Chapter 781: "Long-Cherished Desire"

Doffy. D Evil

And I consider characters by both how well they play their role and how well they are written**.**

I don't consider Akainu nor any of the Doflamingo Family to be particulary inspired characters, but one of those actually plays his role pretty fucking well.

And what sort personality does majority of the family has? Arrogance, Over-confidence, loyalty to Doffy, and generic cartoony villainy constituted well written characters for you?

There are a lot of characters among the family that had the potential to become great. Outside of Senior Pink, the manly man who dressed in diapers because it made his wife smile, and Diamante, if we are being really generous, they don't show much else. They are victims of this arc being really about Doflamingo and setup for other stuff.

Cartoony villains in a cartoony series for teens ?!!!!!!!!!! WHAT BLACK MAGIC IS THAT ?!!! LOL and to answer your question yes for me it does . Fleshed out characters in a cartoon series indeed = well written for me .

Haha there you go doing that thing again with "my standards are too high for this cartoon series" even though you enjoy one of the most boring characters in a cartoon series . And you are not a casual fan of him or simply enjoy him for time-pass , you are an extreme hardcore Akainu fan so i don't think the matter is with One Piece being a "cartoon" series rather it's with your personal taste .

Akainu plays a decent villain but aside from that ? Does he have any memorable quotes or relationship worth mentioning ? Any real motivation ? Any context ? Any personality trait that makes him interesting ? Any character moments that doesn't seem like every generic stone-face badass character moment ? Sorry but something being "cartoony" doesn't mean it can't have interesting , well-written and memorable characters . But you obviously have much higher literature-level standards ….... or so you like to claim .

sasis

16 characters of yes

Demonicpoodle

@Doffy.:

Cartoony villains in a cartoony series for teens ?!!!!!!!!!! WHAT BLACK MAGIC IS THAT ?!!! LOL and to answer your question yes for me it does . Fleshed out characters in a cartoon series indeed = well written for me .

Haha there you go doing that thing again with "my standards are too high for this cartoon series" even though you enjoy one of the most boring characters in a cartoon series . And you are not a casual fan of him or simply enjoy him for time-pass , you are an extreme hardcore Akainu fan so i don't think the matter is with One Piece being a "cartoon" series rather it's with your personal taste .

Akainu plays a decent villain but aside from that ? Does he have any memorable quotes or relationship worth mentioning ? Any real motivation ? Any context ? Any personality trait that makes him interesting ? Any character moments that doesn't seem like every generic stone-face badass character moment ? Sorry but something being "cartoony" doesn't mean it can't have interesting , well-written and memorable characters . But you obviously have much higher literature-level standards ….... or so you like to claim .

I would not say decent, I'd say Akainu plays a very effective villain. And that is refreshing. There is no bullshit with him. I will destroy even the slightest scrap of a hint of evil, even if it outright directly kills innocent civilians. That's interesting to me. He's an overzealous dangerous man, and he's only predictable in that you know he will go too far.

So, there's the personality trait that makes him interesting. And he's nowhere near a generic stone-face badass. I think of hardly any of his shit as "badass".

R_Zoro

That final couple of panels in the chapter gave me chills…..I'm going crazy already waiting.....Doffy is something else....surely Gamma Knife is going to have its lasting effects even with Doffy's power working to preserve his organs...holy hell this chapter was insane....too much.....awesome.

Doffy. D Evil

@Demonicpoodle:

**I would not say decent, I'd say Akainu plays a very effective villain. And that is refreshing. There is no bullshit with him. I will destroy even the slightest scrap of a hint of evil, even if it outright directly kills innocent civilians. That's interesting to me. He's an overzealous dangerous man, and he's only predictable in that you know he will go too far.

So, there's the personality trait that makes him interesting. And he's nowhere near a generic stone-face badass. I think of hardly any of his shit as "badass".**

You perfectly summed up why Akainu is not only such a one-dimensional character but also one of the most boring character in the series . He has no real motivation and no real personality outside of him being evil for the sake of being evil. You take out his evil role and his entire character crumbles to ground. He is basically like emotion-less Lucci from Cp9 that wants to simply kill "evil" for no real reason aside from being evil but only more annoying .

That sound interesting to you ? Cool . It doesn't to me and it's exactly why i extremely appreciate what Oda has done with Doffy's character in both PH arc and Dressrosa arc in terms of fleshing out his character and showing different sides and emotions of his character .

NateRich

Now that you guys bring it up, Akainu's background is going to be shown over a decade after his introduction just like Dofla. Until then, he's just filled with vague vengeance

mista2

I feel like this arc is gonna have a huge flip as soon as luffy beats dofla like burgess/Sabo/Fuji wrecking shit

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Razh

@Doffy.:

Maybe for people who were simply cared for their fights and stuff but for the rest ? Hell no . Doflamingo family are easily one of the best group of characters in the entire series .

