Break Week Separating the Strawhats for WCI was Narratively Unnecessary

[PurpleSwordsman]

It's not that bad.
The idea of splitting them was good since the main goal was to rescue Sanji, not to confront BM pirates. BM was not the main problem, it was Kaido since they messed up his Smile business in DR. So it made sense for a reduced group to go and do that swiftly, after all they didn't know about Sanji's past so that seemed something easy to do.

Here the problem lies with the another half of SH like you said, nothing relevant happened with them. A subplot with Zoro lost in Wano, finding Hitetsu, learning about Ryuma, advanced CoA, permanent Haki, etc, would make sense. But nothing happened... The problem with smiles he only learned about it after all people were there already.
Law has one of the best DF and can move freely around, nothing happened again, it would have been a good moment for Law to encounter with Drake and start something from there. They have some fate after all since kids.
Another key character which Oda didnt exploit here is Caribou. Captured even earlier, how he did not open his mouth about Poseidon in exchange for joining Kaido or at least his freedom? And a subplot with the half of these SH trying to prevent him for example.

It felt like you said, Oda splitted the team in half in DR and to compensate the other half he used them for the next arc while ignoring the others. At least in Zou something meaningful happened with that half deciding to rescue the Minks and involve with them and after that the thing with Caesar.

 

[Garp the Fist]

It's not that bad.
The idea of splitting them was good since the main goal was to rescue Sanji, not to confront BM pirates. BM was not the main problem, it was Kaido since they messed up his Smile business in DR. So it made sense for a reduced group to go and do that swiftly, after all they didn't know about Sanji's past so that seemed something easy to do.

Here the problem lies with the another half of SH like you said, nothing relevant happened with them. A subplot with Zoro lost in Wano, finding Hitetsu, learning about Ryuma, advanced CoA, permanent Haki, etc, would make sense. But nothing happened... The problem with smiles he only learned about it after all people were there already.
Law has one of the best DF and can move freely around, nothing happened again, it would have been a good moment for Law to encounter with Drake and start something from there. They have some fate after all since kids.
Another key character which Oda didnt exploit here is Caribou. Captured even earlier, how he did not open his mouth about Poseidon in exchange for joining Kaido or at least his freedom? And a subplot with the half of these SH trying to prevent him for example.

It felt like you said, Oda splitted the team in half in DR and to compensate the other half he used them for the next arc while ignoring the others. At least in Zou something meaningful happened with that half deciding to rescue the Minks and involve with them and after that the thing with Caesar.

Yeah, if something important had happened on Wano prior to Luffy arriving there I wouldn’t have minded.

Like, the Curlyhat’s actually did something on Zou while the rest were in Dressrosa. Saved a nation, ran into BM Pirates, one got kidnapped. Y’know, effecting the plot.

 

[ImmaIvanoM]

Uh, no, he’d be there, we‘d see him fighting, we’d see him interact with the other crew especially Sanji. That’s a contribution to the arc.

Certainly far more of a contribution to the arc than what we got, which was two years of him being completely absent. That’s what I call NO CONTRIBUTION TO THE ARC. And for what, so he can have a cool scene where he ultimately does nothing more than cut fodder? Yeah, I’d have much rather had him on WCI, even if he didn’t beat anyone important.

You mean him fighting like Amande is a zoro type contribution to the arc? Not Smoothie?

And what exactly do you think a Zoro and Sanji interaction would be here?

I dont understand this fandom's weird reverance for this dynamic. Its a gag. Its literally just a gag. Zoro and Sanji don't have an actual relationship OUTSIDE A GAG.

What exactly do you think would happen here? You said nothing serious would come of Zoro's witnessing Sanji's behaviour so what exactly do you think would happen? there would be more "pervy cook - marimo" one liners thrown around. Thats it? Becuase you know for a fact that nothing else would actually exist between them outside the gags if Zoro never takes anything Sanji does seriously.

You're saying that seeing Zoro mollywop Amande and have gags with Sanji for TWO YEARS, while luffy beats up multple commanders is a better story than Zoro not being there?

Seriously. This is you making a good story that you know Zoro fans in general will like. Luffy fights commanders while Zoro gags around fighting fodder.

Wait, I just realised this while typing this, Do you want Zoro to do even less than Sanji does? Right. Since this is Sanji's arc, it wouldn't make sense for Zoro to outshine him by beating a commander while Sanji cooks. And yet even in the story they mention that Zoro being there directly results in an all out war essentially. So Zoro can't go outshining Sanji and yet Since Sanji does basically nothing, both Zoro's strength and personality have to be butchered so that they contribute even less than Sanji. Zoro becomes a gag character whose can get stalled for 80 chapters by Amande.

 

[Paperchampion23]

I seriously don’t get how anyone can argue against me here

Like, imagine you have a magic machine that can allow you to rewrite WCI.

