not important because we're talking about a minor fight from the arc, what matters is the conclusion of the latter with also the conclusion of the personal plot of the said characters.
It's a minimal detail in the arc in the end that you subjectively didn't appreciate.
Then O-Tama as I explained above is not a Deus Ex Machina and especially to take advantage of this power to win is not a problem, it is totally coherent.
On the other hand, where you are seriously mistaken is with regard to the Supernovas, Oda sold the Supernovas to us in Sabaody as the new generation which takes precedence over the old one, did Oda lie to us? No, Kidd, Law and Luffy had roles in the story to defeat the Yonkos and they did, they fulfilled the role Oda gave them in the Sabaody arc.
As soon as they entered the scene, we knew through the bonuses that some would be more important than others and those who particularly stood out Law, Kidd and Luffy, it is no coincidence that they are the ones who 15 years later brought down the old generation represented by Kaido and Big Mom.
Kidd and Law defeated Big Mom, Luffy defeated Kaido, Killer defeated Hawkins, Zoro defeated King, Drake and Apoo despite their lesser importance finally played their part in the arc.
Capone meanwhile on a character already seen in WCI and Bonney will probably play her role in EggHead.
I'm gonna put the rest later on
First, the Wano arc does not stretch its storyline in length.
The rhythm in addition to being a largely subjective concept when talking about reading, in the case of One Piece the arcs are long but not slow, and the same for the open doors in question I can understand this feeling when you follow the story with a weekly rhythm but not a problem of manga in general.
I will detail why and how here:
In One Piece, there are indeed a lot of things to follow, parallel stories, secondary characters and the final confrontations are often a happy mess, but that's why we appreciate this frenetic energy.
Oda is the type of author who is able to throw 10 narrative lines at you at the same time, to make them go in any direction and to make them come together in a single climax, and it's not given to all authors.
But maybe that's what's wrong with following his story one chapter at a time, Oda is a guy who has an overview; he knows where he's going but will never take the most direct route to get there, with him it's really organized chaos that really rewards readers if they pay attention to the details, but reading it straight through without Waiting from one chapter to another... it's fluid.
And most importantly the landing is managed, at the end all the narrative lines rejoice, each person has the opportunity to shine and find a conclusion to his personal plot.
It's a bit to give you a metaphor, like seeing a dozen intertwined headphones that unravel one after the other is very satisfying.
But that satisfaction can only come after seeing the frustration of those tangled headphones.
That's why I absolutely disagree with your thoughts on the length but also on the fact that mysteries are not yet solved, from the beginning of the manga we are promised the big answers only at the end.
First, the Set Up for Wano didn't start in Thriller Bark, we just heard about the island in this arc but the two have no direct connection other than Zoro getting Shisui.
The Set Up for Wano starts at Punk Hazard but you have to measure what you say, at Punk Hazard we set up the alliance, the business around the smiles with Caesar as well as Doflamingo but as for Dressrosa, Zo and WCI this are certainly arcs which have a link with Wano but which above all tell their own story.
These are not just Set Up arcs so from this point of view this argument falls apart, Wano recounts the fall of two emperors and has the consequences of launching the race for One Piece, this requires time and a good construction which Oda did perfectly, but to say that the other arcs only existed for Wano is wrong.
Secondly to say that Wano is not used for anything other than power ups is not an argument to discredit a bow, that a bow is a filler does not make it directly bad to begin with, but also one cannot judge a unfinished work so easily because sometimes certain points put in place take on importance much later, the proof with the Skypiea arc for example which before the events of Wano with Gear 5 had no real use other than to gain gold and today we see that this arc is degraded linked to the mythology of the world of One Piece.
Skypiea hasn't been a bad arc so far on the pretext that it was a "filler" no it hasn't changed its quality at all, because the goal of a manga is above all to tell a story, to move, to intrigue etc...
But hey, all my tirade is useless because the Wano arc is no longer a filler since it brings back power-ups for the characters, but also development and advances the overall plot of the world of One Piece (Reverie , 2 Yonko dead, Pluto ancient weapon, etc.).
