Chapter 797: Rebecca

The Franky Tank

There were some people who trief to convince me that this chapter will be great.

Oh well I'll keep trusting my gut feeling lol

You haven't read the chapter, or are you talking about this weeks chapter? If the former, then depends on your opinion of the characters it focuses on. At best it's a little heartwarming. At worst you will hate the chapter. If the latter, do people have a reason to believe next chapter will be amazing or do you have a reason to think it will be bad?

@Jabberwok:

Cabbage and Romeo versus Gladius was basically a two chapter fight and easily in my top 5 for the arc. Kyros vs. Diamante also received a couple scattered pages instead of just the quick check-up panels, but it was less entertaining for a variety of reasons.

If you consider that two of the Donquixote members were defeated by gladiators they barely even fought at all then yeah, a lot of those fights lacked development.

By two chapters, do you mean one where Bart allows the others to go on and stays behind with Cavendish and Robin, where the other is where the fight finishes? To me, only the chapter where the fight ended seemed like where it was an actual fight, and the other was banter with maybe one blow exchanged. So much happened this arc that I don't remember everything, so I might be forgetting something else that happened. Either way that fight was lots of fun.

When it comes down to it, most fights were short with little attention when it came to non straw hats or arc specific characters. Zoro started his fight against Pica very early then had panels in various chapters to the fight, then a few chapters to finish it. Franky also started his fight early, had panels and another chapter or two dedicated to it before the final blow. Kyros had some scenes then a chapter or two focus. The rest had about a chapters worth dedicated to the fight.

This is where we can pinpoint some lack of development, as most development from fights come from straw hat fights. Going back to Daz's example, the Robin and Yama fight, we got development about her personality which became essential for the next arc. If we want to look at this arc, Usopp developed with that sniping moment which was quite huge with his skillset as well. The moments before were also for leading up to that moment. Then look at Sai, where we get some development from him, but to us readers it doesn't matter as much because he's not a straw hat, and not being arc specific he wasn't built up for that moment, so while cool it doesn't stand out as much.

In the end, I feel the fights allowed for certain developments, but a number of them didn't feel as great because of lack of development early on. We can argue whether Oda should've built them up some more or not, but for what were essentially tertiary characters, I thought it was quite good overall. Sai especially when you consider what he did after the fight against Lao G, which was muster up the remaining gladiator strength and lead them to push against the bird cage, as well as help the citizens get into the central plaza by taking out the remaining mooks.

Sephi

Might be slightly off topic but is Doflamingo the same character Oda always intended him to be?

Because this

!

Seems like a drastic change.

Think back on what Part 1 all showed for Doflamingo. Something complex was to him. He was hard to peg down and he was interesting. He felt like he had the potential to be unique.

Part 2? A spoiled brat who think he's awesome. He felt like a cliche villian at parts even.

Correct me if I'm wrong but…regardless of those two thoughts of my own...Doesn't it seem like he changed?

The Franky Tank

I don't think he changed, we just learned about him and his character wasn't what some may have expected. Really, the first panel doesn't contradict anything from what we learned of him this arc.

The first one was making a comment about justice, mainly that only the winner is the just while the loser is the evil one. This speaks to us because of how history really is. The winner goes on and gets to write the history, while the loser doesn't have the means to do so. Doflamingo had a sense of justice he wanted to dispense, which he was ready to dispense when he got to the top. Mainly that those who denied him what he wanted would be punished, be it the CD's or the people that dared to go against him. Yes, his upbringing made him spoiled and he went on because he wanted back what was his. However, he wasn't bemoaning at every step, but he kept going and gathered power. He then got to a point of where it was waiting until the right moment to strike until Law and Luffy came into the picture.

If you want to really think about it, look at how he originally treated Bellamy, controlled the Marines at that one meeting, owned the auction house, and threatened that one Marine at the end of the war. That paints him as a guy who doesn't have a good view of other people. What he said at the war is true and insightful, but I don't see how that is out of character for him. Also with this arc, we saw that there is the side he presents himself as when he's in control, and the side of him when he's angry which is his true colors.

Mr. Lucci

@Monquito:

Can you guys imagine a Dressrosa without Becca

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/531/930/8f6.gif

Or at least if Oda made Becca better…

kouch_lee

Fight length depends. We can't just put a page count and say x was longer than y, cause sometimes those pages are filled with coreographed action and other times it has tons of dialogue or more static action bits interspread with other things.

