Okay, I usually wait until an arc is over to make my bigger criticisms, but I think this one has sat in the oven long enough considering most characters have moved on already from where they were previously.
I'll put it plainly: relative to the Strawhats, I did not like how the F6 and Jack were handled. It's very easy to see why, outside of Black Maria vs Robin, none of them truly felt like hard earned 1v1's that provided established growth for said Strawhat. Just to quickly summarize:
- Usopp vs Page 1 (if we can even call it that), was quickly shafted as a BM hype moment.
- Nami vs Ulti was less so this, but still weakened by BM and provided a powerup from the same character to give Nami a 1 hit win. But I digress, it at least felt better than what Usopp got
- Jinbe vs WsW felt like it was getting good/going somewhere, until it ended before it felt like it should have ended. WsW did virtually nothing to show why he was ever considered Lucci's rival. Nothing to really differentiate his Sabretooth DF from Lucci's leopard one, where the latter showed an insane amount of techniques due to having the benefit of being Luffy's opponent.
- Franky vs Sasaki was the same deal. It was even shorter and it felt like Sasaki just didn't show off as much as he should have. Franky left that fight relatively unscathed since his armor took all of the damage.
- Robin vs Black Maria was fine for the most part. She showed new techniques and I was fine with how the battle played out. I'm also glad she got mostly a solo fight, though it sucks Brook didn't get much either.
- Don't even want to talk about Chopper lol. This was the best opportunity (idk, MAYBE it still comes along but I'm not counting on it)
- Inu vs Jack I GET needed to happen at this point, but it was also laughably shafted when you compare the complete exposure Queen and King have gotten, before and after the moments where Sanji and Zoro started attacking them.
Again, maybe im miraculously wrong here and they all get up, but considering the narrator announced their defeats, I doubt it.
The only other thing I can sort of think of is maybe after the island lands, Oda is saving these 7 strawhats and Yamato to hold off the BMP while the remaining 4 main fights finish (nothing crazy like a 1v1 chapter per strawhat, but just a big exposition over several chapters). Yamato i could see being the one to hold off Smoothie, Jinbe/Franky can fight Snack or Compote, and Brook/Robin/Usopp/Nami/Chopper can take out any number of other enemies with new techniques etc.
It's a better excuse than them fighting pure fodder (discounting the last 4 Numbers), but I'm not counting on that either happening. I just can't really see any explanation for having:
- The crew be relatively healthy for their post Yonko fights
- From those fights, the weakling trio being assisted or removed from their major battles
- Between Jinbe/Brook/Franky, being relatively healthy. Even Robin looks complete fine again, ready to fight CP-0
- Yamato just being fine after her fight with Kaido.
So what's Oda's play here? While Sanji, Zoro, Kid, Law and Luffy (even Apoo/Drake) are fighting much harder battles with bigger villains and much further exposition, what do you think these 8 will do if/when the island lands? Did you like the F5 fights? Jack's? Will the BMP actually show up and be a final threat for the crew? Is this why he's left everyone somewhat healthy?
I'll put it plainly: relative to the Strawhats, I did not like how the F6 and Jack were handled. It's very easy to see why, outside of Black Maria vs Robin, none of them truly felt like hard earned 1v1's that provided established growth for said Strawhat. Just to quickly summarize:
- Usopp vs Page 1 (if we can even call it that), was quickly shafted as a BM hype moment.
- Nami vs Ulti was less so this, but still weakened by BM and provided a powerup from the same character to give Nami a 1 hit win. But I digress, it at least felt better than what Usopp got
- Jinbe vs WsW felt like it was getting good/going somewhere, until it ended before it felt like it should have ended. WsW did virtually nothing to show why he was ever considered Lucci's rival. Nothing to really differentiate his Sabretooth DF from Lucci's leopard one, where the latter showed an insane amount of techniques due to having the benefit of being Luffy's opponent.
- Franky vs Sasaki was the same deal. It was even shorter and it felt like Sasaki just didn't show off as much as he should have. Franky left that fight relatively unscathed since his armor took all of the damage.
- Robin vs Black Maria was fine for the most part. She showed new techniques and I was fine with how the battle played out. I'm also glad she got mostly a solo fight, though it sucks Brook didn't get much either.
- Don't even want to talk about Chopper lol. This was the best opportunity (idk, MAYBE it still comes along but I'm not counting on it)
- Inu vs Jack I GET needed to happen at this point, but it was also laughably shafted when you compare the complete exposure Queen and King have gotten, before and after the moments where Sanji and Zoro started attacking them.
Again, maybe im miraculously wrong here and they all get up, but considering the narrator announced their defeats, I doubt it.
The only other thing I can sort of think of is maybe after the island lands, Oda is saving these 7 strawhats and Yamato to hold off the BMP while the remaining 4 main fights finish (nothing crazy like a 1v1 chapter per strawhat, but just a big exposition over several chapters). Yamato i could see being the one to hold off Smoothie, Jinbe/Franky can fight Snack or Compote, and Brook/Robin/Usopp/Nami/Chopper can take out any number of other enemies with new techniques etc.
It's a better excuse than them fighting pure fodder (discounting the last 4 Numbers), but I'm not counting on that either happening. I just can't really see any explanation for having:
- The crew be relatively healthy for their post Yonko fights
- From those fights, the weakling trio being assisted or removed from their major battles
- Between Jinbe/Brook/Franky, being relatively healthy. Even Robin looks complete fine again, ready to fight CP-0
- Yamato just being fine after her fight with Kaido.
So what's Oda's play here? While Sanji, Zoro, Kid, Law and Luffy (even Apoo/Drake) are fighting much harder battles with bigger villains and much further exposition, what do you think these 8 will do if/when the island lands? Did you like the F5 fights? Jack's? Will the BMP actually show up and be a final threat for the crew? Is this why he's left everyone somewhat healthy?