I'm not one to complain because there are certain things to be expected for One Piece, but I can honestly say that I am simply not feeling the tension that previous arcs have generated even as recently as WCI. This is still One Piece, so for those jumping to "more deaths" lets leave that out for now because it's just not happening and that should be accepted by now.
I don't think I could make such a claim lightly so I actually tried to understand why this is the case and possible differences that could account for it. You can simply answer the poll or provide your own ideas on what could increase tension at this point because I want to go into depth a little bit:
Pacing: I believe this is probably the biggest issue at this point. There is still a lot of set up going on at this point that I just don't believe is necessary. I think everyone understood that Oda was dragging things a bit for chapter 1000 but it doesn't look like it's going to be particularly better afterwards. Generating tension is a fine balance between having things that the audience already expect to happen 100% offset by the execution or journey in getting to that point. We know no Strawhat is actually going to be taken out before their big fight, so of course Sanji is going to be freed or Usopp & Nami are going to escape the Tobi Roppo. The latter is arguably done better than the former because we get Tama coming in for the save much sooner than Sanji's eventual rescue for the former.
Those particular examples have already been talked to death, so I actually want to use one from previous arcs. At the Tea Party we knew that Germa wasn't actually going to be killed and the situation is resolved quickly AND they go right into action right after. The main point is that there is no reason to drag out a forgone conclusion.
Enemies: Directly displaying that the enemy maintains the upper hand is better than abstract comparisons of numbers. Part of developing tension is showcasing the strength of the antagonists in an efficient manner. At the Tea Party even when Big Mom was made vulnerable with the picture being broken Caesar's weapons were useless and she was still shown as a threat, taking out their escape route (mirror) even in that state). Katakuri & Perospero were immediately able to immobilize Big Father and the former created mochi ear muffs to put his siblings back in the game quickly. Germa 66 that was saved was still mostly taken out shortly after and there was a sense that escape was not possible even though it was inevitable. Besides that, all the major enemy fighters (except Compote who may as well be a figment of my imagination) put in work as well.
In comparison to Onigashima you have things like King & Queen just standing around for a while, the Tobi Roppo having a vibing session/tied to a tree/being ignored by a cosplayer/planning to betray & being betrayed by each other. Jack, dragdown though he may be actually tried to do something even though his temporary clapping was also inevitable.
That's another thing. Oda was trying to have his cake and eat it too in that scenario, having the Minks get a measure of revenge against Jack but not wanting to take him out there and there so that he could still return later, but that is another move that just kills the threat meant to exist. It's actually a bit cruel for the poor dragdown but I'm not complaining.
Big Mom got a lot of bad press from it, but having her get hit in the face by a bike that's not hard to miss is also a bit...sad. Nobody expects the Strawhats to die and there will always be comedy moments, but having the 2nd main antagonist treated like that is a bit rough. She wasn't treated as such in the Tea Party which still had comedic moments and neither were prior antagonists that are not respected as much such as Moria treated that way either. There are better ways to set up comedic moments with the main antagonists while maintaining the threat of their presence. Kaido is treated a bit better but still spends too long getting knocked about by the Scabbards before their eventual beat down and spends quite a bit of time screaming in pain. It's similar to the Jack scenario where Oda tries to give the Scabbards a little bit of shine but would have been better off following the One Piece standard of the people the Strawhats are trying to help out trying and failing miserably (and quickly) like in Alabasta, Skypiea, Water 7, Thriller Bark, Impel Down, Dressrosa & WCI.
There are probably other things I can pinpoint but let's leave it at that for now.
I don't think I could make such a claim lightly so I actually tried to understand why this is the case and possible differences that could account for it. You can simply answer the poll or provide your own ideas on what could increase tension at this point because I want to go into depth a little bit:
Pacing: I believe this is probably the biggest issue at this point. There is still a lot of set up going on at this point that I just don't believe is necessary. I think everyone understood that Oda was dragging things a bit for chapter 1000 but it doesn't look like it's going to be particularly better afterwards. Generating tension is a fine balance between having things that the audience already expect to happen 100% offset by the execution or journey in getting to that point. We know no Strawhat is actually going to be taken out before their big fight, so of course Sanji is going to be freed or Usopp & Nami are going to escape the Tobi Roppo. The latter is arguably done better than the former because we get Tama coming in for the save much sooner than Sanji's eventual rescue for the former.
Those particular examples have already been talked to death, so I actually want to use one from previous arcs. At the Tea Party we knew that Germa wasn't actually going to be killed and the situation is resolved quickly AND they go right into action right after. The main point is that there is no reason to drag out a forgone conclusion.
Enemies: Directly displaying that the enemy maintains the upper hand is better than abstract comparisons of numbers. Part of developing tension is showcasing the strength of the antagonists in an efficient manner. At the Tea Party even when Big Mom was made vulnerable with the picture being broken Caesar's weapons were useless and she was still shown as a threat, taking out their escape route (mirror) even in that state). Katakuri & Perospero were immediately able to immobilize Big Father and the former created mochi ear muffs to put his siblings back in the game quickly. Germa 66 that was saved was still mostly taken out shortly after and there was a sense that escape was not possible even though it was inevitable. Besides that, all the major enemy fighters (except Compote who may as well be a figment of my imagination) put in work as well.
In comparison to Onigashima you have things like King & Queen just standing around for a while, the Tobi Roppo having a vibing session/tied to a tree/being ignored by a cosplayer/planning to betray & being betrayed by each other. Jack, dragdown though he may be actually tried to do something even though his temporary clapping was also inevitable.
That's another thing. Oda was trying to have his cake and eat it too in that scenario, having the Minks get a measure of revenge against Jack but not wanting to take him out there and there so that he could still return later, but that is another move that just kills the threat meant to exist. It's actually a bit cruel for the poor dragdown but I'm not complaining.
Big Mom got a lot of bad press from it, but having her get hit in the face by a bike that's not hard to miss is also a bit...sad. Nobody expects the Strawhats to die and there will always be comedy moments, but having the 2nd main antagonist treated like that is a bit rough. She wasn't treated as such in the Tea Party which still had comedic moments and neither were prior antagonists that are not respected as much such as Moria treated that way either. There are better ways to set up comedic moments with the main antagonists while maintaining the threat of their presence. Kaido is treated a bit better but still spends too long getting knocked about by the Scabbards before their eventual beat down and spends quite a bit of time screaming in pain. It's similar to the Jack scenario where Oda tries to give the Scabbards a little bit of shine but would have been better off following the One Piece standard of the people the Strawhats are trying to help out trying and failing miserably (and quickly) like in Alabasta, Skypiea, Water 7, Thriller Bark, Impel Down, Dressrosa & WCI.
There are probably other things I can pinpoint but let's leave it at that for now.
