@Darth:
… Yes? It could be easily included. It isn't. Thus, opportunity wasted.
Please do not quote me again.
You should be careful, he's going to LOL and compare you to youtube commentators.
@desa:
They just don't give such importance to details. Like Sanji being surprise at Zoro missing an eye but moving on right after. They chitchat when they have some leisure time and feel like it.
Well yes, therein lies the issue for me. If you saw your friend that is like a brother or sister which is how I interpret the SHs see each other, wouldn't you instantly question physical changes? Well at least we got Ussop finding out that Nami's tits have gotten bigger, that must have had a lot of relevance to the story. :S Ussop gaining some muscle for example was something they stated as they should have. All of you that are quoting stating he does it off panel as if I do not know, this fact is rather obvious. Nonetheless, the instant that they meet, you would expect them to have such a conversation.. or better said I do. Clearly, quite a few of you, do not see it this way.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@King:
Tell me one reason why Oda should show his characters talking about what they did.
I mean, they could have talked about it off-screen. It's not like we don't know what they did.
For example, none of them has ever told others about their flashback stories, but we know about them.
Because they just saw each other after 2 years? It adds a sense of realism. I assume in regards to flashbacks, some they either tell the crew and in other cases they don't bother, since I can imagine Zoro and Sanji not doing so.
Why?
I can't get wrap my head over the fact that Luffy accomplishes as much as he does in the incredible short time span. This is a generic shonen trope though, it's not as if Oda is the only one to do it. How many months was it from the time that he was in East Blue, until he sailed all those islands to other side of the world at the end of the Grand Line (the nice part of it anyways)? I get the impression that it took 2-4 months.
Storytelling is about telling stories. If a fight has little story relevance, it makes sense to skip it, so it doesn't affect the general story flow.
Storytelling is about telling stories? Well ok. Yes. As I said, if Oda only focused on everything that's relevant to the story, the manga would be much shorter.
Are you saying cover stories are not about other characters and world building?
No, I'm saying that's barely scratching the surface. Making an entire chapter about it can easily cover 15-30 cover pages depending how many panels you have, discounting the times Oda is drawing something for fun or illustrating a fan request.
HunterxHunter still has two of their 4 main characters involved (in this case, Leorio and Kurapika). It's not like this arc will be all about completely new characters.
This happens because of investment. People are invested on the Straw Hats, that's why they're the main focus. Just like how people are invested in Leorio and Kurapika.
Leorio has been in one arc since the entire series started, hardly a major focus in the story. Kurapika is in and out. The main two characters however, are not there. That's a pretty ballsy move. If Oda hadn't created such a massive, amazing world, I wouldn't ask this of him. But because he does, I'd like him to explore the other stories even if it's to check in for more than 2-3 pages. HxH just does this very well, they can bring in and pull characters as they do and it's seamless. Oda does this very well due to the massive world that he's made, but it's generally only geared towards the SHs. I'd prefer for him to expand on that much more, while keeping the SH the main focus (this should be obvious). I know people are invested in the SH, that's rather obvious. I doubt many people would complain if other characters like the Worst Generation got 1-3 chapters here and there, Shanks, Mihawk, Coby, WG marines etc etc. When Oda generally pulls away from the SH, I really enjoy it and wish he would do it more without of course taking away the fact that the SH are the primary source of the story.
Are you telling me you would be against this? I would find it hard to believe if you or anyone would say yes.
Just look at Luffy's character. He's a guy who values his friends. The best way to start a conflict with him is to hurt his friends.
The basic formula might be a bit predictable, but a story is not all about the basic formula.
Mario games tend to follow a basic formula, but that doesn't make the games bad.
Same thing with Disney movies, or heck, several movies.
That's my point… You constantly keep explaining things I already know. I know why he's doing it, I just don't like that it's the exact same thing every single time. It's too formulaic and it being nearly 2 decades old, it's getting a bit repetitive and tiresome. Mario games change far too much to feel the same. Also Mario games are about gameplay, not the story. If the Last of Us 2 and 3 have the exact same formula in the story on the other hand, that would be a problem.
Was Big Mom suddenly appearing predictable? Sabo? The Birdcage? Burgess in the Colosseum? Hakuba? Bellamy returning?
What exactly is predictable? Luffy making new friends and defeating new enemies? That's a basic story structure that can be built in several different ways. Nothing should be judged by their frameworks.
Why should it not be judged by its frameworks? A repetitive theme in each arc may get tiresome for some people. It's generally a female character that Luffy befriends/befriended that needs help and gets in a dire situation. She's bound to cry a lot during this time that pisses him and convinces to take down the main villain. There are going to be surprises in each arc, even in stories in which I've stopped watching or reading have this. Oda can surprise us, and he does. But that doesn't change that there some elements to the story that he really sticks to, and due to the series itself being as long as it is, those repeated patterns stick out more than in most manga. You're just looking at it from a very general POV while getting defensive, like the mod that quoted me and wrote something similar in response.
It's not a wonder that my favorite arc is the one that didn't focus as much on his patterns, even though that one somehow still had a crying female in need of Luffy's help added in there. :P Can't say I mind for that situation, as that arc was perfect in my eyes.