So her natural beauty just boosts the potency of it?
Yes.
Oda tends to design their characters after their abilities.
So her natural beauty just boosts the potency of it?
Yes.
Oda tends to design their characters after their abilities.
Yes.
Oda tends to design their characters after their abilities.
Yup, most characters have personalities to match their DF powers. Though… Alvida and slippery? I dunno 'bout that, Oda.
Hancock:
Love: Her arc was a lot of fun, with Luffy running around and causing all sorts of shenanigans on the Isle of Women. I sort of enjoyed her infatuation with Luffy, and I'm glad that Oda hasn't given it too much focus, because I can see it quickly becoming tiresome. Love is a hurricane! Her DF power and the play on Medusa/Gorgon is kind of fun, though I would have preferred for Hancock to be able to use the same snake-hair technique that her "sister" can.
Loathe: She's a little too flat for me to enjoy her as a character (not in the chest area, though).
3/5
Hancock
Love: When she first appeared, I loved how cold she was towards others. She looked like she meant business. I also love her DF power and how it fits in with her snake theme (Medusa). She was a very powerful character and it was badass when she easily took out two pacifistas. I do love that both men and women fall in love with her beauty. She had several funny quotes during Marineford. "Love is a hurricane!" and I do like that she saved Luffy during the war.
Loathe: I prefer her when she is kicking puppies to when she is in love with Luffy. I think Oda could have kept her as a cold hearted amazon and still kept her in love with Luffy. I find her annoying when she becomes a bimbo whenever Luffy is involved. I also found it troubling that she would die if she couldn't be with Luffy. Abusers often threaten their lovers with suicide if they try to leave. I also don't like when she gets cute to make people fall in love with her. Also she is an empress, she can have servants cook Luffy up a delicious meal. Finally, having her shoot a heart during Marineford is just silly. We get it, she's a woman!
4/5
Hancock:
Love: Her arc was a lot of fun, with Luffy running around and causing all sorts of shenanigans on the Isle of Women.
Thriller Bark was a lot of fun.
Amazon Lily was a little bit of rushed mediocrity.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@Light:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dv0vVWUEdvw/StVJpf6L_HI/AAAAAAAAAj0/khz3ip7ZeQQ/s1600/ep421-19.bmp
:ninja:
You win at life.
Thriller Bark wasa lot of fun.
Amazon Lily was a little bit of rushed mediocrity.
We're entitled to our loves/hates, right?
Love: Her badassery. Hancock was the first female who felt like a genuine threat since Nico Robin, as far as I was considered. I loved her introduction kicking the cat, I loved the way she casually trolled the marines, and I loved her eccentric "looking down" pose. Basically, Hancock felt like a badass pirate: she was powerful and influential (and hot) enough that she could essentially do whatever she liked and get away with it. She wasn't always likeable as a person, but she was always entertaining and dynamic.
Loathe: Unfortunately, that didn't last long. Like most One Piece women with killer intros, Hancock promptly got all personality flaws justified and all edginess smoothed over. She ended up just being another achievement to list under Luffy's name, with no more momentum of her own to speak of.
3/5
Hancock's Arlong Park Evaluation
What you loved:
Favorite comment goes to Halfmetal-lich:
"Love: Where do I start? Aside from being a welcome inclusion to the "boys club" of the warlords. Hancock simply felt right for One Piece. Her attitude, her design, her place in the story. Everything just felt like it belonged when we met this character. She's clever, smart, cunning and able to go toe to toe with enemies that we could only dream for Nami and Robin. Her about-face romance with Luffy serves as both a welcome homage to the Goku/Chi-Chi romance from Dragon Ball, and some of the funniest comedy I've personally found in One piece for a long time, something the anime helps greatly. Coupled with a well done and tragic backstory that doesn't over-stay its welcome, and an interesting devil fruit power, Hancock fit One Piece, and she makes the story better because of it."
