Vegapunk said the same thing that physicist said.
The very same thing as that physicist!
Vegapunk said the same thing that physicist said.
The very same thing as that physicist!
@Marcotty said in Official Egghead Thread:
I think, regardless of wins or losses here, the bigger issue is that circumstances really need to get bad enough to force the strawhats to flee against their usual will. I can't imagine the strawhats getting an unquestionable win and just sailing off of egghead with their heads held high like a boss crew with nothing left to stop them. Oda's built up a show of force that's too big to let the strawhats get the big win here. It's too early in the final arc for that. York should be stopped, we should see the Seraphim stopped but not destroyed, and maybe we can have Kizaru take a beating if he hops over ahead of the fleet, but after all that, they really need to flee rather than face the fleet and Saturn. It'd be a horrible start to the final saga to have that much of a win happen.
Straw Hats easily defeating Seraphim + Saturn + Kizaru + all of Kizaru’s back-up ships in less than one hour would prob do more to make the final bosses of this series look more underwhelming and make Emperor Luffy’s fights look worse because of how boring they’d become.
Yeah, I don’t think Saul being alive ruins Robin’s story, like how some say Pell ruined Vivi’s story. Clover was pretty much Robin’s “Shanks figure” that she bonded with enough to realize a common interest/dream and be her catalyst to sail after they died and tried carrying on their will. Saul’s fate, although also meaningful, doesn’t really change that either way.
@Captain-M said in Chapter 1113: Stalemate:
@electricmastro Totally agreed; weaklings is only a realtive term only at this point. (And even in the heyday of the crew having a 'weakling squad' most wouldn't have included Robin and Brook among them anyway)
Yeah, it really did kinda frustrate me how much Chopper and the others would get downplayed as fighters given how they all promised to get stronger for Luffy and are facing gradually more dangerous foes especially in light of attaining an Emperor's crew status.
This of course isn't to say that cremates like Chopper have to be the same as Zoro, but given how Zoro himself wasn't there to hold off Saturn right at the moment Robin was in danger in this chapter, it makes the most sense to me that they all step up.
So, I'm quite excited to see what Oda does to have all them to step up, since as crazy as this might sound to some, I'm def ready to see more fighting from the crew beyond Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy. lol
@StrawHatJedi said in [Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)]
I don't have any doubt that over the past few weeks in story the Straw Hats have connected with Yamato, but the question is why Oda didn't show us more of these scenes. It just strikes me as an odd choice in storytelling if, at least right now, that was meant to be Yamato's primary bond.
What I've really been trying to say is that 'being like Oden' is a thin motivation for Yamato sailing with the Straw Hats. I said this in 1050 / 1051 when Momo decided to close the borders, that maybe Yamato's way of building on Oden's legacy by sailing with the crew would mean searching for the answers about opening the borders. But then, Oda chose not to include her in the scenes where Pluton and the borders were discussed.
That might be what is is all about: that Momo is meant to be the one to give Yamato purpose for leaving that isn't just sailing out to be free. If Oden could never give it to her, then Momo would, because he's the shogun now and is interested in knowing some things Yamato surely also wants to know about, which may be why Oda had Yamato talk about the journal info and had a bond with Momo to begin with.
I think that would make the most sense, since Yamato's dream to sail out and see the world is pretty nebulous compared to having a dream to open Wano's borders and accomplish Oden's overall purpose for Wano in relation to Joy Boy.
@Captain-M said in Chapter 1064: Egghead Labophase:
Is it just me, or has Oda been leaning hard on the fanservice lately? Black Maria fighting topless, Robin's ultimate move coming out naked despite her other full body clones having clothes, the post-battle bathhouse scene, Bonney wringing out her shirt, and now her, Robin and Nami all set up to spend the coming arc casually pantsless. The ass-emphasising camera angle in Bonney's last panel this chapter also stands out. Oda's never skimped on drawing female characters in a way that appeals to him and playing with suggestive outfits. We've had one-off bath scenes in a couple of past arcs too. But I can't recall him using this much nudity over so many characters in such a short amount of time. I don't want to sound like some horrible puritan who thinks artists shouldn't draw things they're attracted to just to enjoy looking at them, or that they shouldn't write societies with looser nudity taboos than the real world, or that readers can't enjoy it when they do or anything dumb like that - all those things can work or fall flat based on execution and consistency of tone - I'm just making an observation that things seem a little hornier around here than they used to be.
I suspect it’s partially resulted from his way of dealing with not drawing Yamato as of now while we wait for Momo become her catalyst to sail and fully realize her greater purpose. Yamato is prob the most expressively beautiful female character he ever drew, so I’d understand why he’d miss drawing her. lol
@Galleon-Panthera said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World):
Really awesome to know you spend two years struggling against the idea of Yamato joining and ending up winning the argument. That takes a lot of gusto to maintain. I'm not sure I could have done the same.
