I don't need another Aizen. But what I do need is a villain who lives up to his reputation and acts more cautious when dealing with the Strawhats- a crew notorious for their unpredictable actions- and a former crewmember of his who's out to get revenge on Doffy. Announcing a big tournament with the big prize being the late Firefist's DF on the same day the two aforementioned groups are to arrive on Dressrosa miiiight not be the smartest of plans.
And having your whole empire, your whole existence, depend on the mental state of one little girl is another thing that coooouuld come back to bite you in the ass.After having had to accept the above two disappointments, it only adds insult to injury to be presented with that kind of weak backstory. It's nowhere near the level I expected Doffy to be; I expected this whole freakin' arc to be. Regardless of what else happens, the damage's done. Oda ruined one of my favourite OP villains.
Oda has certainly taken an odd approach with the entire Doflamingo villain group (starting all the way at the end of Punk Hazard - two severed heads), and while there are several things that bother me about him that clash with his image, the biggest one has to be Birdcage. I feel we're long overdue a real explanation for exactly why that works (even by fictional in-world rules). Second would be the thing you mentioned about him hedging his bets on unstable elements, such as a little girl. But… That may just be Doflamingo working the best with what he had. Nothing is ever an ideal scenario, no matter how calculating you are.
He hasn't been ruined for me, but if he IS ruined ... Well, to be quite frank and cynical, I'd be done lol, it would be the third strike. But, that's enough of the what-ifs for me. I enjoyed the reversal in the chapter, and frankly never want to post on my phone again because it is hell lol.
This is as cheerleader as it gets, but besides certain problem people (who do admittedly generate discussion ... So I can't fault them too much), I dunno, the chapter discussions seem good again, around how I remember them from 2011 and 2010, perhaps better. It's easy to say from a distance that the manga section is bad, but really it's a lot better than I've seen it in a while, and the only reason I still mostly just lurk is cuz I don't pay nearly the attention I used to with OP, and only very recently started to read it fairly closely again with the Usopp development chapter.