General & Others The Problem With Post Timeskip

[Uncle Van]

Preskip One Piece........a world building masterpiece complete with great main characters, great development, awesome villains, a well built supporting cast, an excellent sense of continuity and scale, and the absolutely captivating mysteries; home to many moments that shook the manga fanbase, elevating One Piece to the #1 best selling manga in 2006, starting a long undefeated streak. Postskip has more characters, plot points, mystery and scale than ever before, but a large portion of the fanbase claim preskip was much better. How is this possible with the aforementioned increase in scale?

Lets use Paulie and Kyros as an example

Paulie was a supporting character in Water 7 and from the get go, was given a strong role as the face of the Galley-La shipwrights.

Spoiler

Paulie had a unique and original fighting style

Spoiler

Paulie was the one Oda choose to convey the sense of betrayal

Spoiler

Paulie traveled with the SHs to Enies Lobby but only did fodder control, but Oda still gave Paulie a big moment of sassy revenge

Spoiler

Paulie then stayed home in Water 7

Spoiler

Now for Kyros....Kyros was a MAIN character in Dressrosa. He was positioned as the leader of the rebellion against Doflmaingo.

Spoiler

Kyros got not one, but TWO flashbacks. One of them being on of saddest flashbacks in the series.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Kyros had a full, climatic battle against one of the main antagonist of the arc

Spoiler

Finally he stayed home in Dressrosa

Spoiler

Do you see any issues? Kyros had a much bigger role than Paulie that received the same ending. Kyros got MUCH more attention than most people in DR but didnt even join the grand fleet...he just stayed behind like preskip supporting characters....a weak reward for the reader to be more exact. Imagine if Paulie got a flashback and a big dramatic fight that causes SHs vs CP9 to be off paneled a bit, only for Paulie to just stay in Water 7 with no indication of being apart of something bigger in the future. Some may think Vivi or Kohza would be better examples but I think not. Vivi was always a main character in a saga and from the beginning, it was made clear that she would either stay with the SHs or stay in the country that needs her as its princess. Kohza always had a supporting role and not a main position like Kyros had.
Before going more into that, lets compare something else:

Ace vs Blackbeard

During this encounter, we got development

Spoiler

We got big reveals

Spoiler

We got some good action

Spoiler

Then it got off paneled leaving the reader wondering about the conclusion(lots to think about)

Spoiler

Fast foward to poskip, we get Revos vs Green Bull and Fujitora

Spoiler

Completely off paneled....no development, no action, no reveals....Green Bull wasnt seen and there wasnt a hint of his ability. The scene completely relies on ambiguity, leaving the reader with hardly anything to talk or wonder about.

Since I reached the image limit(thanks @Bogard ), I can use anymore for the rest of the thread. I'll go these next examples quickly.

MORE FIGHTS, LESS SUBSTANCE.
Franky vs Senor Pink was more than 20 chapters long and had no development for Franky. In an arc that was already bloated with characters and action, the fight felt extremely dragged. In Skypia we had Chopper vs Gedatsu that was only a chapter long, but it served as great personal development for Chopper and showed off his strengths in battle. Both fights were comedy battles with stakes, but Chopper vs Gedatsu achieved more emotion in one chapter. Franky vs Senor Pink needed a long flashback for the enemy to get emotion.

FALSE HYPE AND BUILD UP
Raizo and Kamawatsu's reveals come to mind. Both of them got a ton of build up with their allies going through pain n' torture to help them. Obviously, the reader would wonder just what kind people these characters were and what kind of a possible role would garner such attention. What we got were goofy and meh designs respectively, and both men are nothing but supporting characters with shared minimum roles{as of now).


CONCLUSION: As stated in the opening, while Postskip has more characters, action and scale than Preskip, it suffers from bad priorities. Preskip was more balanced in its distribution of attention while Postskip gives minor events far more priority over big events. It speedruns through the big events but goes at a snail's pace for the minor ones.
-Sabo vs Fuji was off paneled in favor of Colosseum fighters beating up fodder
-Revos vs Admirals was off paneled in favor of Luffy vs Urashima and fodder
-Sanji vs P1 was off paneled in favor of Luffy and Hyou beating up fodder
-Plot points like Ryuma and Black Blades was speed through in favor of bath house comedy
-SHs get low panel time in favor of minor characters with minimal roles
-an over-reliance of ambiguity and shock value and leads to contrivances like Oden's demise and Kanjuro the traitor
-Toki being from 800 years ago never touched upon after its reveal, with barely anything to go off of
-etc, etc

Hey....I didnt mentioned WCI...that would be too easy.