–-------------
What you loathed:
Favorite comment goes to Kalkary:
"Loathe: I prefer her when she is kicking puppies to when she is in love with Luffy. I think Oda could have kept her as a cold hearted amazon and still kept her in love with Luffy. I find her annoying when she becomes a bimbo whenever Luffy is involved. I also found it troubling that she would die if she couldn't be with Luffy. Abusers often threaten their lovers with suicide if they try to leave. I also don't like when she gets cute to make people fall in love with her. Also she is an empress, she can have servants cook Luffy up a delicious meal. Finally, having her shoot a heart during Marineford is just silly. We get it, she's a woman!"
Finally,the poll! With 17 votes, Hancock's average score is…2.94!
Thanks to all that responded! I will post my next pick later on today. Here's the HINT: If you can't see our next character you are probably already dead.
Until then.
Is it Cavendish/Hakuba?
Is it Cavendish/Hakuba?
Hope not! It would be lame to review any Dressrosa characters now!
I'm going to guess Kuro.
Might be Absalom!
Love & Loathe #27 Let's get our Katana-Hands on! It's time to evaluate: Captain Kuro (…Of a Thousand Plans aka Kurahadol)
(GAME: This is my second favorite Kuro panel. If anyone can guess my favorite Kuro panel they will get to choose our next character.)
Glasses crusher...Here's the deal: We are looking to hyper-critique a character to try and pinpoint what makes them great and what makes them terrible. After enough people respond, I will organize what are the best and worst traits of the character, and compile an evaluation post later. Also,don't worry if you have the same answers as others,the point is to figure out a common denominator for the character.
So the two questions for you are:
What one thing do you consistently love about Kuro?
What one thing do you consistently loathe about Kuro?
And give Kuro a rating of between 1 and 5, with 5 being the highest(.5's are acceptable - ex. 1.5 or 4.5). I will tally these.
**This will be a 24 hour evaluation.
Enjoy.
Love: Even after 3 years of disguise. he still didn't lost his murderous will.
Loathe: He simply went missing and never got been heard until now.
4/5
Love: Sinister, creepy, evil. Kuro's pretty good for all of these. As a 'planner' he was a more intelligent villain than any that had appeared up until then, his unique little glasses push was pretty memorable, and his speedy attacks were pretty scary. An excellent arc villain who fitted nicely into Usopp's recruitment tale.
Loathe: Not much. He's lost a little of his uniqueness now, and the whole "I'll kill all of my subordinates after … " thing which pissed off Luffy was already repetitive by then, and it's gotten way too old now.
4.25/5 - feels a little dated now, but a nicely done villain
Love: As far as I'm concerned one of most underrated baddies! Kuro is everything a good villain should be: calm, composed, arrogant, stylish and also cold-blooded, great manipulator, just plain sociopathic and most importantly, intelligent. I've always loved strategic villains! His katana gloves and fighting style are plain awesome too! I always get chills when he uses Shakushi! He's like East Blue's Crocodile!
Loathe: His plan confused me a little. Have your men attack the village while staging an accident on Kaya! Wouldn't it make more sense to have her killed during the pirate raid? And if you're gonna have an accident then why should the men attack village in the first place? Or did he call pirate raid an accident?
Also are those really golden poop on his shirt?
Overall: 5/5
Love: The villain infiltrates your ranks! Gains your trust! Learns your weaknesses! But, oops, they’ve come to care for you and can’t bring themselves to kill you! How many times are we going to see that? Not this time.
Loathe: The frailness of the cat claws. What if someone just blocked Zoro’s swords with a boulder and snapped them all in two? That’s the part that made him look cool - don’t break it! Why’d they have General Grievous showing off four arms if he was just gonna lose two of them in ten seconds?
4 / 5
Frankly, the mere existence of the Meowben Brothers should net Kuro a 5, but we need to be serious here. Love: In a world where Arlong was about a year away, Kuro gave One Piece its first real villain. No gags, no comedy. Kuro is a straight up bad guy, the first real proof that Oda could create a real villain. There is alot of DNA of future baddies in Kuro. Lucci, Arlong, Kid, even a bit of Eneru are all there. While Arlong rightfully should be considered the villain who made One Piece, Kuro should be noted for being the first proof that Oda knew what he was doing. Plus those claw gloves.
