Oda changed the formula since pre time skip for better or for worse, almost for sure for worst (huge arcs with lots and lots of secondary characters all at the expense of the SHs screen time, double loss) even if he can still deliver quality moments (not many but they are still there). It is also true that we grow old as well and our tastes change while the manga keeps addressing the same audience (age range).
Break Week Is Oda a disappointment post time skip?
- Thread starter Water1415
- Start date
B
He wanted to cram more stuff in one arc. It's understandable, and commendable. The story would've been better for it, if only he hadn't reduced to zero the SHs interactions to facilitate it. Cutting panels/skirmishes to get to the point of the arc would've been excusable in the long run; cutting on the SHs' individual importance and their ensemble interactions was the mistake that would've killed this series, had it not already been this massive.
I agree, the best moments (most remarkable) of the whole manga are born from the interaction of the main cast (extended to very important secondary characters Oda spent time to create great dynamics with): Ace's death, Luffy putting his hat on Nami at Arlong park, Robin's "I want to live", Zoro ready to die at Thriller bark, Luffy enraged at Kuma in Sabaody etc. etc. (they are also the core moments of their respective arcs, they summarize the whole arc and are its climax in a way).
Now Oda cut the main cast time by a lot (also we don't get the old gags which were great for comedic relief) but we have lots of secondary characters each arc, and by the end I don't even (care to) remember the names of most of them because they have almost no impact. If I have to pick great moments of the post time skip I would just take the minks revealing they hid Raizo, G4 announcement by Luffy at the end of a certain chapter (that hyped me a bit but mainly because the gears were built through the pre timeskip), maybe Sanji kicking Luffy face in WCI but thay was just fake tension since it got resolved cheaply... And that is it. I can't recall a moment like this for the whole Wano arc (4 years) and this says everything.
Now Oda cut the main cast time by a lot (also we don't get the old gags which were great for comedic relief) but we have lots of secondary characters each arc, and by the end I don't even (care to) remember the names of most of them because they have almost no impact. If I have to pick great moments of the post time skip I would just take the minks revealing they hid Raizo, G4 announcement by Luffy at the end of a certain chapter (that hyped me a bit but mainly because the gears were built through the pre timeskip), maybe Sanji kicking Luffy face in WCI but thay was just fake tension since it got resolved cheaply... And that is it. I can't recall a moment like this for the whole Wano arc (4 years) and this says everything.
It's physical + cognitive decline, he is 50+ years old. The panels are so shittily drawn. Everything is all over the place.
Oda's biggest problem is his infinite creativity. He is always full of ideas and he wants to incorporate all of them into the manga. That's why One Piece dragged on and on for so long. And none of his editors can tell him to cut it out.
If Oda had some good editors saying NO to all the fluff this manga has, helping him with pacing, pushing him to move towards the endgame instead of wasting years in arcs that don't contribute to the central plot, etc. he could have ended One Piece in 800-900 chapters and the art quality would have stayed good until the end.
But alas, this is what we get.
Oda's biggest problem is his infinite creativity. He is always full of ideas and he wants to incorporate all of them into the manga. That's why One Piece dragged on and on for so long. And none of his editors can tell him to cut it out.
If Oda had some good editors saying NO to all the fluff this manga has, helping him with pacing, pushing him to move towards the endgame instead of wasting years in arcs that don't contribute to the central plot, etc. he could have ended One Piece in 800-900 chapters and the art quality would have stayed good until the end.
But alas, this is what we get.
I swear. This fanbase is going to shit. There are absolutely ZERO reasons to create something extra here. As narratively something extra would create attention, meaning theories. For what? No reasons. Instead Oda just had fun playing with old devil fruit powers and instead of accepting the wink, you and others are taking yourself for analysts to critic something BASED ON WIND.