If we go by strict page count, Robin vs. Yama is 15 pages long, and, to put some Dressrosa examples where fights have been unanimously accepted to be really short, Zoro vs. Pica is 22-23 pages long (ONLY counting action pannels; for that reason, most of chapter 777 I didn't count even when it was mostly Pica using his powers on the gladiators, recomposing the earth golem and stuff) not counting the random panels where they clashed swords, and Barto/Caven vs. Gladius was 21-22 pages, 18 if you don't count Dellinger's part.

In sheer page count they're longer, but Robin vs. Yama had more pages dedicated exclusively to fight coreography.

We also usually rate as off-paneled fights the ones that are constantly cut; that way, I doubt many will consider Franky vs. Baby 5 + Buffalo a full fight, but again going by sheer page count (and in this case, featuring mostly fight coreography being shown), it should. Not counting Nami and Usopp finishing them off, it had 15 pages of exclusively fight footage, not counting pages where Caesar is monologuing and the like, but counting B5 reforming after blowing up. But those 15 pages were divided into 3 different chapters, and time passed between the second fight bit and the third, with Franky beating them quite a bit off-panel, which I guess furthered the idea that it was an off-paneled fight, even though Oda's done that before.

Mugiwara-San

I Loved how Franky got some much action since Punk Hazard. Hoped Brook would get some as well being the newest Straw Hat and lacking actual fights or main group action. He could've been to Dressrosa as well.

Daz

Regarding fights and their lengths, I didn't mean to infer that theres any minimum required length, or total absence of cutaways necessary for them to have merit. Even Sanji vs Mr 2 had small cutaways to other scenes in Alubarna, and as has been pointed out, Robin vs Yama is pretty short, even by current standars - I just used it as an example because Robins current supreme lack of on-screen fights is a widely accepted fact.
However, I do think that fights overall can benefit from a mostly locked focus, and some time allowing it to build up tension before the climax. Theres a bunch of good moments in the Dressrosa fights against Doflamingos cronies, but every one of them could've benefitted from a bit more breathing room. I liked the showcase of these guys in the Coliseum, I wouldn't have minded them getting more character-spotlight. I mean, the 4 Baroque Works officer battles in Alabasta took place over 14ish chapters, and involved 10 participants; in the same chapter-span in Dressrosa, we have 9 fights (counting Dellingers OHKO as part of the fight with Gladius) featuring 11 underlings, with 22 participants overall, not counting Rebecca and Robin, or Laws battle with Doflamingo.

As I've mentioned before, Dressrosa should've either excised a whole bunch of stuff completely, or buckled down and given everyone a fair shake.

@Sephi:

Might be slightly off topic but is Doflamingo the same character Oda always intended him to be?

Because this

! http://new2.fjcdn.com/comments/Mah+nigaa+_4e633ee56c4bdc2b164590717615f907.jpg

! http://i.imgur.com/EnAWauA.jpg

Seems like a drastic change.

Think back on what Part 1 all showed for Doflamingo. Something complex was to him. He was hard to peg down and he was interesting. He felt like he had the potential to be unique.

Part 2? A spoiled brat who think he's awesome. He felt like a cliche villian at parts even.

Correct me if I'm wrong but…regardless of those two thoughts of my own...Doesn't it seem like he changed?

I think theres some change, in the sense that Oda most likely hadn't laid out Doffys personal arc completely, when initially hyping the character. Beyond the examples you gave, the number 1 defining thing for me about pre-skip Doffy was his talk of a new age where only the strongest survived. He also seemed to have some agency, some desire to forward this New Age of the strongest.
Post skip, Doffy believes that birth-status makes you worth more than others (a departure from his "strength is what matters" attitude), and moreover, has very little agency beyond maintaining his status quo. A some small suggestions at further ambitions are made here and there, but they never congeal into anything concrete or substantial in-story. Readers can speculate on some unspecified Doflamingo maserplan, but he still ultimately played defense for his entire own arc.

maxterdexter

Doffy grew complacent? The state of his crew is part of it, and I think that law called him on it. Maybe in the last 2 years he got his biggest break for his name, and decided that was worth more. The new age didn't come for him because he stoped working on it, or he was, but it was in the middle of the thing.