Loathe: Let's face it. Does anyone really remember this villain? While other characters have had long lasting impacts on the story, Kuro was a blip on the radar, another in the line of one note characters Luffy had to plow through to get the core crew together. Unless Oda brings him back, Kuro is probably going to end up as footnote in the history of One Piece. Some think he should stay that way, I have to agree with them.
2.5/5
@Light:
Also are those really golden poop on his shirt?
Overall: 5/5
Well, Oda said it was. But it is Oda…
Kuro
Love: The pussy foot maneuver. The sixth grader inside me couldn't help but giggle a little at that attack name. Also the whole foreshadowing thing with him lifting his glasses with the butt of his palm was really cool.
Loathe: I dunno, he seemed kinda bland in terms of personality. Kinda just "I will kill this girl and take her fortune, mwha ha ha. No one can stop me my plan is so perfect mwha ha ha."
And could it be?
!
EDIT: Woops, forgot to give a rating haha. I give him 3.5 outta 5
Love Kuro still remains one of my favorite One Piece villains. He was the first down-to-earth intelligent enemy, one of the first to feel actually dangerous. Not that there is nothing wrong with Alvida or Buggy, but this is where Oda showed just what potentional his villains can have. His habit of pushing up his glasses with his palm was fairly memorable, I'm a sucker for anything cats so his theme hit home, and even more than ten years after his debut his fighting style still remains rather unique.
Also, his appearance. He's tall, slim, and has there been any other major villain with glasses?
Lastly, he's a the-butler-did-it who actually kicks ass.
Loathe
That he hasn't shown up again. I miss a lot of the old east-blue villains, and some (like Gin) hold a lot of potentional. However, with how far the series has progressed and how much the strawhats have improved, it would be rather strange to see the early villains suddenly pop up "hey I'm stronger now!". Perhaps its for the best to leave Kuro and the others as a good memory. I still miss him though…
I'll give him 4.5/5.
Love: His character was used well and for me he was one of the classic villains in One Piece. He was the guy who broke Captain Morgan's jaw and I just liked the way Oda connected his story like that. His butler/pirate theme was pretty unique. His fighting style and choice of weaponry. His mannerisms even adjusted..the way he was touching his glasses. The man with a 100 plans…liked his epithet.
Loath: Where is this guy? Jango showed up but Kuros wasn't heard of. Well he wasn't all that fond of being infamous and kept a low profile but still..would have liked to see what he was up to. I thought the poop design on his coat was funny but it took away some cool points.
!
4/5
Love:
His overall characterization is fitting for a villain. Cunning, relatively powerful, and even has a nice backstory to him. Prior to him, the villains we've met were Axe-hand Morgan, Buggy, Alvida, and the bandit back in Luffy's town. He was the first legitimate villain Oda drew and he delivered.
Loathe
His memorability. Was Kuro a good villain? Yes he is. Perfectly written, given where the series was at that point of its existence, and overall worthy of his role but he isn't someone who has that lasting appeal to a reader. As the series progressed and more complex villains introduced, Kuro has been buried deep into the archives. It actually took this thread for me to remember him!
But hey, he's way enjoyable than Don Krieg who's the embodiment of mediocrity.
3.5/5
I'll hazard a guess that the best Kuro panel is the deliciously evil one on the inlet of volume 5.
This one:
[hide][/hide]
Love: Kuro was intense in his evilness, and it worked great as a contrast to his overprotective butler-role. The best villains are the one that don't cause physical, but emotional damage, and Kuro's close relationship with Kaya gave him ample opportunity for that. That scene where Kuro evokes Kayas pleasant memories of him, only to crush her spirit by revealing his intense hatred of them, is amazing- when Usopp jumps to smash his face in, you're right there with him going FUCK YEAH SMASH THAT BASTARD. The reveal, with him stomping on the glasses, was also great.
I liked that Kuros' grand plan was just to retire and live in peace, being waved good morning by the villagers, but that he was still so much of a murderous, empathyless bastard that he'd kill everyone to get it. He also pulled off the kill-your-underlings-to-show-true-evilness better than most, by going the whole hog, and was a great foil for Luffy, back when the series was all about showing what a real pirate was: Not as narrow minded as seeing only gold as treasure (Buggy), not a cheap douche always looking for shortcuts to the goal (Krieg), and not a despondent quitter without love of both his crew or the pirate life -Kuro.