Not that I think anything of value was really won here, but I'm curious. How many people were struggling against the idea of Jinbe joining after the repeatedly left Luffy to go and do other things anyway?
@cavendishsama said in Chapter 1066: The Will of Ohara:
I don't think Saul being alive ruins Robin's story, still not sure if I like it, though. Depends how his story goes I guess, if he is the man with the burn scar that's already intriguing.
I'm also a little biased regarding his survival cause I really disliked the theory about him being alive cause it was mainly based on something that's just not true. ("Ice Time Capsule" is the attack Kuzan uses to immobilize Saul (chapter 397, p 13), the attack he uses to 'kill' him is "Ice Time" (page 15). He uses that attack vs Luffy for example. Of course Luffy survived it as well, and the Island being literally on fire makes it entirely possible that the ice melted and he survived. But I don't like that the Ice Time Capsule people turned out to be right about his survival.Other than that, 10/10 chapter.
I suppose issue could be taken with the idea of “Well if Saul could survive, then why not Olvia and Clover? Why couldn’t Saul just pick them up and run out of there?” But I guess that will be answered too.
@danie said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead):
Vivi or no one. I'm not even sure though when Vivi will come back into the story again, so that's a bummer. Maybe the next arc.
Ay, seeing as how Bonney is a first person witness, it would prob be inevitable that she tells her side as to what happened and could even clue into what happened to Vivi too. Would be rather surprising if Bonney didn’t know anything at all.
@hideoushorrendous said in Chapter 1076: Old Friends:
Such a shame that Elbuff of all places needs a yonko protection
They shouldn't !!
Oda Fucked all its hype with this dumb reveal.
events in Egghead is more interesting than spike head dummy
one thing that makes zero sense is why would the government spy who informed on Vegapunk would trap and imprison cipher pol agents who are supposed to be on his side ? only a rebel would do that! but a rebel wouldn't inform the five elders about punk trespassing a prohibited matter so what the fuck is going on ?
also oda dropped many hints that the culprit is a vegapunk clone and 90% of readers bought that but not me
because that would make vegapunk the dumbest scientist without a question like how could you make something that suppose to serve you to kill you ? we're talking about a serious humongous mistake that simply doesn't fit punk's reputation as the most genius.
I recall that Elbaf was described at Whole Cake as one of the strongest countries, and that was besides Kaido's territory of Wano at the time.
@Chams-0 said in One Piece Magazine:
It really makes it seem like Katakuri is Kaidou’s son.
And then it turned out Kaido is 59 and Katakuri is 48.
Looks like Wano is fully coming back into the story after an 18 month break.
@Chams-0 said in Chapter 1115: Pieces of a Continent:
Although Vegapunk is working using the research from Ohara, it seems like he and Robin have slightly different knowledge of the past. He seems to know a little bit more of the Ancient Kingdom and Joy Boy, since Robin was surprised to read his name in Fishman Island. Meanwhile Robin seems to know a little bit more about the Ancient Weapons. Robin knew of the location of Pluton, and the nature of Poseidon from the texts she read in Alabasta and Skypiea. It is this knowledge of the weapons that caused Crocodile and Spandam to go after her. In chapter 1086 Dragon says that Robin confirmed to him that the Weapons existed, so it seems she told the Revolutionaries something about the past (while barely telling her crew or us the readers anything lol).
Also it seems unlikely that Vegapunk had seen or read any Red Poneglyph, so she knows more about Laugh Tale having a secret location.
Oh yeah, Croc never did explain where he did find out about Pluton, did he
@Kitsune-Inferno said in Chapter 1115: Pieces of a Continent:
@electricmastro said in Chapter 1115: Pieces of a Continent:
@Kitsune-Inferno said in Chapter 1115: Pieces of a Continent:
Egghead is great, I pretty much never see any complaining about it in good faith except for the people who complain about it here.
I get the feeling especially since Wano’s ending that people are complaining about it because it doesn’t specifically play out the way people want it to, including things that don’t happen in a way that specifically appeals to them.
For me, I don’t really criticize arcs for what they don’t do and how it specifically appeals to me, but for what they actually do and how it benefits the story as a whole.
Admittedly, I'm a pretty big Wano critic myself for reasons specific to me--it's way too long, does no service to its antagonists, spotlights characters I don't care about and Wano never made me care about, it's way too long, way more important and interesting things are happening elsewhere and we're stuck in this way too long hellscape for... way too long.