This is where we see that you lack analysis, to have power-ups what do you need? You have to beat Kaido, and to beat Kaido what do you need? Yes you need a plan as well as a build up and we will see later that this argument will turn against you.
It's just your false definition of what is a "filler" arc, a filler arc is an arc that does'nt have any consequences on the characters, the world of one piece, it's not because it doesn't answer certain mysteries that it's a filler, and above all important point I repeat it's not because it's a filler that it's bad.
Third yes entering Wano is difficult because the borders are closed, there are 2 ways to enter, the first is to pass the waterfall by hanging on to the carp, which Luffy and the crew of Big did Mom. Or behind the waterfall where the port of Mogura is located, which transports boats and materials up to Hakumai using a bubble, no one can cross this passage without the authorization of Orochi or Kaidou .
It is a risk to be taken which can condemn a badly maneuvered boat to death, then for the case of the Navy if they do not occur in Wano it is also because Sakazuki fears the Samurais of the country and that the country is under Kaido, a Yonko.
There is no time wasted we are told about the difficulty of entering Wano in chapter 910 and the risk undertaken to get there, and it is something true, due to the climate it is very hard to Going to Wano, you have to use the carp to go up the waterfall, which only the Mugiwara have managed to do.
You have to explain to me where the time is wasted in this, I have the feeling that you are using random words.
For Marco's post I agree that he wasn't really helpful but at least on a return to chapter 1059 on this really minimal plot, it's still a detail in the story.
Then you ask us why Oda gives us a tour of the island, shows us its inhabitants and these different places.
Oda does this because the essence of One Piece has always been adventure, exploration, visiting an island and meeting its inhabitants, just as in Alabasta there were several places in Wano too and that is exciting to discover them, not only for the adventure aspect but also for the emotional and thematic aspect.
It gives us the dramatic context of the arc, what the Mugiwara will have to answer and also why they will fight, the story of the inhabitants of Wano is very touching and reinforces the emotion as well as the desire to see the hero win.
Without all this setting up the arc wouldn't have the same emotional impact at all, not the same interest, especially since if we start thinking always with a view to saving time we can off screen all the fights and summarize the flashbacks in two pages while we're at it? If Oda hadn't developed the inhabitants, if he hadn't exploited the geography of Wano as he did, many people would have said that he botches the arc or that he doesn't care to tell a story, including me so once again this point of your criticism is absurd.
Then, you are not precise on the statistics which you raise, Luffy and Zoro on the 16 chapters of act 1 spent only 4 of them to face "fodders" (the 913, 915, 916 and 917) , 2 fights one against Basil Hawkins which will give us a good introduction for the character and train behind the coming of Kaido and also one to recover O-Tama which will strengthen the Tama / Luffy link which has its place in the themes of the arc (Ace's promise that Luffy will keep in his place, increase in joy upon release) and will have its importance afterwards.
It is also because Luffy and his friends fought these "fodders" and recover the ark of abundance that Kaido will go to the capital of flowers, it is the heart of the scenario so to sum it up to just Luffy who fights fodder for nothing is objectively false, not an opinion.
Concerning O-Tama, we come back to the same problem that I mentioned above, we must ask ourselves characters capable of presenting us with the effective dramatic context, directly seeing the consequences of industrialization and poverty with a character introduced into the arc is a much better way to go than writing it down on a piece of paper (show don't tell), complaining about O-Tama's development when his backstory with Ace is only 5 pages long in chapter 912 it's incomprehensible, not only are we developing O-Tama makes her a touching character, but you're nitpicking on 5 pages in total in an arc of 148 chapters.
Bref l'introduction d'O-Tama était une très bonne chose qui a donné à Luffy une quête personnelle dans l'arc, en plus d'être un bon personnage réellement émouvant qui a totalement sa place dans l'histoire qu'Oda nous raconte.
On the other hand on the point "Deus Ex Machina" you are wrong, a Deus Ex Machina is an unexpected character or event coming opportunely to resolve a dramatic situation.
In O-Tama's case it's been prepared since meeting the character, so it's not a Deus Ex Machina but simply a weapon the Mugiwara have against Kaido's crew, it works because O- Tama joins them mostly thanks to the bond she established with Luffy and the others.