 

[Rmstorm]

The reason for this is because Oda's editor, that had been with him since the begininng of the series, was changed in 2010 at the end of part 1 of One Piece.

 

[Warchief Sanji D Goat]

I'm not so sure about this but probably Oda is not in his "prime" anymore. When he was young, he have his own time to spend and work on the series but now he is old and being sick lately so that's why Oda doesn't put his time on the series as much as he use to.

 

[KiriNigiri]

-Plot points like Ryuma and Black Blades was speed through in favor of bath house comedy

This one really rubbed me the wrong way. Ryuma and Shusui were our first blatant reference to Wano. Steadily and steadily, we've been building towards Wano, and the significance of Shusui and Ryuma mounted, as we met Samurai from Wano who hold Shusui and Ryuma in high regard, constantly reminded how legendary the sword is, etc.

Once we reach Wano, Ryuma only received a mention that he defended Wano and is known as "Sword God." Shusui's resolution was equally disappointing, boiling down to a goose chase where Shusui's abduction was off-paneled (even Wicca stealing Zoro's sword was shown), and then was resolved through a flat exchange that "Shusui is really important."

Ryuma's grave being ransacked left the country in a horrible state, as so we were told. However, during the flashback, Ryuma and Shusui amount to but a passage. A passage to an event we already knew about for over a decade. We didn't receive context of how Shusui's and Ryuma's abduction negatively impacted the country outside of people being sad. Show don't tell. How am I suppose to care about Wano's plight over Shusui and Ryuma if you never show them to me?

 

[Xione]

Fast foward to poskip, we get Revos vs Green Bull and Fujitora

Spoiler

Completely off paneled....no development, no action, no reveals....Green Bull wasnt seen and there wasnt a hint of his ability. The scene completely relies on ambiguity, leaving the reader with hardly anything to talk or wonder about.

Not really sure why you mentioned that event, when we already know that Oda is going to be digging into the Sabo situation further down the line. Only thing relies on is the fans being patient enough to wait until the story gets to the part where we see Sabo's story of what went down with them.

 

[OmegaPsyche]

Preskip One Piece........a world building masterpiece complete with great main characters, great development, awesome villains, a well built supporting cast, an excellent sense of continuity and scale, and the absolutely captivating mysteries; home to many moments that shook the manga fanbase, elevating One Piece to the #1 best selling manga in 2006, starting a long undefeated streak. Postskip has more characters, plot points, mystery and scale than ever before, but a large portion of the fanbase claim preskip was much better. How is this possible with the aforementioned increase in scale?

Lets use Paulie and Kyros as an example

Paulie was a supporting character in Water 7 and from the get go, was given a strong role as the face of the Galley-La shipwrights.

Spoiler

Paulie had a unique and original fighting style

Spoiler

Paulie was the one Oda choose to convey the sense of betrayal

Spoiler

Paulie traveled with the SHs to Enies Lobby but only did fodder control, but Oda still gave Paulie a big moment of sassy revenge

Spoiler

Paulie then stayed home in Water 7

Spoiler

Now for Kyros....Kyros was a MAIN character in Dressrosa. He was positioned as the leader of the rebellion against Doflmaingo.

Spoiler

Kyros got not one, but TWO flashbacks. One of them being on of saddest flashbacks in the series.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Kyros had a full, climatic battle against one of the main antagonist of the arc

Spoiler

Finally he stayed home in Dressrosa

Spoiler

Do you see any issues? Kyros had a much bigger role than Paulie that received the same ending. Kyros got MUCH more attention than most people in DR but didnt even join the grand fleet...he just stayed behind like preskip supporting characters....a weak reward for the reader to be more exact. Imagine if Paulie got a flashback and a big dramatic fight that causes SHs vs CP9 to be off paneled a bit, only for Paulie to just stay in Water 7 with no indication of being apart of something bigger in the future. Some may think Vivi or Kohza would be better examples but I think not. Vivi was always a main character in a saga and from the beginning, it was made clear that she would either stay with the SHs or stay in the country that needs her as its princess. Kohza always had a supporting role and not a main position like Kyros had.
Before going more into that, lets compare something else:

Ace vs Blackbeard

During this encounter, we got development

Spoiler

We got big reveals

Spoiler

We got some good action

Spoiler

Then it got off paneled leaving the reader wondering about the conclusion(lots to think about)

Spoiler

Fast foward to poskip, we get Revos vs Green Bull and Fujitora

Spoiler

Completely off paneled....no development, no action, no reveals....Green Bull wasnt seen and there wasnt a hint of his ability. The scene completely relies on ambiguity, leaving the reader with hardly anything to talk or wonder about.

