I love how One Piece kept it hidden for... at least 300 chapters. Then he's the Grandson of Garp and the Son of Dragon. Then he's the brother of the Pirate King's son. Then the word 'Joy Boy' came up, and I was like... Oh shit... and then we hear of Nika, and I begin to sweat, and then Luffy's fruit is a god fruit.
I miss my boy of rubber who was just really determined to be the King. Wtf.
Yeah Oda really kept it casual and distracted us heavily for many years. Just making it almost throwaway lines and never followed up on for too long at most, just letting it simmer on a backburner, he let it slow cook until he was ready to turn up the heat and truly grill or sear us lol.
Same here man. I felt the real one piece started to die around the most glazed arcs pre TS and by the time sabaody to marineford happened, it barely felt one piece anymore. Them the timeskip and post ts stuff happened and I just died inside as I felt the real one piece died with merry, Ace and Whitebeard and we were getting weekend at bernies instead now.
I only follow the series out of sunk cost fallacy ironically and morbid curiosity anymore.
I have moments I enjoy but they're mostly fleeting and shallow now. Like the series itself.
Pre TS one piece was a completely different series and breed, it has humility, authenticity, charm, way more heart, less misery porn (not entirely ofc but it was written far better then too) soul, integrity, personality etc.
Post TS feels like a beautiful family run restaurant or some scenic, beautiful location being replaced with a major fast food chain or shopping mall. It's all concrete jungle and profit chasing now especially.
It sold out and lost its soul.
There's moments of greatness post TS that show the pre TS spirit is truly not gone but it's been overwhelmingly overshadowed and replaced, usurped, dethroned etc.
People who didn't grow up with the series will never understand. They can cry nostalgia bias but they ironically doesn't understand why the nostalgia exists and thus their ignorance helps to justify the nostalgia existence.
I never used to understand why people obsessed over the 80s and 90s even though I'm a 90s kid but as I get much older now, I completely understand it. I used to look to the future with bright, big eyes and hope, idealism but now I look to the past and mourn but also lose myself in halcyon days lone gone that return to innocence like the brilliantly beautiful song by Enigma.
Sorry i got quite existential there but there's an overwhelming epidemic of nostalgia chasing and age regression in the world especially western countries for a reason.