Based on the entire last chapter, which placed the entire emphasis on Usopp succeeding in his mission? That unless the SOP mission succeeds, the good guys are doomed? That it all rests on Usopp's shoulder?
I thought it was quite evident that the turning point of the arc is when Sugar is defeated and the toys brought back to human form, and for that to happen, Usopp had to man up.
It just so happened in the most anticlimactic way. . .
Yeah, it's not over yet, that's true.
But the 5 pages we got condensed like an entire chapter's worth of content. Look, it's a criminal in the slums! King Riku, say something worthy of a good guy! Ok, on the Colosseum now! 100 wins! Oh, he keeps going! 1000 wins! Oh, looking on that grave! End of the chapter!
Give it some room to breathe! Flesh out the character interactions between Riku and Kyros! Make things flow a bit better!
This is the beginning of the Fisher Tiger flashback all over again. That flashback ended up being quite good, but the first chapter was one of the biggest clusterfucks Oda's ever written. This is not on that level, but the way Oda basically glossed over any possible interaction between Kyros and Riku, any insight on Kyros, any interaction between Kyros and fellow Colosseum gladiators. . .all done in 5 pages.
I hope he, at the very least, gives the entirety of chapter 742 to Kyros flashback. At the very, very, very least.
I'm sorry, but no, it wasn't. Not for a situation that Oda has been building up for soooo long. The payback basically consisted on "Ok, ok, I'll go back and fight, you stop dying for a while, will you? Now, let's do this snipper thingie. . .".
I mean. . .the fuck? Suddenly he goes back cause Trebol is starting to stomp then, potentially killing the dwarves? What the fuck were you expecting, Usopp, leaving them half-dead in front of the enemy to do with them as they please? Were you expecting, maybe, that they would treat them to some candies and hot chocolate, let them recover, and then give them a free bus ride back to Green Bit?
Of course they were about to abuse the guys that started a rebellion! That never crossed his mind? "I'll run away from here, leaving the clearly unable to move Tontattas lying on the ground on the verge of death. I mean, what could possibly happen to them? Nothing, of course!" "splat, crunch, splat" "Shit, he's crushing them under his feet! How could this happen?????".
And also, I'm surprised people on the spoilers thread totally loathed the idea that Usopp might revert back to his Sogeking persona in order to find some courage. Well, that was a much, much better scenario than what we got. If the infamous Thriller Bark scene that's been discussed to death lately told us anything, is that in times of desperation Usopp taps into his inner courage in the form of a split personality, Sogeking, and he even has some fucking internal dialogue with that personality!!! Now, with that totally flushed aside, it seems that scene was a random case of split personality that totally got cured after the time skip, yet, weirdly, Usopp became much more coward and even treasonous in the process.
Sorry, but, to me? That whole scene was incredibly unsatisfying.
Felt the need to reply to this in defense of Usopp. His lies were never meant to hurt anyone, they started as a way to cheer people up. In this instance the tontatta's belief in his lie that caused them inspiration and courage, became a negative causing their increased pain/likely death.
Maybe he thought, the little people he was fighting with would be turned into toys like those other things he saw but can't quite remember.
Also where is the explicit build up you refer to.
Most of these points may have been answered on other pages but I felt the need to defend usopp's character. Which I feel has actually grown. in this chapter.