You could say that he was a bit dry and could've used some quirks, but this is one of the few cases where I didn't mind "serious+evil" being the extent of his personality- its not like Croc had funky personality ticks. For a 20something chapter arc, Kuro did his job as a villain well, and he enjoyed the advantages of being from a time were arcs were smaller and more focused.
Loathe: The conclusion to his story arc is rather terrible. Yeah, I get that "Go be a pirate again!" is supposed to be his punishment, but despite all he did, he essentially gets away scot free. The marines still thinks he's dead, and nothing stops him from assuming a new identity somewhere else. Hell, nothing stops him from returning to Syrup village and murdering everyone. That is, assuming his crew didn't murder him, which would've been a great scene to see- but bizarrely, we're just to assume that they were still loyal enough to drag him with them, and thats that?
His fight with Luffy, especially the conclusion, was also rather lackluster despite a promising beginning.
Kuro scores 4/5 by virtue of doing his job very competently, and not having too many issues I can think of.
EDIT: Wow, the arc was only 19 chapters? Kuro was really effictive then.
Ah, Kuro. My favorite (male) One Piece character!
Love: Pretty much all of what Daz said in the post above, but I also want to add that his cat-claw katana weapons were some of the most original non-devil fruit based weapons I've seen, and stand out as being unique, complimenting his lean, speedy physique and initial passiveness well.
Loathe:That he has yet to return to the story. For one called a "Master of a Thousand Plans", you'd think he want to try and exact revenge on the Strawhat Crew for foiling his retirement plan. Also, although he was an East Blue villain, if the protagonists can level up and increase/develop their skills in two years time, there should be no reason why Kuro can't do the same. He has potential to be a great and ruthless returning villian.
I would give him a perfect score, but his fight with Luffy was pretty underwhelming, so
4.5/5
Kuro:
Love: This might be the only character in OP that actually terrified me. His entire plan was horrifying, to gaining Kaya's trust, having her believe that he was her dear friend, all while planning on killing her for her money. A true sociopath! There was nothing redeeming or funny about this guy. Even more, he did not care about his own crew and saw them as disposable. He was truly evil. One of my favorite One Piece villians.
Loathe: Where the hell is he? I'm sad that we haven't seen him since East Blue. But maybe he would just be difficult to fit into further story.
5/5
Love: I don't know why but how he pushed his glasses up on his face with his palm out of habit not to cut his face because when he was a full time pirate he always wore the claw gloves is very memorable to me. It just shows that even when he was acting good his past and evil were right there rearing its ugly head for everyone to see.
Loathe: Not very memorable for many. Besides getting Usopp in the crew not much memorable stuff happened involving him.
Rating: 3/5
Heh, adding to this threads merit is making me remember how much I liked Kuro and his arc.
I remember the Hit-and-Miss danish translation, when the usually well-spoken Kuro threatened his crew and had the Meowban bros at knifepoint:
"Do your job, or I will TEAR ALL YOUR ASSES OFF"
Nice. I know most people kind of dismiss east blue sans Arlong, but I think it holds up well.
@The:
That is, assuming his crew didn't murder him, which would've been a great scene to see- but bizarrely, we're just to assume that they were still loyal enough to drag him with them, and thats that?
It was an Anime-only scene so it's non-canon, but right after Luffy received his very first bounty after beating Arlong, there were reaction shots from various individuals and villains reading the news, and Kuro was thrown in as a cameo appearance, apparently as the captain of his ship again.
[hide][/hide]
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@The:
I remember the Hit-and-Miss danish translation, when the usually well-spoken Kuro threatened his crew and had the Meowban bros at knifepoint:
"Do your job, or I will TEAR ALL YOUR ASSES OFF"
Nice.
Ha! That's really awesome.
Kuro was a cool looking, smart, effective and yet mildly evil villain.
Unlike Don Krieg (taking over Red Line by sailing in Baratie) or Hody (be pirate king..?), Kuro's goals were definitely achievable and he would have succeeded if it wasn't for Luffy.
I liked his fighting style too.
