@Panda:
What exactly is the line you draw between doing something on account of being flawed, and doing something 'like a total dumbass'? Isn't the latter, by necessity, an example of the former, albeit an extreme one?
As I see it, "flawed" means I can see the rationale behind their actions, and "like a dumbass" means they make no sense given the circumstances.
Ace going after a man [that may be stronger than him] is what I see as flawed. He's angry BB killed thatch, and he wants revenge. He's also able to take care of himself, and it's not like he's putting anyone else in danger because of his actions. He thought he could do it (though he was proven wrong).
Ace going after Akainu is what I see as stupid. One one hand, it makes sense for him to be mad that Akainu's talking smack about his pops; but on the other, he's exhausted as it is, and the power difference is pretty obvious. He's also got his little brother and other crewmates with him, and Whitebeard's sacrificing himself just so he can get away. It'd be one thing if there was literally nothing else he could do and it was his last hurrah, but as it was, them getting away was still a possibility (which he threw away). I know Ds aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, but even Luffy had enough common sense to tell his crew to run when Kizaru was going after them.
@Panda:
Yet I still ask: what's your problem with the scene? Saying the scene makes you angry at Ace, or frustrated with how everyone's efforts cam to nothing, would be one thing, and totally understandable. Those, to me, are feelings the scene was meant to evoke, and if it caused them, then they are a note in its favor; not against it.
Basically, I don't get how you saying 'Ace was a dumbass' answers my question at all; a character being a dumbass does not mean a scene is poorly written. I mean, do you feel it was out of character for him? I'd have to disagree with you there, but I could at least then understand where you were coming from. As it stands, I feel like this would be like me asking someone why they believed Grave of the Fireflies was a bad movie, and them responding with 'it made me sad'.
I saw "the crushing inevitability that even though they did so much, there was nothing they could do and Ace died" as what was supposed to evoke feelings there. However, Ace threw away his chance by his own means (rather than being forced to). Had Ace kept running, even when Luffy inevitably fell, he'd have been close enough to him that they could've kept going.
But he didn't, and when he got hit with Akainu's magma fist, I was like "woah", but after, I didn't really have an strong feelings. (It also didn't help that the chapter he died in was literally called "Portgas D. Ace Dies".)
I'll also draw some parallels with the Going Merry, who's death (imo) is the saddest part of the manga.
Both scenes were slightly alluded to for a long time, though we didn't pay them much mind (Luffy smashing up Merry; Ace on his travels to find BB); both flat out stated they were going to die (the diagnosis that Merry couldn't sail anymore; the announcement that Ace was getting executed); both had people who wouldn't accept it (Usopp fought Luffy over it; Luffy went to Impel Down and WB went to Marineford because of it); both kept going even though there was "no hope" (Merry went to Enies Lobby sailing herself; Ace and Luffy started running away even though Akainu was after them).
Where it splits off is that Merry literally couldn't go any farther even though she tried; in the end, she split in half. There was nothing else they could do.
Ace threw himself back and tried to fight Akainu. Akainu went after Luffy, and he got inbetween them. However, had he not done that, the possibility that they could have gotten away still existed.
After that, they both had a thank you speech and died.
That's why I said it was poorly executed. Merry's death had that crushing inevitability that made me really sad because there was nothing else they could have done; Ace' death looked like that's what it was going for, but there was something else he could have done. Because of that, I was just like "eh" and didn't feel anything.
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