Worstgen

KiriNigiri

Robin, however brief, does get to enjoy some time in the spotlight here. Gathering intel on Orochi and avoiding pursuers. It's a shame it ends with her needing to be saved, but atleast Nami gets to flex.

KiriNigiri

Orochi's irritation towards Toko is loathsome when you consider he's the reason she's in the state. He's simply irredeemable. Good on Komurasaki for defending her, but it's undercut by what we learn later of her and Kyoshiro planning this thing. Speaking of Kyoshiro, there's some really well placed clues to his true allegiance. First would be some panels of his contempt when Orochi greeted him.

KiriNigiri

Next would be his clever response to Orochi who asked him about the return of the Red Scabbards. He answers "If the Akazaya Samurai should appear...I, for one, would welcome it!! I would enjoy the chance to show you my skill with the blade." At face value, it's like he's up for the challenge, when in reality, he'd be happy to see his old friends again and show Orochi his skills with the blade... Against him.

M

MD Zolo

Easier to say that now!! But at that time, Orochi appeared as the only guy who understood the dangers that awaits him and wanted to take action to prevent it.

There is more to leading than just inspiring people. In fact I would say that knowing when to take action is more important, and to this day, only Orochi has shown that from villain side of Wano.

KiriNigiri

But I detest the transition. It was far too abrupt, and tonal whiplash hits you hard. We just witnessed this gruesome (by One Piece standards) "execution", only to shift to a scene of bubbly Linlin and a bunch of kids hanging out. This is something I dislike about Act 2 compared to Act 1. The pacing is borderline schizophrenic.

KiriNigiri

You seldom get a chance to enjoy a plot line, as most of them seem only there to update us on a character's whereabouts, or to info dump you on a new character then move on.

KiriNigiri

@MD Zolo Even though Orochi is right, he brought it on himself for not inspiring his people. He's been a terrible ruler, that it shouldn't be a wonder if he's written off as a paranoid coward. It's true, there's more to leadership than inspiring, but it's no less a necessary ingredient. Something Orochi lacked, and he suffers the consequences of that.

M

MD Zolo

True!! But Orochi wasn't interested in ruling as much as he was in inflicting pain upon the people of Wano. The way character stands now, to me at least, he wanted to rule but only to see Wano to suffer.

Keeping people tame, uninspired and broken was the goal for him.

The only two mistakes he made was trusting a pirate and thinking that he actually had control over anything.

KiriNigiri

Yeah. Orochi is despicable, though he's a fascinating and cautionary tale. I've heard of his apparent death at the hands of Kaido, but I have yet to read those chapters. He leaned on Kaido quite a bit. It was ignorant of him to believe Kaido could protect him from the whole government, or that he still would if it came to that.