Characters are defined by their actions, among other things.

And it's not like they couldn't have been fleshed out more. Certainly not the most intriguing group in OP for me. They start to deteriorate a little after the flashback. You can't argue that.

Doffy. D Evil

@Razh:

Characters are defined by their actions, among other things.

And it's not like they couldn't have been fleshed out more. Certainly not the most intriguing group in OP for me. They start to deteriorate a little after the flashback. You can't argue that.

Oh yea because somehow them being side or secondary characters seems to have escaped peoples mind .

And while secondary characters are not required to have personality or any kind of depth , Oda still gives them some personality and identity which is something i give a shit about not their fighting records and stuff .

Bittersweet Pirate

Wow, this thread took forever to read :blink:

The chapter was exciting! It was action-packed! It was…it was...well, it was. I don't really have too much to add, it's all been said already. I guess I'm pretty negative on it, but there was really was something it did have. The last few panels, if nothing else. Well, like I said last chapter, I'm sure I'll like it more in the future.

I still stand by my point from, uh, sometime in the last week, that Doffy has the everything-everything-no-mi. The only thing he hasn't done is fire a Kamehameha, and Break White might count.

@Razh:

Characters are defined by their actions, among other things.

And it's not like they couldn't have been fleshed out more. Certainly not the most intriguing group in OP for me. They start to deteriorate a little after the flashback. You can't argue that.

The Doflamingo Family had, at the very least, as much charisma as the previous villain groups. I liked them a lot in the past, but I've liked them less and less and the arc has dragged on, and you're absolutely right about the flashback. Pink at least will be missed, but that's hardly a unique point of view.

G_soildier

Maddest of all is life as it is, not as it should be….

DHL

@Darth:

This chapter… man, this chapter.

There is more Devil Fruit based bullshit in this chapter then we have seen in a while, even in this arc full of bullshit Devil Fruits.

And there is the Birdcage shrinking and everybody's reaction to it.

And the incredibly convenience of there being a dead dude having almost exact same style of clothing as Law, along with the same body build, black hair and beard.

That Law somehow managed to find. While being shot. With it clearly not being visible for him.

Also, do you remember CoO? This ability that let's you figure out when people die and find living things? Doffy doesn't either.

Any hopes I've had have been dashed.

Just end it already Oda. Put the poor arc down; it has suffered enough already. It cannot be saved.

WRONG.

Law is seen wearing that guys clothes. He switched bodies within the clothes.

Sarrik

@DHL:

WRONG.

Law is seen wearing that guys clothes. He switched bodies within the clothes.

He's the Houdini of the OP verse.

DHL

@Galaxy:

He switched his position with the guy on the ground, and also switched their clothes around.

Clothes didn't move a millimetre.

Bottom left hand panel. Fodder in his clothes.

!

Top right hand panel. Law in the fodders clothes from last panel.

!

It really wasn't a big feat. Just smart. By switching with some other person while facing downwards (and also how convenient was Laws hat) and the hat covering most of Laws head allowed him to get away with it.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Sarrik:

He's the Houdini of the OP verse.

!

Galaxy 9000

@DHL:

Clothes didn't move a millimetre.

Bottom left hand panel. Fodder in his clothes.

Yes, that's exactly what I said.

The goon was wearing his outfit after the switch, and he was wearing the goon's outfit.

The clothes are on different bodies.

Shobu Yoruichi

This chapter was innecessary.

Nice way to stop a kick to the head, btw. Didn't like this shit of operating yourself, but this is shonen so doesn't matter.

Speeddasher01

Honestly, despite not liking this chapter much, Doflamingo stitching his organs together really didn't bother me that much. Not sure why people are calling it an asspull? My only worry is that it means Doffy won't be a full power in this fight, which could mean it won't be that long. Seriously Oda, can we please start getting some epic long fights in One Piece again? It was cool in Fishman Island (since it wasn't the New World yet), and it was cool in Punk Hazard (which is pretty much just a set up arc for Dressrosa), but now it's time to get serious.

cloudrivera

@Speeddasher01:

Honestly, despite not liking this chapter much, Doflamingo stitching his organs together really didn't bother me that much. Not sure why people are calling it an asspull? My only worry is that it means Doffy won't be a full power in this fight, which could mean it won't be that long. Seriously Oda, can we please start getting some epic long fights in One Piece again? It was cool in Fishman Island (since it wasn't the New World yet), and it was cool in Punk Hazard (which is pretty much just a set up arc for Dressrosa), but now it's time to get serious.

