Worstgen
KiriNigiri
First, Yamato. Completely off from my initial expectations. I originally envisioned them as a foil for Momo's character, highlighting the latter's growth with a character who reflects his earlier self. That isn't the case. Oda goes in a totally different direction, one I am not too sure on at the moment, but I can see the inspiration.
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To start off, Kaido's motif takes cues from the Mongol Empire, particularly Genghis Khan. I remember a Mongol soldier named Kaidu, whom had a daughter named Khutulun. Khutulun was powerful warrior. She was said to be undefeated in wrestling. She would agree to marry a man who would beat her in wrestling.
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According to rumors, she has a husband who tried to assassinate her father. They failed and were later imprisoned. Sounds a lot like Luffy who tried to beat Kaido and failed. Yamato's implied battles with Ace sound similar to Khutulun's constant battles against men in wrestling.
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But the big thing about Yamato is their identifying as Oden. Now, I have to wonder if this is Oda poking fun at the fandom trying to connect every character to Oden, that he had to create a character who mocks the notion? Maybe not, but this Oden identity sounds like something that needs to be resolved. It could be linked to their eternal imprisonment on Onigashima.
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Oden, based on his actions at least, was a man who sought out freedom above all else. Maybe Yamato perceives the idea of Oden to mean freedom and that's why they identify so strongly to him. They want to be free.
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In that case, it puts what they told Luffy about boarding their ship in a far more important light. Strawhat, perhaps?
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Next, Orochi's death. I am not convinced of it, but as of this moment forward, Orochi's plot importance has dropped considerably. He was a figurehead of Wano's plight, but Kaido, finally taking a proactive role as villain, became the sole face of Wano's sufferring. Even the Scabbards completely ignore Orochi in favor of Kaido.
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But as one Shogun of Wano falls, another rises in what is Momo's greatest character moment. For years that we've known him, Momo has been deathly afraid of Kaido, but even moreso, of the expectations levied upon him as Wano's heir. Standing over a hall full of enemies, Momo holds proud of who he is and what he plans on becoming.
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Though a fantastic moment, it pales in comparison to what follows. That being the 9 Red Scabbards lunging towards Kaido, their blades ready while shouting "Sunnachi."
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I was caught off guard that Oda would actually show the Scabbards drawing blood on Kaido. That seemed like something I figured he'd reserve for Luffy or even Zoro. But Oda is all in on the Scabbards. They frankly feel like the protagonists of this manga. They seem to be the only characters taking this conflict as seriously as possible.
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Now compared that to the Strawhats. Now, they are plenty motivated, I mean they did snuck in to heavily stacked enemy grounds, but I don't feel the same drive I felt in Alabasta, or Enies Lobby. In fact, Whole Cake Island feels like the only New World arc where all the Strawhats present felt fully motivated and emotionally invested on the tasks at hand.