General & Others Wano's pacing is absolutely incredible and smooth

[Dark Hound]

Gys, we're 60+ chapters in Wano it hasn't felt like it.
Do you remember what 60 chapters in WCI felt like ? Felt like a chore, felt extremely dragged and long

Wano is going extremely smoothy (smoothie hehe), the flashback is incredible and nobody thought we would Roger's iconic reaction to he One Piece or Primebeard
Wano has been great so far
I don't care

It's been going very fast but does not feel rushed at all

 

[Dark Knight Sanji]

Gys, we're 60+ chapters in Wano it hasn't felt like it.
Do you remember what 60 chapters in WCI felt like ? Felt like a chore, felt extremely dragged and long

Wano is going extremely smoothy (smoothie hehe), the flashback is incredible and nobody thought we would Roger's iconic reaction to he One Piece or Primebeard
Wano has been great so far
I don't care

It's been going very fast but does not feel rushed at all

Definitely better than WCI, but has it been flawless with its pacing?
In my opinion, no it hasn't.
I would like to get to the war at hand asap if we're being honest and yes I know the significance of this flashback is high but seeing a few panels of the old guard isn't as hype to me as seeing the SH's take on Kaido and I believe that the start of the war is being dragged out unnecessarily.
Also, there was a lot of off-paneled stuff that I just loathed not being able to see.
However, it is definitely a better arc than WCI that's for sure.

 

[MD Zolo]

I still have nightmares about Udon. The main issue with Wano is that chapters glossing over some important details while going into excruciating details about other less important things.

 

[ShinmenTakezo]

WCI had way more obvious faults to point out, so that bar is not that high.

Still can´t really be as invested as pre-TS arcs.
This flashback was great, before it was not that good to be honest.

 

[KiriNigiri]

The flashback has probably been my favorite set of chapters in the arc. Oden is really growing on me, and Kin'emon is quickly becoming one of my favorite supporting characters thanks to it.

I still think the pacing in act 2 was wonky. It wasn't that it was slow or even fast, it was just very uneven. Beyond that, I've been liking this arc a lot.

 

[ShinmenTakezo]

The short but great part 1 pretty much promised us things that part 2 could not fulfill.

P1 + Flashback great, Part 2 almost horrendous

 

[MD Zolo]

P1 + Flashback great, Part 2 almost

Act 2 wouldn't be bad if Udon hadn't lasted as long as it did. Castle incident, Raid Suit, Plaza incident and Kaido vs. BM onwards were great. Udon and the never-ending silhouette of Kawamatsu damaged Act 2.

 

[Jew D. Boy]

Udon dragged way too long, but otherwise, each chapter (especially in the Oden flashback) has been packed to the gills with information. WCI and Dressrosa before it both got way too bloated with asides that felt less than germane, but Wano has been like Zou/Reverie teased out even further, just banger after absolute banger each week (for the most part). Definitely shaping up to not only be one of the best arcs in the series, but it’s clearly keeping the fan base engaged in a way I personally didn’t notice during our time in Big Mom’s territory.

 

[ShinmenTakezo]

Act 2 wouldn't be bad if Udon hadn't lasted as long as it did. Castle incident, Raid Suit, Plaza incident and Kaido vs. BM onwards were great. Udon and the never-ending silhouette of Kawamatsu damaged Act 2.

Not really.

1) Udon
2) The supposed subplot that was supposed to make the other Strawhats useful regarding preparation -> useless
3) The Komuraski thing lacked any significant purpose. You could have just had her hiding in Wa No without all that. Oda simply wanted to supposed famous geisha in there. It was supposed to be a huge twist, nobody actually got excited.
4) BM got screwed over again until regaining her memory.
5) Raid suit was horrendous, illustrating that Oda did not know where to go with Sanji, so he had to give him the suit developed by his psychopathic and homicidal family, without an actual justification btw that was credible

 

[Chrono]

Said no one ever !

 

[MD Zolo]

Not really.

1) Udon
2) The supposed subplot that was supposed to make the other Strawhats useful regarding preparation -> useless
3) The Komuraski thing lacked any significant purpose. You could have just had her hiding in Wa No without all that. Oda simply wanted to supposed famous geisha in there. It was supposed to be a huge twist, nobody actually got excited.
4) BM got screwed over again until regaining her memory.
5) Raid suit was horrendous, illustrating that Oda did not know where to go with Sanji, so he had to give him the suit developed by his psychopathic and homicidal family, without an actual justification btw that was credible

You can question the story decisions, but the narration was thrilling.

