The gravestone thing didn't bother me because of convenience, but because its so ridiculously on the nose. "This man KILLED SCARLET so now he is KO'd by SCARLETS GRAVE because then it feels like SCARLET participated in the struggles of SCARLETS FAMILY against SCARLETS MURDERER. Another problem is, I don't give a shit about Scarlet. This isn't exactly Bellemere we're talking about here, and the associated melodrama just feels stale as a result. Feel feelings because a person died and look how sad the characters are the person died, not because you, the reader, feel sad that this person died.
@kouch_lee:
L
Zoro's train of thought was pretty fun, he needed that, and if we indeed see a King Punch fuelled Zoro flying through Dressrosa next week, I want my best pop-corn ready for that.
My thoughts exactly.
This didn't feel like "smug badass LOL U SO WEAK Zoro", this felt a bit more old school. Where a lot of the prior scuffles have come up litterally short, this works because Oda lets the tension build, because Oda spends time on Zoro chasing Pica, being outwitted, and listing his options. Zoro ending the chapter with "option E!" feels fresh and memorable, and a damn sight better than if Zoro had just spontaneously obliterated Pica. This is the power of spending more than the bare minimum of time on fights!
And does this mean Jinbes story is about to end? Or can finally start getting interesting? I love the big blue guy, and his look of exasperation this week is great, but my God has this been boring. Jinbe Looks At Things And Performs An Action Sometimes, the cover story.