We were encouraged to discuss, so discuss we shall. I must apologize for the inconvenience caused by the long gap between the two posts, but alas, I am way more busy these days than I would like to be. It gets in the way of forum interaction. I hope you do forgive me.
@Spam286:
on Doflamingo's quick rise to the throne
The parallels between Crocodile and Doflamingo aren't as simple, I would argue. It is true that their goals were very similar and that the methods they used didn't differ all that much, but there is one significant difference that shouldn't really be glossed over when we discuss this. Ironically enough, it's also something that has got a lot to do with the current pacing.
The big thing that I'm talking about is exactly, as you too already pointed out, the different entrance that Doflamingo had. Even with Sugar in tow, Doflamingo's takeover is very sudden and in conflict with the inherent logic of the series. It's not because what comes after the initial hostilities is a stretch - it clearly is not since Sugar's powers and Doflamingo's influence are more than enough to explain the ease of his reign - but because the reactions of the characters didn't make much logical sense on that night. King Riku getting caught unawares by Doflamingo was very weird considering that the king had many guards, yet it wasn't completely impossible to imagine with Doflamingo's powers being what they are. What was a lot stranger was Riku's reaction to Doflamingo's threats. His yielding made no real sense when it was as fast as it was. He could have called for his guards, should have trusted his people who clearly all trusted him, and definitely should have defied Doflamingo at least to the point where it was literally impossible for him to do. From out point of view, it obviously was like that from the very beginning, but in-universe that definitely shouldn't have been the case at all unless King Riku suffered from a massive inferiority complex. And even weirder than that was the reactions of the people that King Riku suddenly attacked. They were shown shocked and very surprised, but none of them even begun to wonder why it was happening and why their king was crying and apologizing the whole time. It was painstakingly obvious that something weird was up, especially with the odd money request earlier, but still everyone just conveniently stopped believing in their king that they loved because the story needed it.
The whole thing could have been made infinitely more believable by dedicating one or two more chapters for the flashback, showing how people went from trusting their king and being incredibly shocked to utterly detesting him and welcoming Doflamingo, a name whose evil shadow most of the citizens still should have recognized better than well. The same goes for King Riku's willingness to do what Doflamingo wanted him to do. It happened too fast to be consistently logical throughout.
That's what Oda, in my opinion, did much better with Crocodile, and why I don't think the two are directly comparable unless we compare them strictly with the pacing differences in mind. Oda set Crocodile's plot and the popularity of his character up in a way that made the execution of his plan both possible and completely believable within the framework of the story. With real world logic, it would never have gotten that far without more money, economics and shady politics being involved, but the story functions with One Piece's logic so it's nearly infallible in comparison. Crocodile's access to the rain-making powder and his generosity towards the suffering local people, who obviously did not know he was behind most of it, made it so that his coup would not have been seen as a totally bad thing, especially with the civil war raging across the country. And since that was the case, everything related to it, meaning his reactions and his bravado, Cobra's genuine shock, the people's disbelief, and basically everything that happened that arc was completely believable and felt satisfying not only because it was thrilling but also because it felt real with all the people reacting the way you would expect them to.
Now, the Dressrosa backstory isn't exactly bad in and of itself, which is something I'm fairly sure we can all agree on, but the execution suffers from the pacing quite a lot. The undeniable fact that some of the events felt very out of place in a way most readers can't quite pinpoint is very telling of this. And while it does not make the arc objectively "worse" than any other arc, it does detract from its overall enjoyability in a way that is very lamentable.
on the alleged pacing issues
This is actually a topic that I'm writing a long dissertation-level of a post on, and I assure you that there is a lot to be desired with One Piece's current pacing. It shows in many, many ways, of which the flashback's weirdness is only one. I can't really say much about it at this point because, as others have already pointed out, the Dressrosa arc is still unfinished and can feature a lot more than it currently does, but there are some small things that can be chalked up to the issues with pacing.
Scenes like Sanji's flashback into what had just happened before he flew in to stop Doflamingo slaughtering Nami, Chopper, and Brook, Luffy and Zoro reaching the palace and running through the entire undercastle without bumping into anyone, the dwarves very conveniently having tunnels going straight into the toy factory, the Lightning Soldier just so very easily befriending a bunch of pirates and leading them to his hideout, Block D being very short, and other things are good examples of things that could have been done differently if they had all been given a bit more time. All of those things not being particularly well developed creates a similar feel of all things not being quite like they naturally should be that the flashback also had, and makes the arc feel a bit off in many ways. It's a very serious issue that doesn't necessarily appear to be as big as it really is until you dive deep into it, but it very much is there at all times. And it has been a big problem ever since Fishman Island, so it's nothing to scoff at either.
I'm not sure what build-up for Sabo's return would have looked like, to be honest.
I had a strong conversation about this in another thread elsewhere where we discussed this particular point and basically the bottom-line here is the same as with the last two points that I've addressed. Sabo's return came practically out of nowhere, storywise. A more cultivated reader could surmise that the revolutionaries or the WB pirates would probably be interested in Ace's fruit (although how they would know is beyond my understanding), but the point is that the story itself did not hint that in any way, and that lessened the emotional impact that Sabo's sudden return could have had.
Had we seen glimpses of people dressed in weird clothing that we distantly recognize or had we gotten a suggestive smirk from Robin at one point, we would have known to guess that Sabo might just show up, making the inevitable scene much more emotional for the readers. We, the audience, are not following things from Luffy's perspective, so limiting the scene only to show Luffy's reaction was almost the worst possible way Oda could have handled it for that very reason. It wasn't very strong, and even the execution itself was pretty weird with Luffy reacting in a way that, quite frankly, was a bit ridiculous and not natural at all.
all credits to benjamminbrown
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I have no idea what I explain subject x, but I'm going to keep doing it regardless. Rather amusing when people say this. Anyways, lets go with "wait and see", but I see nothing about them that screams that they had to be in this arc.