He was a jerk to his subordinates but that's not too big a problem for me. Since they were pretty dumb to begin with.
4/5
Love: I guess his katana gloves were pretty bitchin.
Loathe: He was an asshole to his crew, and a pretty forgettable villain to be honest.
2.5/5 Those katana gloves are bitchin though.
Kuro's Arlong Park Evaluation
(Favorite)
What you loved:
Favorite comment goes to Counterdose:
_"_Love: The villain infiltrates your ranks! Gains your trust! Learns your weaknesses! But, oops, they’ve come to care for you and can’t bring themselves to kill you!
How many times are we going to see that? Not this time. "
–-------------
What you loathed:
Favorite comment goes to The Daz:
"Loathe: The conclusion to his story arc is rather terrible. Yeah, I get that "Go be a pirate again!" is supposed to be his punishment, but despite all he did, he essentially gets away scot free. The marines still thinks he's dead, and nothing stops him from assuming a new identity somewhere else. Hell, nothing stops him from returning to Syrup village and murdering everyone. That is, assuming his crew didn't murder him, which would've been a great scene to see- but bizarrely, we're just to assume that they were still loyal enough to drag him with them, and thats that?
His fight with Luffy, especially the conclusion, was also rather lackluster despite a promising beginning."
Finally,the poll! With 14 votes, Kuro's average score is…3.86! Our first tie! With Garp. Crazy.
Thanks to all that responded!
**Love & Loathe #28** Let's get our epic-speech on! It's time to evaluate: **Hannyabal** (The Warden of Impel Down)![](http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/3135/voilacapture71.png)
Boo Magellan you stink! Step down!...**Here's the deal**: We are looking to hyper-critique a character to try and pinpoint what makes them great and what makes them terrible. After enough people respond, I will organize what are the best and worst traits of the character, and compile an evaluation post later. Also,don't worry if you have the same answers as others,the point is to figure out a **common denominator** for the character.
So the two questions for you are:
What **one** thing do you consistently **love** about Hannyabal?
What **one** thing do you consistently **loathe** about Hannyabal?
**And give Hannyabal a rating of between 1 and 5, with 5 being the highest(.5's are acceptable - ex. 1.5 or 4.5). I will tally these.**
**This will be a **24 hour** evaluation.
Enjoy.
Love Hannyabal is a representative of what One Piece is. Eccentric design that we've already come to associate with characters from One Piece(For male characters mostly) and a quirky personality that's prone to silliness and immature antics but at the same time can answer the call if put in an emotional/dramatic spot. He's a natural shoe-in to the light-hearted, fun-loving theme of the series. Lovable and entertaining, never takes himself too seriously, pretty much what One Piece, as a series, is.
Loathe I loathe the fact that I can't find anything to loathe about Hannyabal. The guy was effective in his role.
4/5
Love: About everything again! He has such goofy design, especially the pharaoh crown. His constant Freudian slips about wanting to become chief were just hilarious!
And of course there's the famous "You shall not pass!"-scene. Not only he stood up against wave of powerful enemies for the sake of protecting innocents, but perhaps the first time many of us truly wondered if Luffy really is on the right side of this conflict. He was willing to let bunch of dangerous criminals free just for his brother after all.
Loathe: Unfortunately, that scene also made Hannyabal look rather weak. While his determination was nothing but admirable, he was pretty much getting stomped by Luffy. He probably would have lost soon enough even if Blackbeard hadn't come to finish the job. The gap between him and Magellan just seems too big and honestly I don't see how Magellan saw him as an worthy successor of his. Tough I guess he'll get by with Magellan as vice warden.
Overall: 4.5/5
Love: His relationship with Magellan as the boss and the dumbskull minion and despite he wants to usurper Magellan he still has lots of respect.
Loathe: I shall never acknowledge him as the Warden!
3.5/5
@The:
Heh, adding to this threads merit is making me remember how much I liked Kuro and his arc.
I remember the Hit-and-Miss danish translation, when the usually well-spoken Kuro threatened his crew and had the Meowban bros at knifepoint:
"Do your job, or I will TEAR ALL YOUR ASSES OFF"
Nice. I know most people kind of dismiss east blue sans Arlong, but I think it holds up well.