You have two options

Option A- what we got, no Zoro, Usopp, Robin or Franky
Option B- the addition of the Strawhats to WCI, which does not broadly change the outcome of either arc but allows us to spend more time with our main characters

Why the fuck would anyone pick option A? Does anyone absolutely love Zoro vs the magistrate that much? The two pages each that Usopp, Robin and Franky got in Act 1 where it was shown that during WCI they really didn’t do much in Wano?

The only reason I can think anyone would still pick Option A would be that they were still fuming that the Curlyhats missed most of Dressrosa and feel it needed to be balanced out. Which is... petty.

I think the argument has always been panel presence. Having the other 4 strawhats present would increase the number of chapters we were even at WCI and also Oda divulging resources of the plot to have each one do something useful. And I know plenty of people here that didn't like WCI being 80 chapters already. We are already at 90 for Wano with everyone and barely scratched the surface of the actual conflict going down.

Tbh, while I wasn't happy (I agree with you partly), I'm actually fine with it in retrospect. Oda didn't give any character a meaningful growth fight anyway outside of Luffy, so it would have just disappointed people more if he didn't still if everyone was there. Adding the rest of the crew would have just made the arc even more crowded since many of BMs children got focus and many even still need it.

I feel like Wano now is the payoff for that. Every character will get a growth moment, something we've waited for since the timeskip.

 

[ImmaIvanoM]

A subplot with Zoro lost in Wano, finding Hitetsu, learning about Ryuma, advanced CoA, permanent Haki, etc, would make sense. But nothing happened... The problem with smiles he only learned about it after all people were there already.

You mean it would've been better if all this happened, as backstory??? Like Luffy arrives in Wano and we just break away into an extended backstory detailing the shit Zoro was doing while Luffy wasn't there?

That's not how OP is written. like ever. The story is about Luffy. He has to be there for us to witness whats happening.

 

[Paperchampion23]

Remember that Oda didn't even intend WCI to last the 2 years it did. He split the crew to give some focus to the absent strawhats, which is clear because they are the ones at WCI.

Then the arc got progressively longer, and he STILL cut it short by the end (seemingly trying to make up for it in Wano I suppose). Idk, I just don't have a problem with their absense really. It's not a big deal to me, especially if Wano pays it all off (every strawhat fighting, both Yonko go down, BMP get focus later)

 

[TheAncientCenturion]

It’s not the weirdest choice. Sanji’s arc already had strong EL/W7 tones and including the whole crew in an epic rescue of him might’ve been too similar. Especially coming off the heels of Alabasta Dressrosa. The arc itself would need to be adjusted for the full cast too. A majority of the Straw Hats there didn’t do much especially in the latter half of the arc and adding the rest might just have the entire crew be sitting on their hands as Luffy finishes with Katakuri.

The only part of the Straw Hat split that does upset me is the fact we never even got a volume on the Straw Hats in Wano by themselves, to give them some fair treatment compared to those in WCI got.

 

[Midnight Delight]

The only part of the Straw Hat split that does upset me is the fact we never even got a volume on the Straw Hats in Wano by themselves, to give them some fair treatment compared to those in WCI got

Oda refuses to Focus on the Adventure aspect of One Piece now, he panders to Bleach Fans since the Timeskip

 

[Flower]

I believe things would have been different had the whole crew been there. But it would have been underwhelming a bit. Like...had Usopp been there when Linlin was riding that wave, he could have just shot her down and she would have drowned. Doubt Oda would let a Yonkou meet her end like this lmfao.

 

[Kuruka]

Wci would have been much longer with the entire crew

 

[ImmaIvanoM]

Oda refuses to Focus on the Adventure aspect of One Piece now

You mean the 10 chapters of just exploring WCI at the start were not Adventure? What about act 1 and 2 of Wano that people actually weere complaining about for being too unconnected to the general plot and were too much about just introducing more and more of wano and more characters and plots scattered around WAno?

Dude what are you talking about? that there is no more adventure when Zou exists as an arc with no actual fights even, Is that a bleach thing too? an arc with no fights?

The only arc in the new world with the least amount of adventure is Dressrosa since Oda had Law there who already had a plan and Doffy already knew the strawhats were coming. Dressrosa is literally the only arc like this. Where the heroes know what they want to do entering the arc and the villains already know the heroes are coming and have already set traaps for them. And thats why Dressrosa had like only 3 chapters of exploration.

I don't know whether since Dressrosa was so long, you are now extrapolating the thing that's unique to Dressrosa as being what's been happaning for all of the new world when it clearly isnt. Hell Punk Hazard and Fishman island arguably have more adventuring than story. And thats why people dont like them that much.

 

[Fn Lucci]

Uh, yes. Very easily. Nami managed it, why couldn’t Franky. I wouldn’t even have the slightest problem with that happening, given that Franky’s anti-Kaido weapons
a) so far do not exist and have no effect on the plot
b)could have been made in the time gap between Acts 2 and 3 where the alliance was preparing for war anyway

Nami can manage things Franky can't, Usopp can do things Zoro can't, Chopper has skills Jinbe doesn't. That's the point. This isn't DB where weaker characters just sit on the sidelines. Could they have used Franky? Possibly, but it turns out they didn't need him so there isn't a point in suggesting him. Btw, if you don't think he'll pull out some new weapons in this arc I'll account bet you, mod or not.

