Loved this Chapter. Blatant as fuck set-up for raid fail/big loss.
Oda usally ends final fight chapters on a dire note until Luffy wins, but here Oda keeps ending chapters of this fight on hopeful notes.
It's also really fucked up how the people of Wano are just accepting a return to slavery
imagine Wano concluding with them just being freed and not learning to stand up for themselves
Like, that's just not how Oda writes. People in One Piece get rewarded for fighting for their dreams.
The people of Wano need to rebel on their own.
Oda writes the people of the islands being involved in their own stories. While Luffy saves the day, the people of islands go through a collective character arc of wanting to be free, fighting for themselves, not just giving up. Oda just writing the people of this island being like "yup we're stuck in slavery, we're passive and won't try to do anything about it" leads to it being extremely unsatisfying if this is it.
The people of Wano still believe that Kaido is a benevolent loser. Them choosing to fight will only have meaning if they do so after a big loss, when they should believe it's hopeless. They'll choose to fight anyway.
Like, beyond Wano, beyond the people of islands, you have to understand the fundamental way Oda writes. As far back as how Coby only gets helped by Luffy after he stands up to Alvida. Oda universally writes to emphasize themes. Characters get rewarded for their actions being in line with the themes and punished if they aren't. Characters who don't fight for their dreams don't have good things happen to them. Characters who do fight for their dreams are rewarded.
Coby stands up to Alvida. The people of Skypeia pray for freedom. Robin gets saved after she declares she wants to live. The people of Cocoyashi village show up to fight for their freedom. If your point is "Oda doesn't write like this" you aren't paying any attention to how Oda writes.
Like, let my friend outline this. If Luffy wins here, then the people of Wano, who accepted slavery, get freed without any will of their own.
Let's look at it if Luffy loses. It's absolutely possible for Oda to write that loss and still avoid the flower capital falling and killing everyone, obviously that's not going to happen. What happens next? Kaido enacts the plan he talked about to change Wano. Revealing the lie that he was a benevolent ruler to the citizens. And he takes away their one festival, the one bright spot in their life, the thing that makes them think "i can't wait for next year when we do this again." Now they have nothing to look forward to. Now they have nothing left to lose. And with nothing left to lose, they stand up.
The dissonance of the Wano citizens being willing to go back to slavery and everything is so fucking weird that there's actually zero chance that Luffy just defeats Kaido and the next thing we get from them is "oh it's so great that we're free now"
Like literal basic writing and dramatic stakes states that we need to get them actually wanting it, actually feeling the despair of having their last light of hope snuffed out, before we then get the day being saved. That's the thing about raid fail/another big loss. There are so many dramatic beats like this that just feel completely incomplete if this is the final stage of the final battle. It's just literally not how Oda writes, there's zero chance of that not being developed further.
"Well, we still have hope, I hope I'm still alive for the next year's festival" is so on the nose setup.
For them finding out that there won't be one next year
Oda usally ends final fight chapters on a dire note until Luffy wins, but here Oda keeps ending chapters of this fight on hopeful notes.
It's also really fucked up how the people of Wano are just accepting a return to slavery
imagine Wano concluding with them just being freed and not learning to stand up for themselves
Like, that's just not how Oda writes. People in One Piece get rewarded for fighting for their dreams.
The people of Wano need to rebel on their own.
Oda writes the people of the islands being involved in their own stories. While Luffy saves the day, the people of islands go through a collective character arc of wanting to be free, fighting for themselves, not just giving up. Oda just writing the people of this island being like "yup we're stuck in slavery, we're passive and won't try to do anything about it" leads to it being extremely unsatisfying if this is it.
The people of Wano still believe that Kaido is a benevolent loser. Them choosing to fight will only have meaning if they do so after a big loss, when they should believe it's hopeless. They'll choose to fight anyway.
Like, beyond Wano, beyond the people of islands, you have to understand the fundamental way Oda writes. As far back as how Coby only gets helped by Luffy after he stands up to Alvida. Oda universally writes to emphasize themes. Characters get rewarded for their actions being in line with the themes and punished if they aren't. Characters who don't fight for their dreams don't have good things happen to them. Characters who do fight for their dreams are rewarded.
Coby stands up to Alvida. The people of Skypeia pray for freedom. Robin gets saved after she declares she wants to live. The people of Cocoyashi village show up to fight for their freedom. If your point is "Oda doesn't write like this" you aren't paying any attention to how Oda writes.
Like, let my friend outline this. If Luffy wins here, then the people of Wano, who accepted slavery, get freed without any will of their own.
Let's look at it if Luffy loses. It's absolutely possible for Oda to write that loss and still avoid the flower capital falling and killing everyone, obviously that's not going to happen. What happens next? Kaido enacts the plan he talked about to change Wano. Revealing the lie that he was a benevolent ruler to the citizens. And he takes away their one festival, the one bright spot in their life, the thing that makes them think "i can't wait for next year when we do this again." Now they have nothing to look forward to. Now they have nothing left to lose. And with nothing left to lose, they stand up.
The dissonance of the Wano citizens being willing to go back to slavery and everything is so fucking weird that there's actually zero chance that Luffy just defeats Kaido and the next thing we get from them is "oh it's so great that we're free now"
Like literal basic writing and dramatic stakes states that we need to get them actually wanting it, actually feeling the despair of having their last light of hope snuffed out, before we then get the day being saved. That's the thing about raid fail/another big loss. There are so many dramatic beats like this that just feel completely incomplete if this is the final stage of the final battle. It's just literally not how Oda writes, there's zero chance of that not being developed further.
"Well, we still have hope, I hope I'm still alive for the next year's festival" is so on the nose setup.
For them finding out that there won't be one next year