But Egghead to me is the exact opposite of that. It's long, but it's long because it's peddling in global concerns, so I don't feel like I'm missing anything else going on because EVERYTHING is going on. It spotlights characters I DO care about and has contextualized its antagonists fairly well. We'll no doubt learn more about the Gorosei with time, but we can glean a lot from Kuma's interactions with Saturn. I'm happy. It's basically the anti-Wano in every way and sure, it's moving slowly and it's not the most organized arc, but every chapter feels like a treat with every new revelation it doles out. It's exactly what I want.
So I guess that's my cross to bear, and maybe that should make it easier for me to understand the criticism, but it's not the emotional criticism that bothers me--it's the constant, repetitive, relentless "objective" criticism that seems to be more concerned with telling everybody it's indisputably awful and terrible in every chapter and every thread because Oda isn't writing the series exactly the way I want it to be written. And I really only see that here.
For me, it helps that Bonney is a more interesting character to base a whole arc around than Momo, whose personality I found rather uninteresting despite his moments of bravery.
Bonney has been through the crap of being born in the captivity of slavery, ended up being the subject of human experimentation alongside her mother, who died, and had her condition used against Kuma at the cost of his humanity.
And despite all that crap, Bonney still shows a headstrong, determined, and fun attitude in addition to a cool power. Might be One Piece’s best kid character honestly.
@Kitsune-Inferno said in Chapter 1115: Pieces of a Continent:
Egghead is great, I pretty much never see any complaining about it in good faith except for the people who complain about it here.
I get the feeling especially since Wano’s ending that people are complaining about it because it doesn’t specifically play out the way people want it to, including things that don’t happen in a way that specifically appeals to them.
For me, I don’t really criticize arcs for what they don’t do and how it specifically appeals to me, but for what they actually do and how it benefits the story as a whole.
@Dahaka said in Chapter 1115: Pieces of a Continent:
Tell me what importance Buggy had in Egghead, and yet we spent a chapter with Cross Guild. Or Shanks beating Kid. Or the entire Garp sequence. Or Teach beating Law.
It is a weirdly placed intermission, but I don't see why would anyone use that to criticize the arc in any major way. It does nothing to the arc, it's just a break in events (and not even any major ones)
What about the whole York/Seraphim plot being offscreened?
I'll give you the York plotline, though personally I feel that decision was for the better given how long this arc has become. Nobody wants another behemoth arc, so offpaneling the least interesting part of it is fine with me. Sure, it would be better to not have this whodunit game at all, but alas. Anyway, I don't think this is anything major that would warrant to call the arc the worst. Wano is guilty of much worse narrative crimes.
I don't recall Seraphims having any major plot, unless you mean fights then fine. Though offpaneled fights are nothing new in post-skip OP, so it's hardly anything to work against quality of Egghead in comparison to last 500 chapters.
What of the protagonists having almost no drive on the plot?
And this is bad because...? You don't need main protagonists to drive the plot all the time as long as you have other means to do it and make it equally interesting (and One Piece sure as hell does have them)
What about building Kuma’s flashback around Saturn, only for Saturn to go do others things and not interacting with Kuma/Bonney anymore?
We had a cathartic climax of the flashback with epic Kuma punch. You talk as if the arc was done. It's not even been 10 chapters without Kuma (who has been KOed). Focus shifted to Vegapunk's lore dumps for now, but it doesn't mean Kuma's plotline was dropped and will never come back.
Egghead’s threads don’t tie together, it’s a mess of events and wasted elements that do not flow from one to another.
Yeah they do. Every single plot thread is wrapped around Vegapunk - his inventions, his knowledge, his relationships, his morality. The whole arc started with government trying to assassinate him because he knows too much and after much escalation this is what the climax is still focused on, while other plots explore other sides of him. Kuma's flashback may seem like it's own thing, and it kinda is, but in the end it also connects to Vegapunk and shows what kind of human he is. The whole thing structurally is not that much different from how Law and his revenge story was incorporated into Dressrosa's struggles he had zero presence in, while Doflamingo (instead of Vegapunk this arc) was the thread tying it all together
Sure, it may be the objective, but it should still have a basic story.
As mentioned above, it does have a basic story, which is WG trying to erase Vegapunk and his knowledge. From the start until now that's what the arc is about on the most basic level.
I can see York’s cat and mouse game as the only noticeable example of Oda rushing through things. Though that said, seeing as how it happened at the same time as Kuzan vs. Garp, I understand that Oda felt most comfortably focusing on one of either incident and didn’t want to show the other in a long flashback, so he ended up with the result we have.