Again, your argument uses what the narrative doesn't establish to argue against what is established. Cavendish could've beaten Pica? That has nothing to do with the story Oda wants to tell and has no basis as a substitute. If you say Law could give Luffy eternal life and finish the emperor saga, that's likely true based on what we know even if it hasn't been a reasonable sacrifice for Law to make yet and ruins the story as we know it. Saying some random character can substitute for the purpose of placing a main character in another role to completely change the flow of events... you're just writing your own story.

 

[Paperchampion23]

Oda refuses to Focus on the Adventure aspect of One Piece now, he panders to Bleach Fans since the Timeskip

Da fuck? Most people complain he doesnt show fights now so how did you get to that conclusion? It's actually been more story and adventure heavy than its ever been, way more than pre timeskip.

That's some massive nostalgia goggles you guys have

 

[Non]

Yeah like half way through WCI, I was hoping that Zoro or Franky would show up. I also wanted to see Robin's reaction to the poneglyphs.

 

[Chrono]

It’s low key hilarious and sad that in a Sanji’s centered arc, the two main characters that Sanji has the most moments with(Zoro,Usopp) aren’t in it.

Sanji has saved Usopp so many times so the fact that Usopp didn’t help Sanji is disappointing

Zoro and Sanji’s relationship could’ve have been much more developed and not just gags.

Nah he had the most moments with Nami (discounting Luffy). And thats why their relationship got developed.

Adding Zoro in WCI wouldve been a mess if Oda wanted to go the route he wanted to go. Usopp however shouldve came. Shouldve made him a Curlyhat and replace him with Chopper.

 

[Winsmoke Sanji]

Spiltting the crew in WCI had both positive and negative effects imo so I'll have to half agree

Splitting the crew Positives: Sanji Nami Chopper Brook are practically family now. The trials and tribulations and everything they went through from Zou to Whole Cake Island really helped that side of the crew grow closer as nakama.

Splitting the crew Negatives: The other half of the crew is desperately lacking when it comes to fellowship.
Zoro --> Only there to cut
Franky --> there to be zany
Robin --> Only exposition dumps
Usopp --> not much to him either
They are just kinda there Thankfully we have Enies Lobby to make up for these issues

 

[Extravlad]

Bigmom would have lost her entire crew if Zoro was in WCI.

 

[Tyki_Mikk]

I like the view of your point and agree but I also can understand Pda choice in this one. Woth bringing Zoro and co more plot story would hold in this case. Also Zoro group prepare together with the Minks for Wano. In that time Robin had tons of informations of Kaido army, something with the alliance wouldn't get if Robin would join the Wci arc.

Also the plot was the problem, do you think Zoro would just stand their and watch Sanji beating up Luffy? For Usopp it had the right reason but Sanji wasn' the same. Also with Franky, Zoro and co joining the wci team, some scenes wouldn't make sense. Oda already had a problem to seperate Chopper, Brook,Pedro,Carrot from Luffy and Nami team.

Imagine if Zoro and Franky would be with Luffy, the enraged army would never caught up Luffy. Of course this could open up more scenarios(Probably even better ones)as Katakuri joining the enraged army to caught Luffy and Zoro. Oda could already build up early in the arc Luffy vs Katakuri. I like the idea of Katakuri beating Luffy and showing he is far stronger and open up a rematch after the teaparty, in that case Oda could build up a better tension about Luffy vs Katakuri. Would make their battle even greater if Katakuri would defeat Luffy pre tea party time and later getting their rematch with Luffy still winning hardly as we see in the manga.

I can understand Oda why he choose such a way but I agree with you, having all strawhats could build more scenerios who could be write even far better. Early introduction of Katakuri and his overway winning against the protagonist>Smoothie getting more shine against Zoro. Even thinking about this open up such so many good ways to make Wci even greater.

Sadly I kinda feel like Oda want just end Wci fast enough(even though it had his 70 chapters lol) so he could write Wano arc.

 

[Winsmoke Sanji]

Overall I felt that the splitting of the Straw Hats was a mostly good decision that did make sense but it did have drawbacks

 

[Electricmastro]

It’s low key hilarious and sad that in a Sanji’s centered arc, the two main characters that Sanji has the most moments with(Zoro,Usopp) aren’t in it.

Sanji has saved Usopp so many times so the fact that Usopp didn’t help Sanji is disappointing

Zoro and Sanji’s relationship could’ve have been much more developed and not just gags.

I’m definitely interested in what would have happened if Zoro had seen the moment of Sanji giving his three reasons to Luffy and Usopp seeing Sanji challenge and attack Luffy, regardless of how right or wrong Sanji was in going about it.