To continue on this point you say that this ability of O-Tama cancels the 100 chapters of Dressrosa and the 50 chapters of Punk Hazard, I have rarely heard such nonsense.
The whole history of Dressrosa only revolves around Smiles? The history of Punk Hazard only revolves around smiles? The smilies are just what binds Caesar to Doflamingo and Kaido in the chain, it's not what these two arcs are about, we want to destroy the Smilies factory and get rid of Caesar because Law had sworn to bring down Doflamingo and also because it was necessary to start an altercation with Kaido.
Especially since the characters couldn't have guessed that O-Tama would be on their side or that such a power existed so their actions are totally coherent, nothing to do with "lazy writing" you can't don't judge that if you don't know how a story works and how storytelling works.
For Yamato it's simply impossible because the character is retained at Onigashima and anyway we had his development at Onigashima in the end, O-Tama is a much more relevant choice given the themes addressed and an irreplaceable character because 'She plays a crucial role during the war (inconsistency in your speech).
In the case of Toki we see a new inconsistency in your speech, you complain on the one hand that the development of certain characters is not necessary and on the other that Toki (a very secondary character) does not have been developed, I don't know if it's bad faith or stupidity.
Oda did not want to develop Toki and his link with the forgotten century because he intends to do so later in due time, One Piece is an unfinished work and therefore it cannot be excluded that certain questions will find their answer more late, that's totally the case here.
Oda is not going to reveal all the secrets of the world of One Piece to Wano Kuni, he reserves that for the Final Saga, just be patient and stop judging a work only by the prism of hype, revelations .
As for the intrigue between Law and Hawkins to start Hawkins has nothing against Law, he just wants to capture him because it's his job, it's his role within the hundred beasts crew.
The plot between Hawkins and Law (I counted) is spread over a total of 14 pages in an arc of 148 chapters, in other words you nitpick on a detail, and the purpose of this subplot is to reveal the spy Drake, to give elements of characterization which will justify the defeat of Hawkins later, to give a personal intrigue to Law in the arc, to free the Samurai prisoners of Orochi etc.
So yes for 14 total pages in the arc the yield is excellent, it couldn't have been done in a better way.
Now I'm going to answer all your questions about the characters, O-Toko exists to give us the dramatic context of the arc, to give weight to Yasuie's death and finally for a secondary character she does very well what we expect from her.
For the red scabbards they are 9 yes it's true, but we are talking about a group of characters who shine as a group rather than by their individuality, each of them told their own little story in the story and enabled us to better present to us the greatness of soul of Oden Kozuki.
Kin'emon is the one we met at Punk Hazard and who introduced us to the stakes of the arc, Izo is an ex-member of Whitebeard's fleet who had his role in the arc by killing a member of the CP0 and as a tertiary character that's enough, Ashura Doji saved the 9 scabbards of Kanjuro thanks to his sacrifice and had a great story with Oden, Kiku also in addition to losing his arm in front of Kaido which has was a proof of the antagonist's superpower in the arc, Denjiro it was he who countered the traitor's plan and killed Orochi and raised Hiyori so that she would become Komurasaki once an adult, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi defeated Jack and Perospero on their side, and Raizo it is he who is at the origin of the link with the Minks and the Mugiwara and justifies their departure to Zo.
The only red sheaths that weren't really useful was Kawamatsu, but hey, here we go into the details.
Then, Oda never wanted to develop the Beast Pirates, in One Piece he never developed the antagonists apart from Doflamingo and Big Mom, it's not a fault it's just that developing them n It's absolutely not a necessity, it doesn't add anything to the plot and above all there's nothing to tell with them, we don't need to have development on the antagonists and that doesn't matter the manga.
Now I would like to know how much time was wasted on Orochi and his henchmen, how much time have we spent on this? Orochi is an important character in the arc, it is because of him that the country of Wano knows desolation and it is he who led Kaido to come to Wano.
He is an essential character to explain all this and in addition to being linked to themes of the arc as well as personal intrigues for many characters, he is also linked to the whole story of Oden, the one that gives an epic and dramatic dimension to the arc.