@black-leg-jex said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead):
Most of this cover story is just going to be Oda showing us what has happened in Wano after Kaido's defeat (like who the new Daimyo's are and what all the scabbards and gifters are up to). The only thing that might affect Yamato's chances of joining is how close Oda wants to keep to Oden's journey - will Yamato pick up his own followers from ex-beast pirates on his journey?
I looked up what pilgrimages are and came across this:
“This pilgrimage provides the an opportunity to reflect on one's life and to change for the better.
People’s motives for making this pilgrimage are varied. For example, some come for religious reasons, some to pray for healing or safety in the home, or some in memory of those who have passed away. In addition, some come just to get away from regular life, some for recreation, or some to spend time alone in reflection and to find oneself. For people today, it is being re-discovered as a healing journey.” - https://shikoku-tourism.com/en/shikoku-henro/shikoku-henro
So I wouldn’t think it wouldn’t just be some generic update of what other characters are doing, but possibly focus in giving more depth to Yamato herself in discovering herself more and better understanding what she really wants out of life now that she has the freedom she craved for so long.
@Shiebs said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead):
Let’s see how this new cover story ends, maybe Yamato joining the Straw Hats isn’t so crazy
It could end as a hint with Blackbeard coming to Wano after Caribou tells him Pluton is there. But until then, looking ahead with what Oda is currently doing, Kinemon just had a sword for Yamato to deliver. It could easily turn out to just be a delivery, but considering Yamato Takeru’s story of being a swordsman and Yamato’s concept art showing her as a swordsman, I think it could be reasonable to suggest that Yamato might end up taking up the sword as her own, since Oden himself was a swordsman.
@Kitsune-Inferno said in Chapter 1115: Pieces of a Continent:
@electricmastro said in Chapter 1115: Pieces of a Continent:
@Kitsune-Inferno said in Chapter 1115: Pieces of a Continent:
At some point, we should ask if Oda's writing the Egghead Arc or the Final Saga. I think he's only ever used one of those terms before.
Egghead's goals don't appear to be telling an isolated story and has never explicitly established itself as such, it's always presented to me as a setup arc putting all of the pieces in place for the rest of the final act. We are literally inching through a broadcast to the entire world as we speak, which should speak to its global ambitions. Could it have been organized in a better way? Sure. But I think we're trying too hard to argue that Egghead is something it's not.
I recall him mentioning last year that even though he mentions final saga, the manga isn’t ending quickly, so we can just read it comfortably in the meantime.
Reading it comfortably is what I'm trying to advocate for. Even if we're not ending for a while, the mode of storytelling we're looking at now is unprecedented for this series outside of maybe the Reverie arc, so maybe I'm more willing to be forgiving if it's not written in some perfect sequence.
There's also Oda's schedule and output to consider. We've never had fewer chapters per year, or fewer pages per chapter, and that kind of strikes me as signs of struggle--sure, Oda's getting older, he has more on his plate than ever, he's at the height of his global stardom currently, but he's also trying to kick his story into a new gear that up till now has been fairly localized to the covers or the in-betweens of arcs.
It's easy to forget when we're criticizing every little thing that Oda's been writing this story nonstop for 27 years straight, probably constantly outlining only a few chapters ahead at a time, and with the sheer amount of threads being pulled on by this arc, it's easy to see how they might be overwhelming.
I dunno, I guess what I'm getting at is, it's weird to me that we keep comparing Egghead to past arcs, arcs that only bear a passing resemblance to the scope and scale Egghead is going for, and trying to apply the same rules and standards to it, when Egghead is clearly doing something else entirely.
It's not a perfect arc, but I'm enjoying the ride, so it kinda strikes me as odd how much persistent criticism it's getting.
Yeah, for some reason many people seem to be jumping on the bandwagon as if Oda will be ending the manga in less than 100 chapters, despite him still taking his time with things like Kuma’s flashback and Vegapunk’s broadcast, as if he only deserves to be doubted on his writing ability of properly following through with things.
@black-leg-jex said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead):
The thing with Yamato is they will eventually end up with the crew, but it doesn't have to be until the end of the story. And at that point it doesn't matter how big the crew is.
Agreed. I still remember when I held onto high spirits that Jinbe and Vivi would reunite with Luffy, despite whatever excuses others wanted to stack up against them. I just know Oda holds a sentiment to those who want to reunite with Luffy one day, and I felt I was proven true on this when he fulfilled Jinbe reuniting with Luffy. He also still seems on track in reuniting Vivi with Luffy, possibly to join the crew full time after all. So all that is why I still hold Yamato’s words of still wanting to be with the crew close to me, because I know Jinbe and Vivi wanted the same things and see no good reason to deny them that.