Since I reached the image limit(thanks @Bogard ), I can use anymore for the rest of the thread. I'll go these next examples quickly.

MORE FIGHTS, LESS SUBSTANCE.
Franky vs Senor Pink was more than 20 chapters long and had no development for Franky. In an arc that was already bloated with characters and action, the fight felt extremely dragged. In Skypia we had Chopper vs Gedatsu that was only a chapter long, but it served as great personal development for Chopper and showed off his strengths in battle. Both fights were comedy battles with stakes, but Chopper vs Gedatsu achieved more emotion in one chapter. Franky vs Senor Pink needed a long flashback for the enemy to get emotion.

FALSE HYPE AND BUILD UP
Raizo and Kamawatsu's reveals come to mind. Both of them got a ton of build up with their allies going through pain n' torture to help them. Obviously, the reader would wonder just what kind people these characters were and what kind of a possible role would garner such attention. What we got were goofy and meh designs respectively, and both men are nothing but supporting characters with shared minimum roles{as of now).


CONCLUSION: As stated in the opening, while Postskip has more characters, action and scale than Preskip, it suffers from bad priorities. Preskip was more balanced in its distribution of attention while Postskip gives minor events far more priority over big events. It speedruns through the big events but goes at a snail's pace for the minor ones.
-Sabo vs Fuji was off paneled in favor of Colosseum fighters beating up fodder
-Revos vs Admirals was off paneled in favor of Luffy vs Urashima and fodder
-Sanji vs P1 was off paneled in favor of Luffy and Hyou beating up fodder
-Plot points like Ryuma and Black Blades was speed through in favor of bath house comedy
-SHs get low panel time in favor of minor characters with minimal roles
-an over-reliance of ambiguity and shock value and leads to contrivances like Oden's demise and Kanjuro the traitor
-Toki being from 800 years ago never touched upon after its reveal, with barely anything to go off of
-etc, etc

Hey....I didnt mentioned WCI...that would be too easy.

Ur points are valid. But there are post timeskip aspects that are better than Pretimeskip ones.

 

[Xione]

Do you see any issues? Kyros had a much bigger role than Paulie that received the same ending. Kyros got MUCH more attention than most people in DR but didnt even join the grand fleet...he just stayed behind like preskip supporting characters....a weak reward for the reader to be more exact. Imagine if Paulie got a flashback and a big dramatic fight that causes SHs vs CP9 to be off paneled a bit, only for Paulie to just stay in Water 7 with no indication of being apart of something bigger in the future. Some may think Vivi or Kohza would be better examples but I think not. Vivi was always a main character in a saga and from the beginning, it was made clear that she would either stay with the SHs or stay in the country that needs her as its princess. Kohza always had a supporting role and not a main position like Kyros had.
.

So for Vivi you claim it was made clear that she would either stay with the SHs or stay in the country that needs her as its princess...Uhhh.. It was pretty much the same for Kyros, who exactly was expecting Kyros the hero of dressrosa who is trying to take revenge for his King while protecting his daughter, would leave with the Strawhats when the country he fought to save needed rebuilding to join some pirate fleet?

Kyros role since day 1 was loyalty to Dressrosa, him being part of the grand fleet doesn't make any sense... He's part of the royal family of Dressrosa. He's working directly under the King, he's the protector of the nation. Why would he be part of a pirate's grandfleet, which is made of people who are all pirates? This isn't rational mate.

"He just stayed behind like preskip supporting characters".. He was brought up again during the Reverie, so not really sure what this means. But his character is all about Dressrosa, soo he's gonna be staying or going where Dressrosa takes him. That's sort of what makes Kyros' story great, it's soldier's/warrior's story, it was like a great standalone mini-story within Dressrosa arc.

 

[Uncle Van]

Not really sure why you mentioned that event, when we already know that Oda is going to be digging into the Sabo situation further down the line. Only thing relies on is the fans being patient enough to wait until the story gets to the part where we see Sabo's story of what went down with them.