Wow. In the English translation, there was this really cringeworthy moment when he turns up at the slop and shouts "What in Neptune's name is going on??"
… Why Neptune?
This thread is rapidly becoming my favorite one on the forum. Keep it up.
Love: The other side of the coin in "Villain simply doing his job" that we saw in Rob Lucci. Hannyabal is not evil, or cruel. Cut through all the ambition and dreams and he simply is a man doing his job because he feels that it is right to protect people. One of the Antagonists of the Impel Down arc? Yes. But a villain? I don't think so, and I think we all have a soft spot for the man who "Just wants to be warden!!!!"
Loathe: I was never a fan of his design. When I think jailor of Impel Down, I think more of Magellan. Maybe that was the intent Oda was going with though, but it still is not my favorite one by far.
3/5
Hannyabal –
Love: Hannyabal was a fun character - nice visual design, nice running gag ... he does seem kind of incompetent at first and apparently more concerned with taking Magellan's position as warden than actually dealing with the situation at hand. However, we get nice nods here and there later in the arc to how he is actually competent enough to be the Vice-Warden of Hell. There's the whole thing about how he visits Level 5 half naked despite the cold for morale ... And of course, when the situation really goes bad, there's a great moment where he becomes actually serious and gives off this list of orders and the guards are like "Whoah, is that actually our Vice-Warden??" And in the end, he makes a determined stand against Luffy et al, with a pretty commendable speech conveying his determination. People say he basically just got stomped, but to be fair, Luffy takes him out with that Jet Gatling that took out Lucci >> And Hannyabal gets back up for more punishment again and again until Blackbeard KOs him. Sure, he was beaten by Luffy, but he put up a damn good fight. He doesn't have some crazy ability like Magellan, but he's still tough and durable and determined. I really like him ^^
Loathe: Very little? I guess it's a shame we don't get to see him really accomplish anything much ... but it's a minor quibble. (He does casually beat Buggy and Mr 3, whom he was planning to let pass to blame on Magellan but they were just too weak ... )
4.75/5 -- I wonder what Hannyabal will aim for now that he's Warden ...
Hannyabal
Love: He was a decent enough guy I guess. Funny, right-minded, resilient. Magellan approves.
Loathe: He was forgettable for me. His speech didn't resonate much. Personally I didn't find his gags all that funny and he does look uniquely ugly, kind of reminds me of my own belly. So yeah…
2.5/5
Love: Hannyabal has got to be one of the funniest characters in the series, for me. I love his schtick with Magellan. I think Oda has a talent for making really comical characters who can also command a lot of respect from the audience when necessary. Not only does he display some crazy endurance when he tanks a whole Jet Gatling, the way that he stands back up to fight and his subsequent speech are also incredibly impressive.
Loathe: Sure hope we don't have to read a million more "Hannya"s the next time we see him fight. Will we ever see him fight again? I hope he makes another appearance.
4.5/5
Love
Despite being likened to Hell, Impel Down had some of my favorite villains morale-wise, if you can even call them villains…
I love how Hannyabal does a complete turn and shows everyone why exactly he is the vice warden. He's silly, but when it comes down to it he actually tries his best. He constantly mutter about becoming the next chief, but really do trust and respect Magellan. And in the end, while he might stand in Luffy's way as he tries to save Ace, Hannyabal is doing what he SHOULD be doing - hindering dangerous criminals from escaping, and trying to do so without Magellan's more deadly techniques. His whole speech to Luffy, where he rose after being beaten by him was pretty memorable, if not because almost every word he said were actually true: would the prisoners escape, then there would be very bad consequences!
His gags were funny but didn't divert the attention from the plot, and I love his relationship with Magellan.
Loathe
I do wish he got a bit more fight than first being punched by Luffy and then finished by Blackbeard. And him actually becoming the chief warden after the time skip felt a bit out of place. What now?