I think that I commented on doffys business, devil fruit trading, being a king, the smucks army, the toy army, the dwarves army, the dressrosa army, the gladiators, the hint of "you don't have to be stronger to kill someone", slave trading, child experimentation for the giant army, business with big players, at least big mom and kaido, and some link to whiteboard (at least as medical supply provider), the weapons dealings, the shinokuni thing, the smiles, whatever he wanted from momo, vergo, the cp0 and the secret of marijoa, that plus kaido asking to get ready for war, doffy was probably on the year of the deal of a lifetime.

Chrior

@maxterdexter:

Doffy grew complacent? The state of his crew is part of it, and I think that law called him on it. Maybe in the last 2 years he got his biggest break for his name, and decided that was worth more. The new age didn't come for him because he stoped working on it, or he was, but it was in the middle of the thing.

I think that I commented on doffys business, devil fruit trading, being a king, the smucks army, the toy army, the dwarves army, the dressrosa army, the gladiators, the hint of "you don't have to be stronger to kill someone", slave trading, child experimentation for the giant army, business with big players, at least big mom and kaido, and some link to whiteboard (at least as medical supply provider), the weapons dealings, the shinokuni thing, the smiles, whatever he wanted from momo, vergo, the cp0 and the secret of marijoa, that plus kaido asking to get ready for war, doffy was probably on the year of the deal of a lifetime.

I think that Kaidou's comment in his intro chapter kind of revealed what Doffy's New Age was about. These 2 were getting the stage ready to blow up the world (metaphorically), bringing in the new age where the former power structures of the world (Celestial Dragons, World Govt., Marines, Yonko, so on) were gone and only the law of strength (presumably) was the only law. At least that was the hint I got from Kaidou's comment and connecting it to Doflamingo's pre-timeskip talk. He got complacent, but not as much as Law thought. He was just bidding his time and waiting for the right moment along with Kaidou.

Daz

It may indeed be revealed down the line that Doffy by way of Kaido was setting up something big, but that doesn't affect Doffys done-and-done personal arc, except as a curiosity in retrospect. As far as him being the villain of Dressrosa is concerned, Doffy had no tangible goals beyond "desperately maintain status quo, beat these guys who wants to beat me". Its the equivalent of the Straw hats arriving in Skypea whereupon they deliberately target Enel, who is minding his own tyrant business, as part of some overarching plan, wherupon Enel is provoked into launching his Raigou as a spur-of-the-moment countermeasure.

I have many issues with Doffy as a villain, and a big part of it is the mega laundry list Maxterdexter mentioned
@maxterdexter:

I think that I commented on doffys business, devil fruit trading, being a king, the smucks army, the toy army, the dwarves army, the dressrosa army, the gladiators, the hint of "you don't have to be stronger to kill someone", slave trading, child experimentation for the giant army, business with big players, at least big mom and kaido, and some link to whiteboard (at least as medical supply provider), the weapons dealings, the shinokuni thing, the smiles, whatever he wanted from momo, vergo, the cp0 and the secret of marijoa, that plus kaido asking to get ready for war, doffy was probably on the year of the deal of a lifetime.

And thats even without his crewmembers wanting him to be PK, his apparent desire for immortallity and "destroying the world", and that one time he said something about the secret of Marijois. Theres no doubt Oda has given Doffy much more of a backstory than any other villain before, but the amount of "stuff" heaped on to the character is just so enormous that he feels lacking in focus. And despite of, or perhaps more accurately because of, the insane amount of irons in fires Doffy has, the net total of his villain modus is simply "I've got it pretty good, with my plethora of different ventures. I'd like to keep it that way". I guess you can say he wanted to cause general disorder, but thats a pretty vague and unpersonal goal.

To me, at least, thats not very compelling. I'm currently undertaking a complete Punk hazard-Dressrosa reread so I can give the guy a completely fair evaluation, but for now, the most burning questions for me is whether or not Doflamingo ever actually acknowledges Rebecca, the Dwarves, or the slew of vengeful gladiators and their personal struggles against him. Croc made a point of showing off his torment of Toto, and mocking the ideals of the rebels/royal guard/Vivi in turn, but I honestly can't remember any equivalents for Doffy.