The time spent on the character in Act 2 is about Komurasaki's faked death, O-Toko, as well as Yasuie's death which is essential because in addition to giving even more weight to the release of the arc via additional death and to be interesting thematically, it allowed to change the direction and allow the alliance to go to Onigashima.
You have the right not to like the plot around Orochi but to say that it's bad, or that it wasn't useful or relevant is wrong, all these characters there had a link with the overall plot of the Wano Kuni arc and participated in the defeat of Kaido or for example for characters like O-Toko or Hiyori mostly participated thematically.
Oda's greatest strength is to create characters that he easily manages to make empathetic, and all this contributes to making his story alive, and this since the beginning of the manga, in short let's move on.
Then in your big block you say that Luffy was One Shot by Kaido only for the hype, so again it's obviously wrong, Luffy's defeat led to his training in the prison, his meeting with Hyogoro who could teaching him the Ryuo without which he would never have been able to defeat Kaido.
In addition to giving us a striking show of force from Kaido, it helps justify Luffy's victory.
You also say that the Advanced Conqueror's Haki was only introduced for the hype when we are disadvantaged that it is the only way to defeat Kaido, it is totally coherent because Rayleigh tells us that Haki develops especially during situations perilous.
Then, Big Mom did not come to Wano Kuni only for the hype but especially because it was necessary to start the fall of the two Yonko at the same time so that behind the final saga could start, this is how Oda planned to conclude his story, there was no need for an additional arc dedicated to Big Mom when Luffy had just beaten Kaido which placed him directly as more powerful than the latter.
Finally to wrap up this point, no fight in the arc was rushed apart from Franky vs Sasaki, Zoro vs King is Zoro's best as well as longest fight.
The same for Sanji vs Queen which is Sanji's longest fight, the same for Robin, Jinbei, or even Nami, I invite you to compare the number of pages of Wano's fights to the number of pages of Alabasta's fights for take into account, the fights in Wano are the most complete and also the best of the manga, both in terms of narrative and in terms of action.
Your theory about Oda not managing his screentime well falls apart, absolutely nothing is sloppy in Wano, everything has the necessary duration and the right pace.
Jack and Perospero vs Inu and Neko were only off screen for part of the fight, his ending was shown to us and they got to take their revenge.
We were told they'd get revenge and they got revenge, we didn't focus on that plot as much as you're trying to make us believe, we were told about it in the Zo arc and on the death of Pedro, and in those two specific cases it was relevant because they were defining moments in their arcs in which we took advantage to build their desire for revenge.
Since the beginning of your review, in addition to having a lot of points that are false, it is also on a lot of details that you put your finger on, all the useless or irrelevant things that you have put forward to try to discredit the arc in the end only represent 6 or 7 chapters in total out of the 148 that Wano has, and on top of that the majority of what you consider useless, I would even say all of it for the moment is only a consequence misanalysis/understanding of the arc or how a story is told.
Moving on, so you're complaining that the Carrot fight was off screen which is true but to answer this criticism finally whether the fight was shown to us or not it's not important because we're talking about a minor fight from the arc, what matters is the conclusion of the latter with also the conclusion of the personal plot of the said characters.
It's a minimal detail in the arc in the end that you subjectively didn't appreciate.
Then O-Tama as I explained above is not a Deus Ex Machina and especially to take advantage of this power to win is not a problem, it is totally coherent.
On the other hand, where you are seriously mistaken is with regard to the Supernovas, Oda sold the Supernovas to us in Sabaody as the new generation which takes precedence over the old one, did Oda lie to us? No, Kidd, Law and Luffy had roles in the story to defeat the Yonkos and they did, they fulfilled the role Oda gave them in the Sabaody arc.
As soon as they entered the scene, we knew through the bonuses that some would be more important than others and those who particularly stood out Law, Kidd and Luffy, it is no coincidence that they are the ones who 15 years later brought down the old generation represented by Kaido and Big Mom.
Kidd and Law defeated Big Mom, Luffy defeated Kaido, Killer defeated Hawkins, Zoro defeated King, Drake and Apoo despite their lesser importance finally played their part in the arc.
Capone meanwhile on a character already seen in WCI and Bonney will probably play her role in EggHead.
I'm gonna put the rest later on