Also, and this is a complaint that goes for the entire series, it irritates me that the consequences of the prisoner's escape hasn't been shown afterwards. One of the most interesting things with the Impel Down arc was the grey boundary between good and bad, Luffy's intention is good but he is also freeing a bunch of dangerous prisoners. The guards of Impel Down are actually doing their job, trying their best to protect the civilians in the world. And then? Nothing! The prisoners go under Buggy, and even if we've heard of there being chaos, it almost feels like the whole ordeal was swept under the rug so the World Government can continue being branded as the bad guys.
Maybe I'm just blabbering on and missing important plot points, but I wish Luffy actually had to face the consequences of releasing the prisoners so the Impel Down guards could show just why it was so important that they tried to stop Luffy and his group (even if their methods are a bit questionable).
I'll give him 5/5, because he did his job.
Love: One Piece is a world of dreams. Dreams and the people who pursue them - with ‘pursue’ being the keyword. It seems that, so far in the manga, most people are still in pursuit of their dreams. Others have failed or at least been set back, and a few have passed on their dreams to others.
But that boy Hannyabal? Done. Aced. Dream attained. He’s the warden now; he did it. If he was Luffy, he’d be Pirate King.
Additionally, I feel the Impel Down arc needed him. His speech is what kept it from being just bad guys imprisoned by more bad guys.
Loathe: Look at him. I thought for sure he was gonna bust out an awesome devil fruit.
Nope. He’s got blades on fire. That’s the most generic thing possible. If his fighting style isn't related to hannya masks somehow, then Oda just didn’t care.
3 / 5
Hannyabal
Like: I thought he was a very funny character. I loved that he thought that he would be a better warden than Magellan even though Magellan was clearly much better at the job. I also loved his determination to be head warden. Him standing up to Luffy even though it was clear that he was going to lose was admirable. I like that he was an enemy to Luffy without being evil.
Loathe: Though I like his determination, I still think that Magellan is still suited to being head warden. I don't feel like there was enough time to get a real attachment to this character so it is easy for me to forget about him. Magellan very much overshadowed him in the Impel Down arc.
3/5
Love: His speech was in of itself really cool and showed a side of the world government we don't often see (the good side!). He also gets props for standing up against Luffy and having a lot of determination, as well as having a great design,
Loathe: I found his gag of wanting to be head warden pretty forgettable and unfunny. Also, as respectable as his speech was, why was he giving it? This isn't so much a complaint against the guy himself, but when I see that speech I remember how it could've had a lot more potential on a more … relevant character.
3.5/5
Loathe: Sometimes I think its important to acknowledge a character's fault and to me it always seemed like he genuinely wanted to sabotage Magellan. He constantly undermined him and was even willing to let Buggy and Galdino run around and cause chaos, just to make Magellan look bad. Him standing up to Luffy and the rest was more of him going oh shit I fucked up and shit just git real, now I have to try and clean up my mess than him actually doing his job.
2/5: For being a dick that somehow convinced everyone he wasn't.
Wow. In the English translation, there was this really cringeworthy moment when he turns up at the slop and shouts "What in Neptune's name is going on??"
… Why Neptune?
Nothing, not even Bellamy blabbering about El Dorado and 4 O' clock trains, will top Buggy in the danish volume 2, berating the Straw Hats:
Buggy: What a bunch of milk-sop pirates! Why don't you just take a trip to Legoland instead?
I just….what???
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
Love: In some ways, Hannyabal reminds me of Hody Jones. To explain: We often see Heroes pushed to their extreme limits, defending their ideals with complete disregard for their health, to great dramatic effect. Villains are usually a bit more restrained- they care about themselves so much that they don't just want to throw away their health/lives…unless they have extreme conviction in their beliefs. Hody was willing to throw away himself for his cause, and Hannyabal becomes absolutely pummeled by a guy way out of his league for the sake of his job- but Hannyabals weakness makes him great. His blockade means so much more because he doesn't just effortlessly stalemate Luffy, and he comes out the fight a completely rounded character.
Starting off as just a disrespectful opportunist, he eventually reveals himself capable of affection towards Magellan, and recieves respect in return. I honestly don't think he'll do too bad as his new job; he's no Spandam and at least he'll keep better hours than Magellan (who was the one to order Shilliews release, so he's not exactly perfect either)Plus, the dude is hilarious. Sooooo many great gags, not just freudian slips. Also stuff like busting out confetti upon introducing Hancock, sitting in Magellans chair, suggesting everyone should go for crackers during the riot, etc. Loathe: …errr, I don't like his post-skip design. Its rather ugly. Thats mostly it.
