I don't like discussing point for point because I feel the overall meaning of what somebody is saying gets lost in what amounts to bickering, but I'll try to explain some of my feelings better.
@Robby:
Ah yes, very little except the lonely childhood full of dead friends and abuse, forming a bond with Ace, having complete belief in Luffy and admiring his secret dream, idol/mentor figure, constant fights with his father, desire to go travelling… very little.
And none of that has been particularly developed, which is my problem with the way Oda has handled the character. I also think Kaido is somehow still somewhat lacking as a villain, which probably gets reflected in my perception of Yamato as well, but I really haven't been feeling the drama between them at all.
We have already seen a similar kind of relationship with Law and Doflamingo (not exactly the same, but Doffy had been a father figure for Law for some time, and the main contrast between them apart from Rocinante had to do with what Law should have been doing with his life - live it freely or spend it for Doflamingo, which is more or less the conflict between Kaido and Yamato) and the bile and resentment between them were tangible all over the pages. Even when they weren't in the same place you could see they couldn't wait to tear at each other, and they actually moved the plot in order to make that confrontation happen. Kaido and Yamato also got a little of that back on the rooftop, but they had barely talked about each other before that point and then Yamato runs off basically unscathed at the first opportunity… and yeah that's been justified in the plot but it still doesn't make for engaging drama.
I guess Yamato is just more level-headed than Law? But still, if the emotional focus of the arc was supposed to be on him I think Oda would have written at least the Onigashima plot in a different way.
@Robby:
When there's already two exceptions you have no pattern at all.
I'm not saying there is a pattern.
@Robby:
Much like Jinbe during the war? Or like literally everyone else in this arc right now? Usopp and Nami and Robin and Sanji and Jinbe have all been running around in circles.
That's the thing… The Straw Hats running around has mostly been used to give them character moments.
Nami's fight has been underwhelming but she had that moment with Ulti, her relationship with Zeus went through many changes during Onigashima and now she's gained a new power up.
Jinbe got a full fight which provided hints about his past (and a cool moment that highlighted how dumb casual racism is).
Sanji got a ton of character moments, first by leaving matters to Robin and then with the Germa drama and that cool moment with Zoro.
Zoro got flashbacks and is learning how to master Enma.
Robin got her first fight in ages and fully embraced her "demonic" side and there have been many nice bonding panels between her and Brook.
Chopper basically saved the day and got a moral victory over Queen even though he lost the actual fistifight.
Franky and Usopp haven't been used for much but Franky still got a full fight, and overall I'd say this is the best the crew has been used and developed in ages, which to me only highlights how meh the treatment for Yamato has been. He provided tons of exposition but the actual supposed character moments have been underwhelming. Only highlight has been the Kaido fight and flashback and even those felt barely developed. At least to me. I'm just stating my feelings, I don't want to convince anyone.
@Robby:
Please remind me of the great flashback Usopp had.
Usopp had 100 volumes to get developed, this isn't apparently the case for Yamato so I'd expect the introduction and initial developments for the character to be stronger. There's already 10 main characters.
@Robby:
He has no idea how to interact around people.
That was interesting! But it lasted for like 3 chapters… There was no awkwardness at all in the exchanges with Franky, Apoo and Drake.
Come to think of it, Yamato really hasn't interacted with many characters at all despite all the screen time he got.
@Robby:
So for Jinbe you're counting Impel Down, the War, the timeskip,Fishman Island, his cover story, and Cake Island to figure out his personality?
What was his thing during the WAR. When it was all hectic action? He was boring and willing to die for Whitebeard. That was it. That was the main complaint about him for a long long time. "He's boring". He didn't get a single gag until the war was over.
I guess you could find Jinbe to be boring during Marineford (or in any other arc really, he's not a Franky if you get what I mean), but he did get focus…
He's the one who dragged Luffy away from danger as soon as he lost conciousness, which means he was one of the main focuses for roughly 1/3rd of the war. He went from saying "Ace, just because he's your brother don't expect me to be babysitting him around" to literally getting impaled by Akainu for Luffy. Plus those moments in Impel Down. When he turned out to be a very important person for Luffy in the Amazon Lily sequence it felt totally earned and the bond between them totally believable, at least to me.
But also, and we go back to my main point... Marineford was 3 volumes long and the main character drama was all about Luffy, Ace and Whitebeard. It made sense for Jinbe to not be getting most of his developments there and to take something of a backseat instead. Wano on the other hand is going to be... 15 volumes long?, and the main villain is Yamato's father. If there is an arc that's supposed to center around Yamato, this should be it. Yet it doesn't really feel like it, to me.
@Robby:
y himself couldn't have done it just a couple days earlier. He learned how to do that in the mine from Hyogoro.
Luffy didn't master king's haki either back then.
@Robby:
Zoro?
Jinbe.
And outside of the crew Sabo, Tama… The "this character is connected to Ace!" thing is becoming a bit trite, tbh
@Robby:
Cabinboy, logkeeper, boatswain, there's plenty.
Given how none of those jobs have anything to do with each other, I stand by my point of Yamato not having any obvious ship role.
Also, we saw Jinbe at the helm shortly after his introduction and archeologist is obviously a very important role in the world of One Piece, given what the endgoal for most crews is supposed to be.
@Robby:
Again, Zoro's skillset is "fighter".
Usopp's skillset is… "slingshots". He went from a multi-tool, hammer weilding, dial using deciever to... the guy that uses plants.
Yamato uses a giant club and has an ice wolf transformation loaded with powers. He's got a lot.
Zoro is a swordsman, his skillset is using swords - three at a time, even.
And this is what I meant by "well defined"… Most crewmembers had clearly defined powers and clearly defined limits (for example, Franky is a cyborg but he runs on cola, Chopper is a reindeer with seven transformations but they run on a time limit). Yamato is uber powerful and who knows what the wolf form can or can't do, exactly. It has never been explained.
You have a point, though. Characters' abilities change during the story and I'd even say nowadays Oda doesn't explain powers and their limits nearly as accurately as he used to... But eh. Swinging a giant club + turning into a wolf with loosely defined powers doesn't sound as unique as what the others got to me.
@Robby:
According to the VILLAIN. That has come up exactly once, with Yamato then dismissing it imediately.
But Kaido's power is also heavily tied to Wano… He's literally an eastern dragon, and of course he appears in the samurai arc. I'm not talking about in-story.
@Robby:
Now you're just flat out ignoring things. Have friends, leave the island, go sailing, be a pirate.
That's not a dream like "I want to be the world's strongest swordsman" and all the others.
It can still come up later, though. Those last few ones were minor points. My main gripe with Yamato is the lack of psychological focus.
@Robby:
Because the longest arc in the series isn't over yet and he hasn't met them yet…?
Yeah but that's my point. If the longest arc in the series introduces a main character I'd expect this main character to be at the center of the arc's story.
@Robby:
You're actively ignoring a ton if you actually think this is the case.
Killer's moments hit me way more than Yamato's, that's for certain.
First of all, he actually got a psychological fight with Hawkins. World view VS world view, keep doing your thing even against all odds (and even after Killer himself has suffered way more than Hawkins and has also gotten horribly disfigurated… not physically but eating a SMILE is bound to be a burden you'll have to live with for the rest of your life) or submit to the status quo? That was interesting to me... And then there's his bond with Kidd. Yamato has gotten nothing like that.
Again, this can all change if and when Oda actually develops Yamato... But it's been forever now and I'm not even looking forward to it anymore.