I was really enjoying this chapter until we got to Usopp vs. paige one and Ulti.
skipping Kiku vs Kanjuro i can deal with it, neither are hugely important and we want to move the story forward.
skipping Jack vs Neko and Inu, i'll take it since Sulong reveals are being saved for Kaido and Jack's had his moments in the spotlight already.
But to dump us in the middle of a straw hat fight, seriously oda, you're going to do that to the actual main crew. why?
Nami's momet should have felt like a big deal and it didn't, we were given this big emotional climax with absolutely no build to it.
Sorry oda it doenst work that way, you need to build the emotional stakes to that level through fear, dread, urgency by showing us just ehat Nami is up against, but you skipped all that, did you not wnat to draw Nami taking damage? then dont feature her in battles, keep her out of the way.
Usopp's moment in alabasta works perfectly because we saw him struggle and how hard he was trying to defeat enemies far stronger than himself. you wanted the exact same payoff here with nami with the least amount of effort.
I was really looking forward to this when Oda set it up a few chapters ago, so to have it turn out so overwhelmingly disappointing is such a let down.
if ending the series in 5 years is such a big deal then why did you introduce a subs et of villains that were not required Oda? if they werent created to showcase the straw hats in full battle then they are simply characters that have been inserted into the story that are holding the plot back from progressing.
do you want to end the series asap oda or dont you, if you do dont introduce characters you dont need, if you dont then give the big emotional climax scenes there proper build, dont just throw it on us and expect us to care.
I never thought for one second that Nami was in any kind of danger because i hadnt seen her be put into any kind of situation that had built my emotions to that level.
i guess the only fully feautured fights we'll be seeing from now till the end of the series will be Luffy's and Zoro's and hopefully Sanji's but the man has barely had a feautured fight since he fought Absalom so i'm not getting my hopes up.
Really cant believe how much of a let down this fight is, maybe oda can redeem it next chapter but my hopes are now placed on the anime to showcase this battle and give it the proper attention it deserved.