Yeah, that's fair, and I think that's ultimately the problem with long running manga in general. The format is honestly designed to cannibalize itself over time. The longer a series runs, the harder it becomes to keep everyone equally invested, especially when different parts of the fanbase are reading for completely different reasons.
I still read Conan, JoJo, Ippo, and those series have maybe 10% of the fanbase/sales and general attention they had during their respective peaks. One Piece has actually done a pretty impressive job retaining a much bigger portion of its audience for as long as it has, but even then, most fans will naturally go through a 3–5 year period where they're really locked in before their interest starts to wane off. Once you're asking people to stay invested for 10, 15, 20+ years, it really gets to the point where you pick and choose which parts you really enjoy, and which you just tolerate.
And I think Oda also put himself in a pretty impossible situation by underestimating just how massive the world and story he created would become. He has all these ideas, mysteries, characters, islands, flashbacks, lore, etc that he wants to pay off, but he's also at the point where he has to start deciding what actually deserves page time and what needs to be cut or condensed. So you see a lot of inconsistencies in chapters where you're baffled by why this specific subplot got this much focus as opposed to others. He obviously wants to finish the story before he dies (and I'll be honest with you, I still don't think he will), so there's a constant balancing act between giving things the buildup they deserve and simply moving the plot forward.
That's why I don't really expect the final stretch to satisfy everyone. Some people are going to love the lore dumps and flashbacks, others are going to get bored and just want the fights and progression, and then there are people like me who enjoy a bit of everything as long as the balance is right.
At this point I just try to enjoy whatever works for me and meme the parts that don't lol It's a lot more enjoyable than constantly expecting Oda to deliver the exact version of the story that's living in my head.
I still read Conan, JoJo, Ippo, and those series have maybe 10% of the fanbase/sales and general attention they had during their respective peaks. One Piece has actually done a pretty impressive job retaining a much bigger portion of its audience for as long as it has, but even then, most fans will naturally go through a 3–5 year period where they're really locked in before their interest starts to wane off. Once you're asking people to stay invested for 10, 15, 20+ years, it really gets to the point where you pick and choose which parts you really enjoy, and which you just tolerate.
And I think Oda also put himself in a pretty impossible situation by underestimating just how massive the world and story he created would become. He has all these ideas, mysteries, characters, islands, flashbacks, lore, etc that he wants to pay off, but he's also at the point where he has to start deciding what actually deserves page time and what needs to be cut or condensed. So you see a lot of inconsistencies in chapters where you're baffled by why this specific subplot got this much focus as opposed to others. He obviously wants to finish the story before he dies (and I'll be honest with you, I still don't think he will), so there's a constant balancing act between giving things the buildup they deserve and simply moving the plot forward.
That's why I don't really expect the final stretch to satisfy everyone. Some people are going to love the lore dumps and flashbacks, others are going to get bored and just want the fights and progression, and then there are people like me who enjoy a bit of everything as long as the balance is right.
At this point I just try to enjoy whatever works for me and meme the parts that don't lol It's a lot more enjoyable than constantly expecting Oda to deliver the exact version of the story that's living in my head.