Short and sweet is better than long and boring. Plus, I just want the damn arc to end already lol.

Shobu Yoruichi

@cloudrivera:

Short and sweet is better than long and boring. Plus, I just want the damn arc to end already lol.

16 charts of so fucking true.

NateRich

@DHL:

!

! Not ashamed to admit that the LAWL made me smile

DHL

@Darth:

You know, you are right. The fact that the birds are kinda average at flying (Because, lest we forget, IT DID WORK), totaly justifies sitting on their asses waiting to be saved from being horribly slice up to pieces.

Or you know, IT FUCKING DOESN'T!

It needs to be acknowledged in any way, yes, since it isn't even bloody implied.

And as I pointed out, it doesn't matter anyways since discerning physical appearances is not part of that skill.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

THOSE TWO THINGS DO NOT WORK TOGETHER!

For fucks sake. If Law's skill is based on the actual gamma knife, the one used to removal of tumors, then it doesn't lacerate the tissue, it bloody kills it! It's dead, Jim! YOU CANNOT FIX IT BY STITCHING IT!

I think he could actually clone his organs.

Top right hand panel. Law in the fodders clothes from last panel.

Vectorkov

Wow, the chapter thread exploded while I was at work… I'll have to catch up on all the posts later. :blink:

Why are we picking on poor Trebol? He's the only one that hasn't really gotten hurt to any degree. He's just biding his time. Behehehehe!

@CrazyMerlyn:

Didn't know about Faraday's cage. It seems a reasonable inspiration for Bird Cage.
But the point is strings and den-den mushis having little to do with each other.
I get the whole magical thing and I hardly ever question the use of Devil fruits.
But using strings to somehow block signals is a completely random power used explicitly for the plot.
Can Law's Room stop signals? Who knows. Maybe when the plot requires, his magical circle will conveniently start blocking signals.

An object doesn't have to be metal to disrupt a signal and you only need to disrupt it enough to make it unusable. You don't need to block it completely.

So…assuming the den-den signal works like long-range radio, I believe we are to assume that the strings are dense enough and numerous enough to attenuate the den-den signal enough to make properly receiving the signal difficult. Of course some signal would make it through but I imagine there would be enough scattering to make the signal to noise ratio very poor.

Considering the bird cage is essentially a large hill composed of many evenly spaced vertical slits the effect of diffraction on the den den signal could also be very wild. Or maybe I'm over-thinking this and the strings are just magical RF cages. :happy:

@Darth:

For fucks sake. If Law's skill is based on the actual gamma knife, the one used to removal of tumors, then it doesn't lacerate the tissue, it bloody kills it! It's dead, Jim! YOU CANNOT FIX IT BY STITCHING IT!

I think Oda just liked the name Gamma Knife and didn't intend for Law's move to behave like the real counterpart.

DHL

@Darth:

What about the hair?

Law has a hat on lol.

Speeddasher01

@cloudrivera:

Short and sweet is better than long and boring. Plus, I just want the damn arc to end already lol.

This fight should, at the very least, be five chapters long. I mean if Hody Jones can get like however many chapters he got, Doflamingo (a villain who has been hyped up around a decade) should get one epic fight.

BobLoblaw

@cloudrivera:

Short and sweet is better than long and boring. Plus, I just want the damn arc to end already lol.

Dear god this. I mean, at the beginning of the chapter Law was on the ground and Luffy was preparing to fight Doffy. At the end of the chapter, Law was on the ground and Luffy was preparing to fight Doffy. For the love of god end this please. We'll likely have two more chapters of random shit (Sabo, Koala), etc. along with the Doffy/Luffy fight sprinkled in and then another goddamn break. Ugh.

Jabberwok

The Doflamingo Family collectively has the best visual design for a group of villains we've seen in a very long time, if ever. They're one of the very few groups that have shown teamwork and affection for one another, and their shared background intrigues a lot of people. However, they've also been mostly ineffective, especially compared to fan hype, and have been the victims of very uneven characterization and limited screentime. A few characters have surprising depth, most have some personality and quirks, and a few are only defined by their quirks.

It's kind of like how people saw that goddamned dress. Some people want complex, effective henchmen, so their attention is drawn to the disappointingly thin characters and they project their frustration onto the average characters. Other people are happy to get any sort of characterization in their minor villains, so they're pleased with the more fleshed-out characters and see the rest of the Family through rose-colored glasses as well. The truth is somewhere in between. And I think everyone wishes we had been able to see more of them.

cloudrivera

@BobLoblaw:

Dear god this. I mean, at the beginning of the chapter Law was on the ground and Luffy was preparing to fight Doffy. At the end of the chapter, Law was on the ground and Luffy was preparing to fight Doffy. For the love of god end this please. We'll likely have two more chapters of random shit (Sabo, Koala), etc. along with the Doffy/Luffy fight sprinkled in and then another goddamn break. Ugh.