Oda dug into Ace's situation later down the line. Ace and Sabo's situations mirror each other....difference is....everything I mentioned in the opening post. Dont really know what else to say.

So for Vivi you claim it was made clear that she would either stay with the SHs or stay in the country that needs her as its princess...Uhhh.. It was pretty much the same for Kyros, who exactly was expecting Kyros the hero of dressrosa who is trying to take revenge for his King while protecting his daughter, would leave with the Strawhats when the country to fought to save needed rebuilding or join some pirate fleet?

Kyros role since day 1 was loyalty to Dressrosa, him being part of the grand fleet doesn't make any sense... He's part of the royal family of Dressrosa. He's working directly under the King, he's the protector of the nation. Why would he be part of a pirate's grandfleet, which is made of people who are all pirates? This isn't rational mate.

"He just stayed behind like preskip supporting characters".. He was brought up again during the Reverie, so not really sure what this means. But his character is all about Dressrosa, soo he's gonna be staying or going where Dressrosa takes him. That's sort of what makes Kyros' story great, it's soldier's/warrior's story.

Vivi's entire story was tied to Alabasta. She got a ton of interaction and chemistry with the SHs which sparked the question of whether she would stay or not. Her story was done well.

Kyros' story was also good; never said it was bad. It is however, part of a bigger problem that I mentioned earlier, that being him given such a huge role and attention, for such little pay off. He could have gotten that same captivating story with less time. That's one of the reasons I mentioned Paulie, who is essentially the perfect supporting character.

What does being mentioned in Reverie have to do with what I said? Everyone is seen or mentioned eventually.

Ur points are valid. But there are post timeskip aspects that are better than Pretimeskip ones.

Naturally. Didnt say everything about preskip was done better.

 

[Friend A]

At work so I skimmed it real quick but a major point about Kyros that didn't get mentioned is the fact that he just got reunited with his daughter after spending most his life trying to protect her while she didn't even really know who he was... So he could abandon her to become a pirate or take her with him and they would both face more danger than if they stayed home on Dressrossa. Not to mention he started out as a criminal and is now a reformed man going into piracy would be a step backwards. Let the dude live a relaxed peaceful life with his daughter.

 

[Xione]

Oda dug into Ace's situation later down the line. Ace and Sabo's situations mirror each other....difference is....everything I mentioned in the opening post. Dont really know what else to say.



Vivi's entire story was tied to Alabasta. She got a ton of interaction and chemistry with the SHs which sparked the question of whether she would stay or not. Her story was done well.

Kyros' story was also good; never said it was bad. It is however, part of a bigger problem that I mentioned earlier, that being him given such a huge role and attention, for such little pay off. He could have gotten that same captivating story with less time. That's one of the reasons I mentioned Paulie, who is essentially the perfect supporting character.

What does being mentioned in Reverie have to do with what I said? Everyone is seen or mentioned eventually.



Naturally. Didnt say everything about preskip was done better.

Except they don't mirror each other, unless we have two different definitions of what "mirroring" each other is.

Ace vs Blackbeard - the actual conflict is shown, with the result left unknown -> result triggers the end-game for pre-TS
RA commanders vs Admirals - conflict is mentioned, result is also already implied -> result isn't triggering the end-game for post-TS

The second one, requires the story to get focused on Sabo and then we find out what exactly went down with the RA vs the Admirals, and whether the implied result of the event is true or not. A possibility of a flashback in time to when the reverie was happening, to reveal what the mess that happened was. (Which more than likely will happen, as Oda is planning something with Sabo & Vivi)

The first one we already know what went down, and we just need to know the results. No need for the flashback, unless we needed to see how Blackbeard handed him over to the marines.

So they're two different writing techniques/methods/ways. Their timing in the respective parts of OP don't mirror each other as well. Their roles also don't mirror each other one is part of a major event that was already going down, the other triggered a major event.
---------

"For such little pay off".. Your idea of a good pay off here was joining the grandfleet, not really sure how exactly that's a great pay off for somebody who has been loyal to his country & its' people and was focused always on protecting his daughter. You seem to like Paulie and find him to be the perfect supporting character, sadly I don't share the same sentiment. Which is I also found the whole Paulie & Kyros comparison to be weird, especially due to their roles in the their respective arcs.


