@BobLoblaw:
I got that part of it. I guess my ire was mostly directly towards Tama who yet again plays the helpless character that bridges the SHs to the big bad. She also conveniently has a connection to Ace, is a part of the Kozuki clan, and was being chased/targeted by BP goons. It's just way too many overdone things all at once. The story itself doesn't seem to have too many more major arcs, so it would be nice for Oda to go about things differently from how he's done them 90% of the times in the past.
So we're talking about the O-tama circunstance, not about the concept of Luffy helping to save Wano.
Now that we have narrowed the subject of the discussion, I personally agree with you that Oda could have avoided using Tama as a victim to move Luffy against Holdem, since other plot devices that could be more interesting and fresh to accomplish the same purpose… however, I think you are underestimating Tama's existence in the story. Well, I don't know yet what exactly Oda is planning for Tama, so I can't promise you anything, but she is different. She is not some random girl that will only be used as a victim for us to rage against Kaidou's crew.
I believe there were two different things that Oda wanted to write: (1) a confront against Holdem to steal the food and escalate the situation against Kaidou, (2) the development of Tama and Luffy's friendship to pay off later in a different plotline. He could have done both separetely, but Oda was economical and made Tama be kidnapped by Holdem to piece together both plot-threads (which also was also useful for a third plotline about the Beast Pirates wanting to tame some beasts). While that economical writing was not the best decision possible, in my opinion, I also don't think that Oda exaggerated this kidnapping with fake tension and he solved the situation quickly to move on to the next thing.
As you said about Sabaody and Amazon Lily, this situation with Tama and Holdem is a "byproduct of other events" that are more important… hopefully. Wait and see.
The point you're missing is that those weren't the point of those arcs. They were byproducts of other events that were happening. The point of Sabaody was to introduce the Supernova, show how much the SHs needed to grow, and how they needed to be split up in order for that to happen. Camie and Hachi were a subplot, not the main purpose. Same thing with Amazon Lily to introduce Hancock and get Luffy to Impel Down, not free any oppressed women on Amazon Lily.
No no no, the point of Sabaody was NOT to introduce the Supernova (they were even improvised to make the arc more interesting, according to Oda himself). The point of Sabaody was to introduce the villany of the Tenryuubito, because thay are the final villains at the summit of the World Goverment and hold the power of the Marines (the Admirals), so Camie and Hachi were the plot devices for that purpose. It was also useful that the Strawhats were split up by the end of the arc.
About Amazon Lily, you are right that the arc was there to take Luffy to Impel Down… but saving the amazons was the method for Luffy to get that, just like Tama now.
Yes, that could be considered the theme for WCI, but the entire reason for the SHs going there was to "save" that member of their family. That was the point of the SHs and Carrot/Pedro putting everything on the line. To save Sanji from his own self.
Sanji didn't need to be saved from himself (actually, he was rewarded for being himself). Sanji only needed support to resolve the situation he was forced to be in, because he couldn't do it alone (although he thought he could do it alone if he married Pudding, but then Sanji discovered the truth about the wedding and his condition to come back was to wreck the wedding, despite his worries for Zeff and the Strawhats because of Big Mom's threat).
Putting it with your words again, going to WCI to rescue Sanji was a "byproduct" to move the rest of the plot, that is, (a) to thicken the plot against Yonkou Big Mom and to prepare her later demise, (b) to develop the theme of family and to explore Sanji's character, to make Luffy stronger and give him the status of Emperor before the great climax in Wano, (d) a lot of other stuff in between for different characters.
Do you see a trend? For the most part, Oda uses variants of the same excuse/device every arc, including in the arcs that you consider exceptions... but he always does it to accomplish different purposes and to tell different stories. You are just focusing too much in only one aspect of the storytelling of those arcs (the device) instead of looking at what they mean in each case and what they do differently from each other, which is the most important part.
Of course, the "device" is also important and it can become boring for the reader. No problems complaining. But see the big picture too. For instance, WCI is a very different arc in how it does MANY things, especially how unique it is in the way it uses Sanji to move the story.
Like I said above, look at the popularity for "ancient Japan" characters in OP so far. Kinemon and Momo are extremely unpopular. It's likely because the Japanese themselves are tired of the feudal Japan time period. We'll know for sure when the next character poll is released, but that time period has literally be done thousands of times in media (other manga, anime, movies, etc.). This is Oda's first time doing something that's been done to death, so I'm curious how it'll play out. Before now, almost everything he's done has been original and unique to his story.
And what proof do you have that Kinnemon and Momo are unpopular because they are from ancient Japan? That's baseless. For the most part, the popular characters in One Piece are the protagonists, the cool guys/villains and the sexy girls. Momo and Kinnemon were just "meh" as shonen characters, and not because of Japan, lol.
And you are reducing so much Japan to the point of being prejudiced. It's the typical case of everything-looks-the-same when you don't know it. "Ancient Japan" is not this one dimensional thing. It's a milenar culture that is extremely rich in history, eras and variety. And japanese people are very passionate of their culture and traditions.