Welp, wow, TYVM!
You're very welcome haha! Ironically I'm very much the same at least, but I have my once in a blue moon instances when moments like this happen haha. Like a rubber band under too much tension, I just end up snapping sooner or later. I did have a similar moment semi recently where I actually was defending Oda and I think Wano too ironically, I have such an intense love hate relationship with One Piece and Wano, that Pudding would be zealously jealous!
:laughmoji::cantseeme:
I really appreciate that though seriously, it's very heart warming and reassuring to receive feedback like that, I can't describe how immensely reassuring especially.
:cheers:
Yes exactly! People have been making lists here and elsewhere on the sheer amount of things we've yet to see and understand and Oda just keeps adding to that list, it's like an addiction for him! People are even making memes on how we've yet to see Shanks fight properly in 22 years now! You could even argue mostly the same for Mihawk too!
I actually made a massive list of all the things we were meant to see at Wano and it was really overwhelming. So much forgotten/dropped/changed or whatever plotlines.
The Poneglyphs were meant to originate from Wano, the Kozukis were famous for carving them and we don't know how they did it? Poneglyphs are nigh indestructible, much like Kaido and Big Mom funnily enough but even more so?
What happened to Wano citizens being experts in repurposing and craftsmanship of seastone into weapons and such?
I swear Oden mentioned Wano was sunken before to Toki but I couldn't find it again and it was known as the Nation or City of Gold like Skypeia was too? What is Onigashima's previous name that is so important that Denjiro alluded to as well?
Either he or Marco brought it up? I know all 3 of these characters brought up something important in regards to Wano and Onigashima's history but I'm getting confused, I can't remember lol. I need to reread.
Oda is starting to give us some of the things we've been expecting and wanting, it's only taken 3 years of Wano but he's doing it finally!
Sigh....If Wano turns out to be a gigantic tortoise/turtle or whatever as some theorists and fans believe (including me), it will be the most hilariously meta/ironic moment ever!
It is not about giving a "shut up call" to someone, it is just that these things are pretty obvious for me and I can tell where things are going and how it will end.
Exactly man, people who attack you, who try to silence you when you criticise OP and Oda really make you feel like you're being gaslit and that you're crazy. It's such cult-like behaviour. They need to shut down all forms of criticism, can't ruin their perfect little bubble/fantasy/illusion that OP is complete perfection and Oda is unironically "GODA" and thus can do no wrong and is flaweless.
People like you make me realise and appreciate that I am not alone in my thoughts, I'm not so "insane". These apologists have no idea how much I truly love One Piece and it's because of that love, that passion that I can see how flawed it is too and be honest about it, emphasis on
"honest". I'm not saying I'm right either, that my opinion is fact/law/the holy gospel but a lot of fans need to realise, when a lot of other people are being so vocal about particular aspects of certain things they love, maybe the so called fans aren't seeing the full picture, almost intentionally refusing to see the whole thing for fear of ruining their illusion, their pedestalling of what they love so much? Much like how many people refuse to see red flags in abusive partners and relationships?
I always say Oda is an "inconclusive writer". It summarize what you said, but I dont feel like it is my job to "convince" others.
If they are happy with it, then they can keep on enjoying this.
I like JJK for its pacing, it can have flaws, but I am always sure that everything that happens in JJK chapters is not meaningless. It has been proven again and again by Gege, he always delivers his "punchline" at the right time.
What OP lacks are the "punchlines". Oda delays the delivery of "punchlines", so much that the "punchline" become dull. He also have a habit of toning/watering down everything.
Look at Kaido vs Big Mom.
Look at WB vs Roger.
Look at Zoro's missed sword attack against Kaido.
How he is holding back Big Mom and Kidd.
I dont want to mention Big Mom as a character.
How he hyped Kyoshiro and never showed his sword skills after that.
"Inconclusive writer" is such a profound way to describe it! That really does encapsulate what pisses me off about a lot of manga authors especially Oda! It's not limited to manga either but it becomes so common in it due to the extreme work ethic and when series blow up and get milked until they become vapid former shells of themselves and hypocritically creatively bankrupt deserts and unfunny insulting parodies of what they once were too.
I see so much praise for JJK, I really didn't like it tbh, but I only saw an episode of it so far. I've heard so much praise for the writing especially for Gege's handling of female characters and making them nuanced and respected characters, not the typical Shonen damsels in distress and fanservice/eye candy tropes, as well as being underdogs to the male characters.
I'm too burnt out to get into long running series especially Shonen action series like that though. But I do believe the praise for it is most likely valid too ofc. I just hope the author can maintain that towards the end and not ruin it due to overambition, health issues, working too hard, too much etc.
Yes, the punchlines analogy is very good there! That's so fitting for Oda with his love of gags too! I remember for WEEKS he would repeatedly hype up Kawamatsu's reveal for
MONTHS even! I remember people thinking he had Oden and even Roger in there! LMAO And what was that for? Just to reveal a fucking kappa! Oda pulled a kappa troll face on us massively to quote "Twitch culture"!
This fucking silhouette shit is some of the most insulting, low hanging fruit, fan baiting shit along with refusing to reveal DF names and bounties in the manga now! Does Oda genuinely believe he's still a truly good writer in general? Has his ego blown up that massively and he's getting overconfident and complacent? The flanderisation of characters post TS, how much more perverted OP has become, the facial expressions that have been turned up to like 500% like in funny game edits on Youtube or turned up to 11 to the point they are completely ridiculous, vile and childish?