Bro my guy Kyros & his story shits on any story that happened pre-TS regarding a character in an arc (can't say post-TS, since Oden's is up there too now). The ending was some true soldier's story ending. This is one of the most beautiful endings to a story in one piece man.

Spoiler

Reverie was mentioned, due to your ambiguous statement of "he just stayed behind like preskip characters", I assumed you were talking about being brought up in the story again.

 

[Daisuke Jigen]

 

[Monkey D Theories]

Oda dug into Ace's situation later down the line. Ace and Sabo's situations mirror each other....difference is....everything I mentioned in the opening post. Dont really know what else to say.

I fucking hate Sabo, lol. He's such a shit character.
He's like Ace in almost every single way but worst.

Ace actually was Luffy's brother in a far more meaningful sense than Sabo. Both Ace and Luffy were adopted by Dadan and Garp. More than that, Luffy actually grew up with Ace. Ace and Luffy had been through shit together. Sabo on the other hand spent relatively little time with Luffy and died when Luffy was very young.

In Dressrosa, Sabo and Luffy basically had zero interaction. What this ultimately culminates to is Sabo being nothing more than a friend luffy had as a child.

Not to mention the fact that bringing back sabo in the way he did creates a couple of very significant issues

1. why didn't ace ever figure out that Sabo was alive? Sabo had a bounty and was a high ranking member of the revolutionaries.
2. Why didn't Sabo try to find Luffy after he got his memories back? I mean Ace had just died, Luffy probably needed Sabo more than ever back then.
3. Sabo being alive undercuts the relationship between ace and luffy. Their relationship was so strong because they were all each other had. Ace was Luffy's only brother, hence Luffy would fight the world to save him.

smh if Oda does a marineford 2.0 after wano, I really wouldn't give a single shit if Sabo lives or dies. I'd tbh much prefer him to die and for coby to get his DF.

What Oda should have done was make Sabo into an obito type character. Like have the celestial dragons capture sabo after they shoot down his ship and turn him into a winter soldier.

Or Oda could have just kept Sabo dead and instead devote more time to developing Ace post skip. I'm surprised we didn't get a subplot about Luffy surpassing Ace. It just happened and wasn't really acknowledged. Ace was a pirate for 3 years, there were so many characters who could have known him or had relations to him that we didn't really get to see, except for Tama that is.

 

[OmegaPsyche]

I fucking hate Sabo, lol. He's such a shit character.
He's like Ace in almost every single way but worst.

In Dressrosa, Sabo and Luffy basically had zero interaction. What this ultimately culminates to is Sabo being nothing more than a friend luffy had as a child.

They're different.

Ace & Luffy were brothers cause they bonded when they were kids.

Sabo & Luffy are brothers cause they are both sons of Dragon. They carry Dragon's will, which is to destroy WG, this goal will bond them even further.

 

[Xione]

1. Sabo being alive undercuts the relationship between ace and luffy. Their relationship was so strong because they were all each other had. Ace was Luffy's only brother, hence Luffy would fight the world to save him.

So you're saying, because luffy has two brothers, his bond with one of his brothers is now undercut? I'm not really sure how that works mate.

I mean that only works if Luffy prioritizes one of his brothers over the others.. but that's not the case with Luffy. To Luffy his brothers are his brothers. Even if he had 9 brothers, he would still fight the world to save him, despite having 8 other brothers. He took on the world to save a woman that had just been in his crew for barely a month?

 

[Uncle Van]

Except they don't mirror each other, unless we have two different definitions of what "mirroring" each other is.

Ace vs Blackbeard - the actual conflict is shown, with the result left unknown -> result triggers the end-game for pre-TS
RA commanders vs Admirals - conflict is mentioned, result is also already implied -> result isn't triggering the end-game for post-TS

The second one, requires the story to get focused on Sabo and then we find out what exactly went down with the RA vs the Admirals, and whether the implied result of the event is true or not. A possibility of a flashback in time to when the reverie was happening, to reveal what the mess that happened was. (Which more than likely will happen, as Oda is planning something with Sabo & Vivi)

The first one we already know what went down, and we just need to know the results. No need for the flashback, unless we needed to see how Blackbeard handed him over to the marines.