For example, the Castle incident was exciting. When Robin was greeted by the Oniwabanshu or when Nami used Zeus to escape was great. I mean, we were making threads that Sanji will see Nami's lightning strike and come to rescue her.

Sanji using the raid suit in an anti-climactic situation was not what I expected, but it was also exciting to read.

The part that wasn't exciting to read was Luffy's training, BM's rampage in Udon and subsequent meaningless fight with Babanuki.

 

[Dark Hound]

I still have nightmares about Udon. The main issue with Wano is that chapters glossing over some important details while going into excruciating details about other less important things.

In retrospect, BM wasn't needed, she could have just been found by Kaido pirates on the beach then bound and tied to Onigashima

And the training in Udon could have continued but you still needed a reason to make Queen disappear so that Luffy takes control of Udon, THAT was absolutely necessary

Post automatically merged: Jan 1, 2020

Said no one ever !

Said people with fucking brains

 

[Monkey D Theories]

Udon was an incredibly necessary part of the story and is absolutely integral to the climax. If you found it boring that's on you

 

[ShinmenTakezo]

You can question the story decisions, but the narration was thrilling.

For example, the Castle incident was exciting. When Robin was greeted by the Oniwabanshu or when Nami used Zeus to escape was great. I mean, we were making threads that Sanji will see Nami's lightning strike and come to rescue her.

Sanji using the raid suit in an anti-climactic situation was not what I expected, but it was also exciting to read.

The part that wasn't exciting to read was Luffy's training, BM's rampage in Udon and subsequent meaningless fight with Babanuki.

From that perspective sure, its a different conversation but if the things you see lack credibility and might even bore, it also has an impact on how you perceive the pacing.

 

[ShadyOjiro]

Udon was an incredibly necessary part of the story and is absolutely integral to the climax. If you found it boring that's on you

"That's on you "

Damm well cuz I'm the reader duhh

 

[Patryipe]

Oda is cheating a bit with Wano though. The reverie and the Chaden flashback which contains a lot of stuff about the OG and the endgame stuff is making everyone happy.

Move Reverie from Wano to WCI and people will immediately change their idea about WCI and Wano.

 

[dirtyLarry]

Before anyone posts anything here - positive or negative - I really suggest you re-read the whole Wano arc up until now in one go.
Things feel completely different compared to reading one chapter per week.

 

[Finalbeta]

The pacing is ok but this flashback is degenerating. It's time to quicken it for good, I'm sure that's Oda's intention though.

 

[Charlotte Horchata]

I disagree.

We've had some subplots that didn't feel that necessary (Urashima and Holdem) and others that, albeit relevant, were dragged more than they should or were developed in a poor way. I'm thinking of Udon, which not only lasted longer that I could enjoy but felt like a teen camp instead of a prison by a crew of beasts. Sometimes it got ridiculous and unbelivable, like the threat of maiming Luffy because of his behavior towards the jail officers (implying Kaido would risk a 1.5b warrior for the sake of a SMILE nobody). At the end of the day it was so childish that lost my interest, and things like dragging Kawamatsu's introduction only for it to be so lame didn't help either.

Also, Oden's flashback is a bit of cheating since what makes it most interesting isn't Oden himself but the things surrounding him. This isn't that positive because this isn't Roger's or Whitebeard's flashback but Oden, and the flashback itself isn't perfect either (mainly having some big problem with depicting Shanks and Buggy's ages right). I personally don't like Oden and, while I'm enjoying the glimpses of information about Whitebeard, Roger and co., I'm still waiting for some actual trace of genius writing in this flashback (such as the tragedy of the mushroom in Chopper's, the death of the Rumbar Pirates and how it is built on music, the small details in Doflamingo's or the amazing resolve of Big Mom's).

On the other hand, the events seem developed irregularly and sometimes they are random (even Sanji stressed how they somehow met Kin'emon with no deeper explanation) or omit interesting conversations (Luffy telling his crew that Big Mom is in Wano was ignored in spite of its importance). Yet, Oda recreates with characters he shouldn't care that much about.

By the way, and even though it isn't pacing-related, I'm not a fan of Wano's designs, too much Japanese stuff but not so much smart and creative manipulation of such material. The most innovative are some SMILE users, but they're one trick ponies (funny but not meritorious). Coming from Dressrosa and Whole Cake, Wano is underwhelming and overall lacking.

 

[Nvax]

The Udon meme stopped being funny. I was interested in every chapter of Udon. The stuff with Big Mom and Queen was great. It only felt long because there was no clear progression for a while, but the whole thing was setting up Luffy gaining followers and training.