Oh lord I'm going on another rant again, I better stop! Lmfao! As much as I can praise and love Oda and OP and preach about what's so good about them, I can do it equally for what's so wrong with them too ofc!
Exactly man! All these baits!
"But it's just setup chapters guys! Let GODA lay down his foundations and do what he does best, trust in GODA! Just be patient and consume, don't ask, don't criticise, don't think!"
It's definitely not work discussing Big Mom indeed, I could write a whole literal essay on her alone and I am sick to death of her and complaining about her. The anger, the hate, the frustration I have with how Oda is handling and writing her is gradually turning into numbness/apathy for my own sake as it's poisoning me so much and just despair on that she's only ever going to keep getting worse like an awful joke failing to land and the person keeps trying to tell the joke over and over, dragging it out to a fate worse than death until people actually somehow by some ironically unholy miracle find it funny and praise them.
Kyoshiro god, he had such an amazing moment vs Kaido's ships and then I guess collectively with the Scabbards vs Kaido and then what? He may as well be dead! I wish he fought Jack or even King especially ideally! Even if he had lost, it would have been a great fight! But Kyoshiro seems like an absolute monster in strength and imo the strongest scabbard, I mean look at what Zoro can do and Oda had Zoro clashing with him and Kyoshiro fearlessly blocking an attempted killing attack by an enraged Zoro towards Orochi!
Don't even get me started on Kiku, Izo and thus the Whitebeard pirates too, we will be here until Act 3 might actually end one day! LMAO!
You have chosen the perfect word to describe it, "shameless".
That's what Oda is doing rn.
It is not even about pacing, it is about delivering what you promised/hyped.
I made a similar post on Reddit in 2016, where I asked how strong Big Mom and Kaido are, why SHs had to fight with some fishes when they were heading to Totto Land, and so on. I realized all of this even back in 2016. Things have gone from bad to worse now. I know all of this, yet I still read OP because I love it.
It is more of a psychological thing, Oda and his team know that fans are attached to the series so they are milking it now. This word may sound bad, but it is what it is.
People think, "I will look cool if I defend Oda", because he can get some likes and of course the management of forums also want to keep their forums active, so they also scrutinize this type of "criticism" (talking about reddit).
All I hope is, if fans start to criticize then maybe Oda can change somehow. There is no doubt that he can be "conclusive", but the reality is, he dont want to be, because, as you said, he has become "shameless".
Thank you once again! God I hated that plotline with the fish poisoning and Reiju sucking the poison out of Luffy. That was some fetish shit right there especially with how Toei emphasised it too lol. What was the fucking point of that whole (cake) ordeal with Magellan and Luffy going through HELL almost literally and figuratively ofc and gaining immunity to poison, to the point he could take on Caesar's poison but almost dies to the poison of a random fish?!
That's exactly it! They know we are extremely invested in this series, just from how long it has lasted, for over 2 decades and still not truly near the end yet! They are milking us so much, taking advange of our love for the series, exploiting our desires, wishes, dreams for it etc. I completely agree and that's exactly how I've felt for a long time now.
When you think about it, Oda himself said One Piece was meant to be only 5 YEARS LONG, so if anything proves how much OP has been getting milked massively, it's that!
That makes a lot of sense too unfortunately. Thats what gets the buzz. When OP generates so much hype consecutively and gets literally worshipped around the world, especially in Japan naturally and thus ratings/voting based aggregator sites like Reddit are going to want to take full advantage of that. God knows I've experienced so much of this cult behaviour in Discord servers, over Youtube and Twitter too, its extremely disheartening and frustrating.
That's why discovering Drizzt before was such a god send for me too and Dustan too whilst it lasted. The fact that people who criticise OP get attacked so much by the community, get ostractised by fans and even turned into butts of jokes by fellow OP fan content creators and purposely not included in the latest Reverie stream (referring to Drizzt) says it all.
All I hope is, if fans start to criticize then maybe Oda can change somehow. There is no doubt that he can be "conclusive", but the reality is, he dont want to be, because, as you said, he has become "shameless".
This is also why we criticise him and OP, so he can be better, so he can try to achieve his true potential, his best. Oda set the most insanely high standards for himself and others in the past, especially from Sabaody to Marineford. But some previous arcs were exceptional too imo. Water 7 and Enies Lobby particularly ofc but also Baratie, Arlong Park and honestly imo Thriller Bark too.
Unfortunately, being shameless is the new black in today's society too. It's extremely prevalent in the world especially America and other Western countries too. Tiktok users are the most prime, damning example of this too but you can see overwhelming evidence of it on DeviantArt, Twitter, Tumblr and even Youtube for example.
If someone believes they are shameless, then it becomes like "The Emperor's New Clothes" and they believe they are infallible, untouchable and thus perfect/flawless. And this is what I exactly fear has become of Oda. All that success, fame, adoration, love, praise, worship etc has completely gone to his head.
Hahahaha oh man, I remember saying to a former friend if Koby beat Boa, OP would officially be worse than Fairy Tail and he ran with it and started promoting the idea big time. Now I feel so much joy when I see people believe that OP is declining rapidly and is catching up to Fairy Tail in degeneracy, disappointment and devastation.
I still think OP is far better than FT especially the final arc of FT ofc. But the immense divide between the quality of OP and FT is shrinking rapidly per arc post TS of OP too.