So they're two different writing techniques/methods/ways. Their timing in the respective parts of OP don't mirror each other as well. Their roles also don't mirror each other one is part of a major event that was already going down, the other triggered a major event.
---------

"For such little pay off".. Your idea of a good pay off here was joining the grandfleet, not really sure how exactly that's a great pay off for somebody who has been loyal to his country & its' people and was focused always on protecting his daughter. You seem to like Paulie and find him to be the perfect supporting character, sadly I don't share the same sentiment. Which is I also found the whole Paulie & Kyros comparison to be weird, especially due to their roles in the their respective arcs.


Bro my guy Kyros & his story shits on any story that happened pre-TS regarding a character in an arc (can't say post-TS, since Oden's is up there too now). The ending was some true soldier's story ending. This is one of the most beautiful endings to a story in one piece man.

Spoiler

Reverie was mentioned, due to your ambiguous statement of "he just stayed behind like preskip characters", I assumed you were talking about being brought up in the story again.

My idea of a good pay off is Kyros joining the fleet? I like Paulie? Please dont make such assumptions.
You're judging things separately instead of compiling it all together as a whole, which is where the problem lies.

Once again, for all the attention Kyros got in DR, it wasnt needed for a such a simple conclusion. The same results could have been achieved with less. I didn't say his story was bad....I didnt say his story should have ended joining the fleet or something so stop replying as if I did.

 

[Uncle Van]

I fucking hate Sabo, lol. He's such a shit character.
He's like Ace in almost every single way but worst.

Ace actually was Luffy's brother in a far more meaningful sense than Sabo. Both Ace and Luffy were adopted by Dadan and Garp. More than that, Luffy actually grew up with Ace. Ace and Luffy had been through shit together. Sabo on the other hand spent relatively little time with Luffy and died when Luffy was very young.

In Dressrosa, Sabo and Luffy basically had zero interaction. What this ultimately culminates to is Sabo being nothing more than a friend luffy had as a child.

Not to mention the fact that bringing back sabo in the way he did creates a couple of very significant issues

1. why didn't ace ever figure out that Sabo was alive? Sabo had a bounty and was a high ranking member of the revolutionaries.
2. Why didn't Sabo try to find Luffy after he got his memories back? I mean Ace had just died, Luffy probably needed Sabo more than ever back then.
3. Sabo being alive undercuts the relationship between ace and luffy. Their relationship was so strong because they were all each other had. Ace was Luffy's only brother, hence Luffy would fight the world to save him.

smh if Oda does a marineford 2.0 after wano, I really wouldn't give a single shit if Sabo lives or dies. I'd tbh much prefer him to die and for coby to get his DF.

What Oda should have done was make Sabo into an obito type character. Like have the celestial dragons capture sabo after they shoot down his ship and turn him into a winter soldier.

Or Oda could have just kept Sabo dead and instead devote more time to developing Ace post skip. I'm surprised we didn't get a subplot about Luffy surpassing Ace. It just happened and wasn't really acknowledged. Ace was a pirate for 3 years, there were so many characters who could have known him or had relations to him that we didn't really get to see, except for Tama that is.

Issue with Sabo is that he is Ace without the personality. Unless it's for a major plot point, there's no reason to eat the Mera. He would have been just fine as a CQC specialist with a personality.

 

[ShadyOjiro]

They're different.

Ace & Luffy were brothers cause they bonded when they were kids.

Sabo & Luffy are brothers cause they are both sons of Dragon. They carry Dragon's will, which is to destroy WG, this goal will bond them even further.

 

[Lion of Olympus]

I agree completely

 

[Vlad D. Impaler]

Also the gag moments pre TS, used to be much more humorous and enjoyable.

 

[Vlad D. Impaler]

Not really sure why you mentioned that event, when we already know that Oda is going to be digging into the Sabo situation further down the line. Only thing relies on is the fans being patient enough to wait until the story gets to the part where we see Sabo's story of what went down with them.

Don't you think that Oda is testing reader's limit of patience?? Mystery of Shanks at Reverie, Mystery of Vegapunk's replacement for Warlords, Mystery of what went down during Reverie, Revo Vs Admiral suspense, Green bull being off panelled, Secret of the Imu sama along with Vivi's poster, great cleansing and giant strawhat, and not furthering the story of Ryuma or Toki... Plus addition of more mysteries like that of Xebec and God valley incident.

I know that Oda will be digging into these stories in the future and mysteries have been part of OP since pre TS, but back then suspense was maintained in a more decent way, now it seems like Oda is just irritating and teasing us..