Plus, I don't even really mind Loki being a pirate that much, but to cuck him as hard as Loda did? Why do we even need Imu in this arc anyway?
i thought so too. i was in the loki for villain camp. woulda been cool.

but i have abandoned it. oda ain't got the balls for that.

the reason loki is here is to back up goofy. imu would have negged the shp clowns without loki's help lol
 
Probably, but I don't think its an unreasonable standard really. Fujitora and Aramaki were top tiers fucking around in shitholes in the blues.

Plus, I don't even really mind Loki being a pirate that much, but to cuck him as hard as Loda did? Why do we even need Imu in this arc anyway?

Imu arriving in the arc like Kuma did in thriller bark would have maybe been cool, but what's the point of having Imu probably take an L here?
It‘s more about introducing the threat he is. It also shows nobody and nowhere is safe from him. He can just turn best friends into demons and make them slaughter each other all from his safe castle in the sky. He‘s an incredibly powerful threat and you also have to establish Luffy as his Nemesis at some point. If he can’t do shit here despite being Nika what can he even do. It‘s also about the importance of the Sun God here.
 
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