Worstgen

Ok and I don’t respect the imprisoned unemployed 30 year old princess archetype who (you can argue circumstances, I do not care) has done nothing for 30 years and now we’re supposed to cheer her on as she blindly fumbles around chasing a prophecy from her false god Loden. That’s what Oda wants? Fine. I don’t respect it, there were many things he could’ve done otherwise and I’m not gonna stop mocking what she is.

Den_Den_Mushi

Ofc I get the plot reasons man, do you think I’m stupid or something? All I’m saying is that her character archetype is stupid and I’m not about to respect a character who’s never done a damn thing for 30 whole years, no matter what their reasons are. Don’t care if your name is Weevil or Yamatrash or Loden. Not impressed.

Cinera

Zoro was cutting off his feet. You can actually cut off your feet and survive (in the One Piece world at least). Shiki did that and then he replaced his feet with his swords.

The reason you can't cut off your hands and survive is that you wouldn't be able to use tools anymore. So no treating the wound or stopping the bloodloss.

You wouldn't be able to feed yourself either.

Den_Den_Mushi

So then Luffy was just committing suicide then? Well alright... but at least he tried. I don’t care if they die afterwards or anything. If Oda wants them to survive the loss of two limbs, he’ll make it so. He didn’t want to. He just wanted to make an unemployed 30 year old furry princess. And that I do not respect.

Cinera

Oh okay, hating the archetype is understandable I guess.

I feel like you're blaming Yamato for something that was entirely out of her control, but it's honestly your prerogative if you dislike her character.

Cinera

> He just wanted to make an unemployed 30 year old furry princess. And that I do not respect.

That's fair.

Den_Den_Mushi

By that logic, I can’t blame Big Meme for being the terrible character that she is because her agency is taken away by her new variants of mental diseases that crop up once or twice per arc. Yeah I totally can, there’s no reason to write a character like that where all their decisions or lack of decisions can be blamed or justified by pointing at something or someone else. That’s not a character then, that’s a puppet

Cinera

That's fair. I guess that excluding her backstory, Yamato has been agentic enough.

Oda decided to rob her of any agency for 20 years, but he returned it back after those 20 years.

Cinera

I think it's a fair criticism to say that Yamato was not a character for most of her backstory (excluding her meeting with Ace I guess).

Den_Den_Mushi

But those 20 years comprise the vast majority of the character. Hancock was a fully formed adult ass woman when she met Luffy with her own hero’s journey from slave to empress. A character doesn’t just exist the second they pop into the story, they’ve lived lives before they met our heroes and their portrayal reflects what they’ve achieved.

Cinera

I agree with the above.

Den_Den_Mushi

You compare Yamatrash to Brook which I think is a pretty decent comparison. Brook isn’t a character either, just a bot that spits out seemingly cool one liners and panty jokes on repeat. He is a terrible character and always was unlike Franky and Robin who started out great and degenerated into super jokes and fufufu after their respective lobotomies.

Cinera

Well, Brook has been horrible even after his introduction to the plot. He had no agency for 50 years and even after joining the story, he doesn't feel like a person.

Cinera

I think both of them have the same backstory, but Yamato feels like a person (albeit one with identity issues, that's maybe immature, and has a weird religion), but she feels like her own person.

Cinera

I can get into Yamato's headspace as a character, I can think of her as her own person, not just a compilation of gags.

Cinera

Yamato has aspects of her character and personality that feel organic (even if some folks dislike them).

Few people care about Brook. Many people care enough about Yamato to hate her.

Den_Den_Mushi

Well he’s not a person or a character. He’s a sexual pest and a bot. Yamatrash feels like an attempt at a person, except written by a person that doesn’t know how to write other human beings. Kind of like Sanji. Their traits are so heavily exaggerated that they become a parody of themselves and Oda has no idea how annoying they can be.

Den_Den_Mushi

Can I comprehend Sanji’s way of thinking? Barely, but it doesn’t stop him being a parody of a human being whose traits I don’t see reflected in anyone I know in real life. Yamatrash? I’ve read about people like her in celebrity stalker articles but I don’t find her the least bit relatable or sympathetic given all the other backstories out there.

Cinera

All Strawhats became worse postskip IMO. I think the cast becoming bigger afforded Oda less opportunity for characterisation.

Den_Den_Mushi

Oda needs to seriously scale back his characters and stop exaggerating their worst traits. Coby was relatable. Vivi was relatable. Even Rebecca is relatable in her own way. Yamatrash does not resonate with me and I’ve had strict parents. She’s just too extreme.