At any rate, I can so far conclude that the first 5 chapters of Punk hazard are fucking great.

Jazzy Jinx

Kind of off topic but I just noticed something neat. Nami STILL hasn't used her new logpose to navigate the crew to an island yet. Punk Hazard was unmarked and reached by chance, Dressrosa by eternal pose and Zou by vivre card. >_>

Wano would most likely be eternal pose as well.~

Edit: Probably could have put this in the New World thread. Forgot it exists.

RamistaR

Is this island officially Zoo ?

Jazzy Jinx

@RamistaR:

Is this island officially Zoo ?

It's obviously Zou. The last samurai is on it.

RamistaR

@Jazzy:

It's obviously Zou. The last samurai is on it.

Sorry, I meant, do we know if Sanji's group is on Zoo ?

maxterdexter

@RamistaR:

Sorry, I meant, do we know if Sanji's group is on Zoo ?

I think that there are enough hints to belive it, the fact that the sheephead's groupies are looking for a samurai, and that law didn't give them a log pose, but a vivre card, and the fact that it seems that the island is no island but a whale or another kind of sea creature, see wriply skin and weird water eruption, point it to being Zou.

https://one-piece.com/special/greg/20150819_0451?l=en

Monquito

Omg, what is this "I don't that island to be Zou" thing now.

DARK_RITUAL

I don't think it's zou.the samurai this people are looking is momo and since he turned into dragon they couldn't find him.

If it's zou where is law crew? Well who knows.

Qaaz

@Sephi:

Might be slightly off topic but is Doflamingo the same character Oda always intended him to be?

Because this

! http://new2.fjcdn.com/comments/Mah+nigaa+_4e633ee56c4bdc2b164590717615f907.jpg

! http://i.imgur.com/EnAWauA.jpg

Seems like a drastic change.

Think back on what Part 1 all showed for Doflamingo. Something complex was to him. He was hard to peg down and he was interesting. He felt like he had the potential to be unique.

Part 2? A spoiled brat who think he's awesome. He felt like a cliche villian at parts even.

Correct me if I'm wrong but…regardless of those two thoughts of my own...Doesn't it seem like he changed?

It's just Karma.

Monquito

@DARK_RITUAL:

I don't think it's zou.the samurai this people are looking is momo and since he turned into dragon they couldn't find him.

If it's zou where is law crew? Well who knows.

Kin'emon said they were heading Zou at the beggining while being chased by someone he didn't want to reveal, then they crashed and end up in Dressrosa.

There is also the other samurai who may be alive as well.

Jazzy Jinx

They don't have to meet Law's crew immediatedly for it to be Zou. Law's crew is in hiding. Not to mention we only got half a chapter with the Swirlyhats. Kaidou's lackies were looking for a samurai (Referring to Momo? Are you serious? Ugh.) And the Strawhats knew Zou was the meeting place. Or are you suggesting they took an unnecessary sidetrip and then went to Zou during the 3 day skip? Because they wouldn't stay on random island A KNOWING they need to be at Zou.

This is just like all the deniers who seriously thought Rebecca would remain a princess in the face of a mountain of foreshadowing that suggested she wouldn't be.

RamistaR

The living island is a cool theory. But it seems kind of weird for henchmen to talk about "intruders" like they own the beast. I don't think that Kaido already has an island-sized creature under his command.
Might change after his meeting with Caribou though

Besides I always wanted Raftel to be a living island. Anyway, would be fun if this island is alive. Even funnier if it's because of a zoan :blink:

Daz

@maxterdexter:

I think that there are enough hints to belive it, the fact that the sheephead's groupies are looking for a samurai, and that law didn't give them a log pose, but a vivre card, and the fact that it seems that the island is no island but a whale or another kind of sea creature, see wriply skin and weird water eruption, point it to being Zou.

https://one-piece.com/special/greg/20150819_0451?l=en

Whoah, I hadn't picked up on that at all. Shows that I really could use a reread, haha.

Also, something Oda is unfailingly good at, are the little background character moments; stuff like Baby 5 sleeping against Sai, Cavendish sleeping in Hakuba mode, or Kanjurous "nets" being used as aroad to the palace. It shows real effort and love for his creations that he still puts that stuff in.

Monquito

Or is just Kaido's terrytory, the next target after PH and Dressrosa to weaken Kaido's strength.