@Zar:
Also, and this is a complaint that goes for the entire series, it irritates me that the consequences of the prisoner's escape hasn't been shown afterwards. One of the most interesting things with the Impel Down arc was the grey boundary between good and bad, Luffy's intention is good but he is also freeing a bunch of dangerous prisoners. The guards of Impel Down are actually doing their job, trying their best to protect the civilians in the world. And then? Nothing! The prisoners go under Buggy, and even if we've heard of there being chaos, it almost feels like the whole ordeal was swept under the rug so the World Government can continue being branded as the bad guys.
Maybe I'm just blabbering on and missing important plot points, but I wish Luffy actually had to face the consequences of releasing the prisoners so the Impel Down guards could show just why it was so important that they tried to stop Luffy and his group (even if their methods are a bit questionable).
Yeah, I don't buy the "Luffy is a morally grey total sociopath, so deep!" line of thought, but this is a pretty glaring example. Really, as great as Hannyabals speech was, Oda probably shouldn't have called attention to this if he didn't want to follow up on it.
That doesn't relate to my love of Hannyabal though. 5/5, entertaining through and through.
Love: His stand against Luffy and how he was upholding his own sense of justice. His random outburst of wanting a promotion was pretty funny. His strange appearance and Pharaoh like character design was pretty unique. Overall he was a good guy who really wanted a promotion. lol
Loath: It felt like he had unwarranted confidence that he could replace someone like Magellan. All that talk about becoming a Warden but can he walk the walk? He got fooled a couple of times, didn't seem much smarter than Magellan and definitely wasn't as intimidating. He got the promotion that he wanted..if he actually does better in that position then I might give him a higher score.
3.5/5
Love: Looks like gandalf
Loath: doesn't have magic thou
Love: This guy. THIS GUY. One of my favorite One Piece side-characters without a doubt. This over-ambitious, egyptian-like (former) vice-warden worked wonders giving comical relief in contrast to the serious Magellan, but when push came to shove, we were able to witness exactly why he holds his position. His clash with Luffy stays one of my favourite moments in the whole manga, the way he held him off with all he had, getting beat to a pulp and throwing that great speech, proving he really believes in what he does, makes me hold him in high regard.
Also I love his pants.
Loathe: Nothing. He was the highlight of Impel Down to me.
5/5
Oh man, Hannyabal, now you're talking.
Love : His quirk of wanting to become warden and blurting this out at every opportunity got me every time. His impassioned defence against Luffy was a really great moment that was classic OP. A comedy character who can still have an awesome moment that can be taken seriously, and rightly so.
Loathe : Nothing in particular, maybe the shortness of his panel time.
Rating 4.5/5
Pro: Hannyabal has massive merit. In an arc where every villain (specially Domino and Saldeath, not so much but still quite evident Sadi) got sidelined so Magellan could do his Terminator thingie (and don't get me wrong, Magellan is one of the top 3 most menacing villains in One Piece), Hannyabal got to hold his own ground and even have some spotlight stealing scenes by himself. His fighting performance wasn't all that hot (though he still managed to nonchalantly off-panel Buggy and Mr.3, and the fact Mr.2 used trickery to get rid of him might imply he couldn't go at him one on one, but that's just speculation), but the gag character that suddenly gets serious with a pretty nice touch of depth, when well done, is a good addition to an arc, and Hannyabal fits this to a T. Probably, the second best thing outta Impel Down.
Con: Sadly, as I said, Oda didn't let him shine in the fighting department, and Luffy pummeled him with extreme ease, not even getting hit once. Luffy went Gear 2 but it didn't even feel like he needed it, he wasn't really struggling. Compare that to his fight with the Minotaurus or the Boa Sisters, where he was really pushed.
It's the same thing with Sadi: these characters, while not "hyped" per se, are presented as capable fighters, but in the rush of the last 4-5 ID chapters there was no time for that, and they got offed extremely fast.
Average: 4/5.