That's not what I meant, but I like where you got. What I meant by mentioning Marineford is: Death. Only that. Death. One Piece is about pirates, about sword, about guns, about explosions. It should be about death. Many other shounen deal with the subject, too bad they deal with ressurrection too, i get it, to make it "easy on the kids", but, personally, the way Oda deals with death is the only thing I always disliked about One Piece. I'm not alone in that, I know. There should be death. And Ace died. Whitebeard died. We saw the weapons of many near their graves, so we know others died. I thought it may mean a door opening, you know? Oda just loves to make everyone die tragically on flashbacks, so why don't bring that element to the current storyline? It's always been mentioned how everything it dangerous in the One Piece world but, frankly, it isn't. Nothing is dangerous, aside from the sea. Everything is so disturbingly safe.
In this way, I don't want it to be like DBZ at all. It's the opposite. What I like in OP is that death is final. i'm not saying there should be slaughter, but I like to perceive the danger. I loved fishman island arc, because even though the fights were short and easy, Luffy was actually close to death. And why? Because of a single bite! That's how life is, screw up once and you're gone! It was awesome.
My problem isn't (and will never be) the gag element itself. It may be the time and place Oda chooses to use it, but not it's presence. Usopp's been my favorite SH because of the gag element. I've always loved his human side, his fears, his lies… I never wanted that to stop, but i've matured with the series and the characters should too. Luffy is, right now, outside Doffy's window. When would pre-timeskip Luffy do that? He would have jumped already. So even though he rushed to the palace when Viola told them about the other passage, he actually followed the strategy for the next step, because he matured. He didn't lose anything in the process. Usopp did. His comeback to face Trebol straight forward did mean him losing a little of his smartness, even if only for the moment. Even if only for the gag. And that's my problem, a gag shouldn't be used to reduce a character. You can criticize-me if you want for thinking that, but I do. He could have shot from a distance, he's a sniper…
Take Buggy as an example, since you mentioned him. He's one of my two favorite antagonists (the other being Crocodile), and that is solely because of the gag factor. I love that Buggy is still like that after all these years. He's careful, he's a survivalist, just like Usopp. And Usopp lost that at that moment, he would have jeopardized the mission and died, if not for his tendency of making ugly faces and, so, his luck.
You mentioned Drum, Skypiea and Davy Back Fight. This arc have nothing to do with those. It's a battle against one of the strongest Shichibukai. Doffy was referred as "The Most Dangerous Man". If you want to draw a parallel, Arabasta would be the best comparison. It had lots of funny moments, but mostly, it was serious businness. This one should be even more serious. Drum was to introduct Chopper. There's no way you can compare Wapol to Doflamingo. Same goes for Foxy. Skypiea was hardy, because Enel was powerful, but Luffy was his natural enemy and Enel also lacked really strong companions. Davy Back Fight was very funny, but overall was mostly... stupid and boring.
Personally, you mentioned some of my least favorite arcs. There are characters I like deriving from these arcs, but the arcs weren't nearly as interesting as Arabasta and Enies Lobby, which were more serious arcs. They were important though, and very fun. But not compelling.
Anyway, you got to a point that interested me, but I got a bit lost from my previous point: my problem wasn't the gag, is was the building of expectations! It's like a cold shower to have your favorite protagonist being built up so much for a specific deal, and then have it been done out of sheer luck. I would have loved if he had a nice fight (on screen), lost it, and then the gag moment happened. Because I would have seen the fight, I would have seen his struggles. But I'd have liked to see Usopp do at least one intelligent move, to make me believe his strategic side is still there.
So my complain is that off-screening and gags are not a good combination. They can both be done, but together they don't make the right impression on me. One thing I cannot deny: it was one of the funniest scenes on the series.
About Dragon Ball: DB has more mature content than DBZ. You can even see Bulma's nipples at some point, not to mention that she flashes her pussy to Roshi. Toriyama removed that aspect from DBZ to make it more violent, since having the two elements combined was "too much" for Jump. it's not the case here, one piece has very little fanservice, it's mostly cleavage.
PS: sorry for the big text (another one…). I'm just awful at making it simple.
thanks to your big text I look smart, I didn't read it all but I copy and paste it on an other one piece forum about OP / keep on writting please!
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I'm up all night to get lucky.