Law's crew probably started to mess up stuff in there and the Wanokunians were heading there 'cause they knew Kaido has something important in there.

King Cannon

@Sephi:

Might be slightly off topic but is Doflamingo the same character Oda always intended him to be?

Because this

! http://new2.fjcdn.com/comments/Mah+nigaa+_4e633ee56c4bdc2b164590717615f907.jpg

! http://i.imgur.com/EnAWauA.jpg

Seems like a drastic change.

Think back on what Part 1 all showed for Doflamingo. Something complex was to him. He was hard to peg down and he was interesting. He felt like he had the potential to be unique.

Part 2? A spoiled brat who think he's awesome. He felt like a cliche villian at parts even.

Correct me if I'm wrong but…regardless of those two thoughts of my own...Doesn't it seem like he changed?

Actually, he didn't if we go by those pages. His point about kids living in war and peace having different values reflects well his background as a fallen World Noble. He went through both environments. Also, as a king, he was able to easily make the Riku Family villains through some manipulation, so he definitely followed the concept of justice for the winners.

And he is unique and complex because of being a spoiled brat who went through hell and became nihilistic and hardened as a result. He's not like, say, Wapol, who is just a regular spoiled brat.

Jazzy Jinx

@Monquito:

Or is just Kaido's terrytory, the next target after PH and Dressrosa to weaken Kaido's strength.

Law's crew probably started to mess up stuff in there and the Wanokunians were heading there 'cause they knew Kaido has something important in there.

So you're saying that Law's crew left Zou when Law told them to stay there, disobeying their captain's orders. And that the Swirlyhats left/never went to Zou, disobeying their captain's orders. AND that the third and final samurai ALSO left Zou even though it's been built up that he's there? And instead they've all decided to go to random island A instead of the built up and obvious Zou?

Why do I even try…

Monquito

@Jazzy:

So you're saying that Law's crew left Zou when Law told them to stay there, disobeying their captain's orders. And that the Swirlyhats left/never went to Zou, disobeying their captain's orders. AND that the third and final samurai ALSO left Zou even though it's been built up that he's there? And instead they've all decided to go to random island A instead of the built up and obvious Zou?

Why do I even try…

Uuhh I never said they left.

Jazzy Jinx

@Monquito:

Uuhh I never said they left.

Hmm… Ah, my bad. I misunderstood what you were saying.

Sorry about that. I agree.

DARK_RITUAL

The swirylhats has been out there for 4 days, it's kinda hard to believe that they stayed in zou for those 4 days. Maybe the first island we saw them in wasn't Zou but some island they accidentally ran into why trying to escape big mom? They said they barely escaped big mom and now got into another trouble, with kaido men chasing them for no reason.

First of all why is kaido men chasing them without even knowing who they are? They might've seen a samurai with them, in this case momo, since momo, kinemo, kanjuro and 3rd samurai was being chased by some guys before they got separated. Maybe this guys saw momo with Sanji n co and started chasing them and momo who accidentally changes back and forth from dragon form to human got them confused on where the samurai they just saw went.

Oda has pointed out that momo is the important samurai here, Doflamingo wants momo that much and if kaido knows why he will probably be looking for momo too and finding the other samurai's is a way to find momo.

Zou or not who knows, we will find out sooner or later. Not everything is as straight forward as you make it.

Wintermute

Somehow I'm more intrigued about the upcoming snippet of Oda about the new movie instead of the first of two or three farewell chapters.

maxterdexter

No one would confuse Momo with a Samurai, at most he'd be "the samurai kid" but he's like 5 or 6, while kinnemon and kanjuro are almost as tall as Brook.

Razh

@maxterdexter:

I think that there are enough hints to belive it, the fact that the sheephead's groupies are looking for a samurai, and that law didn't give them a log pose, but a vivre card, and the fact that it seems that the island is no island but a whale or another kind of sea creature, see wriply skin and weird water eruption, point it to being Zou.

https://one-piece.com/special/greg/20150819_0451?l=en

I think those hints main purpose is to leave the readers wondering if it's indeed Zou or not.

For starters, SH seem to be focused on that girl, instead of trying to get in touch with Heart Pirates. They don't even mention them? The situation they're in right now seems to be chaotic and I doubt they managed to get to right where they wanted while avoiding BM and getting caught up in yet another thing.
Also, what safety Samurai expected to find on an island where Kaido's men roam free? It seems reasonable to assume they aren't on good terms with him, considering their reaction.