Can you imagine the episode based on this chapter? ughh

NateRich

@cloudrivera:

Can you imagine the episode based on this chapter? ughh

It'll be fun to watch

blackout

@BobLoblaw:

Dear god this. I mean, at the beginning of the chapter Law was on the ground and Luffy was preparing to fight Doffy. At the end of the chapter, Law was on the ground and Luffy was preparing to fight Doffy. For the love of god end this please. We'll likely have two more chapters of random shit (Sabo, Koala), etc. along with the Doffy/Luffy fight sprinkled in and then another goddamn break. Ugh.

Last chapter? Hell end of 779: Law is on the ground Luffy is about to go up and fight Doflamingo. end of 780: Law is on the ground and Luffy is about to go HAM on Doflamingo. end of 781: Law is on the ground and Luffy is about to go HAM on Doflamingo (for real this time though).

King Cannon

@Darth:

You mean, those that Oda actually allowed to be characters.

Which at this point, would be about half of them, I think.

And I'm sorry, why wouldn't I care how well the antagonist do their job as the antagonist?

Only Machvise was boring, IMO. The rest had nice designs, personalities and interactions, with a lucky few getting backstories.

They weren't exactly powerful at being antagonistic, but they made it up as characters themselves.

Triceron

@Double-Dudes:

Doffy's fruit is getting way2retarded. I thought clones that can travel around the island were crazy enough, but now he can heal internal injuries as well?

Makes Leo's Stitch-Stitch fruit pretty worthless.

King Cannon

@cloudrivera:

Can you imagine the episode based on this chapter? ughh

Dressrosa getting cut everywhere, electric blades, Doula Mongo getting kicked away and then tortured while vomitting blood over the place, Luffy nonchalantry stopping a kick from Doula. Sounds nice.

Really, you can't just base stuff on the end result. What about the journey?

Jabberwok

@King:

Really, you can't just base stuff on the end result. What about the journey?

Whoa, it's almost like that's what one piece is all about:ninja:

themick

so gamma knife Is radiation right? like a chemotherapy/radiation therapy blade.

Cyan D. Funk

Law also sent Doflamingo's cancer into remission in addition to permanently warp his organs with radiation.

Mr. Luffy

Doflamingo's recovery and Law's heroic yet futile gesture is very reminiscent of Eneru getting "killed" by Wiper only for Rneru to use his fruit to shock his heart and get back on his feet.

I try not to delve too deeply in Law's ability. Condiering there's not much limit in what can be modified, he could create easily create any sort of energy by manipulating molecular ions within his room. Some fruits are just insanely powerful, and Laws falls into that category.

When you think about it he could create a nuclear reaction or modify time and space itself if Oda chose to go that route.

Vectorkov

@Ned_Gutters:

(3) Logias qua Logias cannot be damaged without haki; whether or not they can be hit without haki depends on their element.
Logias precisely as logias, without reference to their specific element, or any fact other than that they are logias, do not take damage without haki infused attacks (or standard devil fruit weaknesses, or unfavorable matchups such as Enel vs. Luffy, none of which are obviously at play here and will thus be left out of the discussion).
But have we ever actually been explicitly told they can't be HIT without haki? It seems reasonable to think this from some of what we have seen, especially early on, but I think we have seen enough to actually contradict it. I want to claim that it has been specific elements doing the work:

Ace: Fire. Fire can neither be "hit" in any meaningful way, nor "damaged." Scare quotes signify that I am not even sure what it means to hit or damage fire.
Enel: Lightning. See Ace.
Kizaru: Light. I REALLY don't know what it means to hit or damage LIGHT.

Simply stated, you can fling a booger without damaging it.

@Ned_Gutters:

Aokiji: Ice. Aokiji's element is solid. If someone punches Aokiji iced out, without haki, does his hand just pass through Aokiji? I think that's a bit ridiculous: Hands don't pass through ice. Furthermore, if Aokiji ices himself over, and someone punches him hard enough, I see no reason why that part of Aokiji shouldn't break/shatter. That is not to say that he would be damaged in any way - he could just reform. I think we may have even seen this at some point, but I'm not sure. The point is: Without haki, I would think you could actually HIT aokiji, though not damage him.

I believe we first saw this when Robin clutched him.

