Take this thread with a grain of salt since its extremely subjective of course and also my opinion can change like the moment one good chapter comes out.
After the recent string of what I would call MEHH chapters of Wano, I think I should address one of my issues with Wano and how they are different with my issues with WCI. I'll also provide what I think Oda is trying to do by making the story like this but then again? I still don't like what he's doing so I don't care.
Wano is suffering from a big ol case of rushed conclusions. Almost everything from plot points to action scenes to character arcs are set up relatively well and then dragged out for a number of chapters and then QUICKLY concluded with barely any carthasis to be had. A few examples are, Ashura douji's reluctance to join the alliance is dragged out for so many chapters being given a few panels per chapter and then when we first get actual insight into Ashura's past its about there pages and then one page later he's fully on board with the plan. Komurasaki's identity is built up for multiple chapters and the moment she meets Zoro, she spills the beans instantly with no clear story prompting or anything. Denjiro's identity is the same. Zoro wants Shusui back for multiple chapters and after two pages of conversation, he decides to trade Enma for it and thats the end of that. Oden cut Kaido and it's built up to be a monstrous feat and yet the actual fight depicts this as relatively easy after two pages of Oden actually fighting kaido himself. Luffy has Nidai Kitetsu a cursed blade which he stole and Zoro wants, then it just ends up back where it was and Zoro barely cares. Big mom loses her memory and attacks Udon and then gets boned on the head and caputred in one chapter. Big mom and kaido have been threatening to kill each other and after one chapter of a clash, they become friends OFF SCREEN. Chapter 973 rushing through the conclusion of this Oden flashback. I can go on and on, you get the picture.
WCI on the other hand suffered from false plot points. Multiple plot points were literally dropped as ether not being real or actually having much less stakes than they were advertised with. The exploding hand cuffs and threat to Zeff weren't really real. The intelligence network of the bug mom pirates wasn't that efficient. The cohesiveness of the family was much less than implied. Judge was dumber than initially implied. Sanji did in fact need germa and their tech to be survive. Luffy didn't actually surpass Katakuri like he said he would. The strawhats didn't actually get blown up or take any damage at the end of the arc. A sweet general smoothie isn't actually that big a deal. You see where this is going.
Now what I can say Oda was doing for both arcs is this. Wano is written as a Kabuki play and a characteristic of Kabuki plays is that the endings of these plays are EXTREMELY rushed. Like the actual endings of these plays that tie up loose ends and such can be done in less than 5% of the runtime of the whole play so it's a characteristic that rushed conclusions fit into this style. I still don't like it of course, but maybe that's what Oda is going for. With WCI the theme was fairy tales and old fairy tales, especially Grimm fairy tales were characterised by one thing being another thing completely. The old lady in the Candy house turns out to want to eat Hansel and Gretel. That type of thing. Maybe this is what Oda was going for. Again I still don't like it.
At this point for Wano, I don't believe Oda is going to break this narrative style. He has written it into everything for the last 65 chapters of the arc and I believe he want stop. And I still won't like it.
After the recent string of what I would call MEHH chapters of Wano, I think I should address one of my issues with Wano and how they are different with my issues with WCI. I'll also provide what I think Oda is trying to do by making the story like this but then again? I still don't like what he's doing so I don't care.
Wano is suffering from a big ol case of rushed conclusions. Almost everything from plot points to action scenes to character arcs are set up relatively well and then dragged out for a number of chapters and then QUICKLY concluded with barely any carthasis to be had. A few examples are, Ashura douji's reluctance to join the alliance is dragged out for so many chapters being given a few panels per chapter and then when we first get actual insight into Ashura's past its about there pages and then one page later he's fully on board with the plan. Komurasaki's identity is built up for multiple chapters and the moment she meets Zoro, she spills the beans instantly with no clear story prompting or anything. Denjiro's identity is the same. Zoro wants Shusui back for multiple chapters and after two pages of conversation, he decides to trade Enma for it and thats the end of that. Oden cut Kaido and it's built up to be a monstrous feat and yet the actual fight depicts this as relatively easy after two pages of Oden actually fighting kaido himself. Luffy has Nidai Kitetsu a cursed blade which he stole and Zoro wants, then it just ends up back where it was and Zoro barely cares. Big mom loses her memory and attacks Udon and then gets boned on the head and caputred in one chapter. Big mom and kaido have been threatening to kill each other and after one chapter of a clash, they become friends OFF SCREEN. Chapter 973 rushing through the conclusion of this Oden flashback. I can go on and on, you get the picture.
WCI on the other hand suffered from false plot points. Multiple plot points were literally dropped as ether not being real or actually having much less stakes than they were advertised with. The exploding hand cuffs and threat to Zeff weren't really real. The intelligence network of the bug mom pirates wasn't that efficient. The cohesiveness of the family was much less than implied. Judge was dumber than initially implied. Sanji did in fact need germa and their tech to be survive. Luffy didn't actually surpass Katakuri like he said he would. The strawhats didn't actually get blown up or take any damage at the end of the arc. A sweet general smoothie isn't actually that big a deal. You see where this is going.
Now what I can say Oda was doing for both arcs is this. Wano is written as a Kabuki play and a characteristic of Kabuki plays is that the endings of these plays are EXTREMELY rushed. Like the actual endings of these plays that tie up loose ends and such can be done in less than 5% of the runtime of the whole play so it's a characteristic that rushed conclusions fit into this style. I still don't like it of course, but maybe that's what Oda is going for. With WCI the theme was fairy tales and old fairy tales, especially Grimm fairy tales were characterised by one thing being another thing completely. The old lady in the Candy house turns out to want to eat Hansel and Gretel. That type of thing. Maybe this is what Oda was going for. Again I still don't like it.
At this point for Wano, I don't believe Oda is going to break this narrative style. He has written it into everything for the last 65 chapters of the arc and I believe he want stop. And I still won't like it.
when sanji vs king was a thing