Things don't quite add up.

Not saying it's deffinitely not Zou, since everything except 5 minutes of SH's day is left in the dark.

Monquito

They don't look like they want to leave the island either.

maxterdexter

They succesfuly evaded big mom's ship, and managed to safely land in the island, where they were split and distracted by the girl, the eruption and Kaido's people, there's little to think that it's Zou, but even less to think that is not.

Razh

Just saying, Oda can be really good when it comes to misdirection.

Game And Guy

I'm still hoping that Oda channels Tarantino in the next arc and uses multiple time jumps until the story comes together and tie up neatly at the end.

G_soildier

Next chapter Viola followed by Dold then the New king. Which at the end of New king we will see new world again like the one wih all the supernovas.

Australopithecus

@DevilForce:

My friend, dreams come and go. Kin'emon could pull a "Well, now that you mention it, I always wanted to…" when the right time comes a.k.a at Wano kingdom or something like that ^^.

@CrazyMerlyn:

I am not talking foster parent. I am talking a bodyguard among two other bodyguards who hiding the real identity of Momonosuke.

Ah, I see.

Well, my friends. If Kinemon or/and Momonosuke join the Straw Hats, that will be one of my happiest days. If not, I will be heartbroken, but that would be completely understandable.:happy:

@Kaptayn:

Oh, that's interesting !
I've only noticed the parallel between "La Liberté Guidant le Peuple" and Bartolomeo but not the other ones.
Thanks for sharing.

|

Now about Rebecca.
I do agree with you with all this emotional traumatizes she had to go through. That could be taken in consideration in real life or mangas like Hunter x Hunter where psychology is more developped, but not in One Piece in my opinion.
The fact that the other characters don't seem to have these sorts of issues, even after knowing way worse, is what, I think, makes Rebecca so annoying and hated by lots of people, including me.

Hi, Kaptayn. It’s good to see you again. I am very glad you like it:happy:

The answer about Rebecca is included in my reply to Jabberwok.

@Jabberwok:

Well that's a clear signal you're not from the US or have been living under a rock.

It was just a passing reference to the
which has a similar line about his life got flipped turned upside-down.

No, I am not from the US, and thanks for the explanation. I watched a portion of an episode in the series, and I found it funny. x) I think I am going to start watching this series, thanks to you. Thanks again

@Jabberwok:

I don't have a problem with her crying- it's kind of her best skill. I'm saying that if she could hold back the waterworks for a little bit each time it would give her portrayal a slightly more positive spin. She should absolutely be tearing up the moment the door opens because it's highly emotional for her; I just think holding off on the full geyser for a few panels would help keep the focus on her other feelings.

Crying in One Piece is pretty frequent and that's fine. The only difference is that most of the those characters aren't crying all the time and that makes the moments they do have more impact. For those who do cry more frequently, like Franky, it's often played for laughs. Most characters work to present a tough face and stew in their own emotions until they finally break forth; Rebecca, despite fighting in a colosseum in front of a hostile crowd, seems to go around leaking everywhere. Maybe that's healthier but it sure makes for a less dramatic read.

The other characters, in their time of crisis, weren’t focused on as much as Rebecca was in this arc. The longevity of this arc elongated the focus on Rebecca; this was a factor in our judgment, as well. Additionally, most (if not all) of those characters were already older than Rebecca, and this makes them ‘emotionally mature’.

@Jabberwok:

By the way, loved the art stuff. Napoleon is definitely intentional and I wouldn't be surprised if the others were too given the Gaudi-influenced architecture and art references from Jora's fruit. More art is always appreciated.

I am happy to know that you liked that.:happy: I like the fact that Oda-sensei parallels his work with other works of art. This makes One Piece a lot more fun to read.

Miss Saturday

@Game:

I'm still hoping that Oda channels Tarantino in the next arc and uses multiple time jumps until the story comes together and tie up neatly at the end.

Please no. That type of stuff doesn't work with a weekly manga series that's already been stretched to oblivion.
He already does similar time jumps and most of the time it's more obnoxious than anything else.