@Ned_Gutters:

So, Luffy hitting Trebol does not confirm colorless Haki (even though I think other circumstances do, and though I accept colorless Haki).

Agreed.

@Darth:

Volume 58, Chapter 567, page 13. Know them by heart.

Lol… you've been waiting for that haven't you?!

DHL

@uniaka:

The way it looks, sabo and 'the unknown guy' in the palace are more likely to fight then face Trebol.

Half dead law wounded DD the most, when luffy did nothing on him so far, maybe he's still good enough to beat trebol.

Maybe Law will get up and Destroy the entire birdcage.

He will never be down!

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

Blackbeard is actually 39cm taller than Doflamingo.. and Doflamingo is 3 centimetres taller than Jinbei.

Interesting...

sabinis

@Myu:

I don't see why not Luffy one-shotting Trebol isn't an option. Zoro did.

Well for me you given arguments against one shotting Trebby yourself in your one line

Trebol wasnt damaged at all by Luffys kick.
Perhaps kick landed on him, reshaped him as it did because of his body being constantly like jelly.. but then he would have to be paramecia I guess :ninja:

I expect that within a week we will get SBS from new volume and Oda will give us list of devil fruits names and descriptions there.
Clarification on Machvise would be quite cool thing to get. Pica being almost certainly paramecia and Trebol being logia being written on paper for us to be 100% certain is also something I expect.

DHL

@Darth:

Volume 58, Chapter 567, page 13. Know them by heart.

I got this pretty cool up.

Got all the war in colour..

Akainu looks great.

sgn15

Is the bird cage really untouchable even by fuji? it is making fuji sort of useless, at least in this aspect

joekido the Second

After this, Dressrosa got a lot of clean ups and a massive repairs to make after getting battered up.

Aokiji'sMissingLeg

@sgn15:

Is the bird cage really untouchable even by fuji? it is making fuji sort of useless, at least in this aspect

Fujitora hasn't been shown reacting to the shrinkage yet. He was trying to gather all the townspeople in one place for a reason, presumably to use his gravity to protect them all at once.

Besides, even if Zoro or Fujitora can slice the Birdcage up, what's to stop Doflamingo from creating another one? The only true way to get rid of the Birdcage is to stop Doflamingo.

jazzflower92

@joekido:

After this, Dressrosa got a lot of clean ups and a massive repairs to make after getting battered up.

Looks like the taxes will be very high this year.

sgn15

@Aokiji'sMissingLeg:

Fujitora hasn't been shown reacting to the shrinkage yet. He was trying to gather all the townspeople in one place for a reason, presumably to use his gravity to protect them all at once.

Besides, even if Zoro or Fujitora can slice the Birdcage up, what's to stop Doflamingo from creating another one? The only true way to get rid of the Birdcage is to stop Doflamingo.

I mean Fuji attempted a meteor before, right? Or was it anime-only scene? I forgot. I'm curious to if gravity will work on these strings. And if yes, he should have used it way earlier before now, or since after the meteor didn't work on the cage.

Anyway, these strings may be too ridiculous sturdy material. I bet Akainu's lava wouldn't melt it either the way these strings have been shown to be so far.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@joekido:

After this, Dressrosa got a lot of clean ups and a massive repairs to make after getting battered up.

Pica literally changed the structures and also destroyed some (actually more than some).

"a lot of clean ups and a massive repairs" is still an understatement.

Darth

@King:

Only Machvise was boring, IMO. The rest had nice designs, personalities and interactions, with a lucky few getting backstories.

They weren't exactly powerful at being antagonistic, but they made it up as characters themselves.

Diamante and Senior Pink I can see. I could possibly add Baby 5 in there, though I personally think chapter ending her involvement was dreadful.

The rest however? Designs aside, most are criminaly underdeveloped.

senor

What if kizaru's natural weakness is a mirror? without haki his lasers can be bounced back at him

RobZilla

@senor:

What if kizaru's natural weakness is a mirror? without haki his lasers can be bounced back at him

I can't imagine it would have much effect tbh.

It'd be like trying to attack Ace/Sabo with fire.

Also, Kizaru himself already uses mirror like effects in some of his attacks.

Darth

@RobZilla:

I can't imagine it would have much effect tbh.

It'd be like trying to attack Ace/Sabo with fire.

Also, Kizaru himself already uses mirror like effects in some of his attacks.

I would agree with that.

Also, wouldn't he just break the mirrors? With either his kicks, or explosions caused by his lasers?

RobZilla

@Darth:

I would agree with that.

Also, wouldn't he just break the mirrors? With either his kicks, or explosions caused by his lasers?

That would be the most likely outcome.

"Ooooooooh, mirrors are scaaaaary".