Riddler

@Daz:

It may indeed be revealed down the line that Doffy by way of Kaido was setting up something big, but that doesn't affect Doffys done-and-done personal arc, except as a curiosity in retrospect. As far as him being the villain of Dressrosa is concerned, Doffy had no tangible goals beyond "desperately maintain status quo, beat these guys who wants to beat me". Its the equivalent of the Straw hats arriving in Skypea whereupon they deliberately target Enel, who is minding his own tyrant business, as part of some overarching plan, wherupon Enel is provoked into launching his Raigou as a spur-of-the-moment countermeasure.

I have many issues with Doffy as a villain, and a big part of it is the mega laundry list Maxterdexter mentioned

And thats even without his crewmembers wanting him to be PK, his apparent desire for immortallity and "destroying the world", and that one time he said something about the secret of Marijois. Theres no doubt Oda has given Doffy much more of a backstory than any other villain before, but the amount of "stuff" heaped on to the character is just so enormous that he feels lacking in focus. And despite of, or perhaps more accurately because of, the insane amount of irons in fires Doffy has, the net total of his villain modus is simply "I've got it pretty good, with my plethora of different ventures. I'd like to keep it that way". I guess you can say he wanted to cause general disorder, but thats a pretty vague and unpersonal goal.

To me, at least, thats not very compelling. I'm currently undertaking a complete Punk hazard-Dressrosa reread so I can give the guy a completely fair evaluation, but for now, the most burning questions for me is whether or not Doflamingo ever actually acknowledges Rebecca, the Dwarves, or the slew of vengeful gladiators and their personal struggles against him. Croc made a point of showing off his torment of Toto, and mocking the ideals of the rebels/royal guard/Vivi in turn, but I honestly can't remember any equivalents for Doffy.

At any rate, I can so far conclude that the first 5 chapters of Punk hazard are fucking great.

Say Daz, would you mind posting some of your thoughts during your reread in the "One Piece Re-Read Discussion Thread"?

Jabberwok

@Australopithecus:

The other characters, in their time of crisis, weren’t focused on as much as Rebecca was in this arc. The longevity of this arc elongated the focus on Rebecca; this was a factor in our judgment, as well. Additionally, most (if not all) of those characters were already older than Rebecca, and this makes them ‘emotionally mature’.

Actually, Rebecca wasn't focused on all that much. Rather, she received some focus but had very little payoff, which made the focus she did receive feel inwarranted. People have a tendency to fixate on her, especially during weeks like this, but the reality is that she didn't play a significant part in Dressrosa, in terms of both plot and screentime. It's a problem shared by a lot of Dressrosa subplots: the arc is too big and stretched to give each their proper focus. I'd even go so far as to say that MORE focus, not less, would have helped her character since then we'd have a better chance of her being relevant.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Riddler:

Say Daz, would you mind posting some of your thoughts during your reread in the "One Piece Re-Read Discussion Thread"?

Seconding this. I'd like to discuss more without derailing the thread and dropping the discussion in a day for the new chapter.

uhuyyy

did the strawhats pirates know each other team condition? they have den mushi right? its been 4days

SuburbanErrorist

@uhuyyy:

did the strawhats pirates know each other team condition? they have den mushi right? its been 4days

It's been 7. .

Jabberwok

@SuburbanErrorist:

It's been 7. .

Uhhhh, no? Fujitora counted it off for us.

1.Punk Hazard
2.Colosseum/Doflamingo's defeat
3.After midnight, Sabo leaves and Fujitora rolls one
4.Fuji says he rolled again
5.Tsuru and Sengoku arrive today, roll the third time

That's the fourth day, or three days after the separation.

SuburbanErrorist

@Jabberwok:

Uhhhh, no? Fujitora counted it off for us.

1.Punk Hazard
2.Colosseum/Doflamingo's defeat
3.After midnight, Sabo leaves and Fujitora rolls one
4.Fuji says he rolled again
5.Tsuru and Sengoku arrive today, roll the third time

That's the fourth day, or three days after the separation.

Didn't they say 3 days later? Or was that a bad translation?

Jabberwok

@SuburbanErrorist:

Didn't they say 3 days later? Or was that a bad translation?

Yeah, but I think you're just counting it twice.

SuburbanErrorist

@Jabberwok:

Yeah, but I think you're just counting it twice.

I always thought 4+3 was 7?