@Kaido:
You seem to care. I'm not really sure why all these complaints are here…we've managed to figure out simple explanations for how things came to pass in this scene that were established earlier in the arc. There wasn't a whole lot more that could have made the transpiration of the scene more obvious.
I mean, what's better to read? Several pages detailing Chopper and Carrot running out of breath, and Brulee taking her time capturing them, and Chopper managing to acquire Carrot's body double, or us immediately getting plunged into Carrot being held over a campfire, but then a twist occurring that makes sense considering what we've seen so far, followed by an amazing surprise attack. I don't think the former would be nearly as fun to read.
I don't really mind the chapter and Chopper's antics getting skipped on all that much. But I definitely think it would have been better to read several pages of Chopper and Carrot venturing the Mirror World and evading Brulee, getting some elaboration on the Big Mom Pirates that were with her instead of being forgettable one-shotted mooks, and seeing Chopper and Carrot come up with their plan rather than just jumping straight to the climax of it. Building up to these types of climaxes when initiating clever plans always works better when you get payoff in seeing how clever it is for a character to evaluate their situation and coming up with a solution rather than just immediately skipping to the plan already being made. Because then it's just a cheap way of an author showing off a character being smart instead of showing HOW they're smart, as well as coming up with any situation they please instead of building up its plausibility for reading immersion and making us feel compelled to wonder how they'll get out of the situation by knowing the elements that are at play.
That is how suspense works, by feeding pieces of the puzzle to the audience and making them wonder how the puzzle will be collected for completion instead of just skipping to having all the puzzle pieces at hand to make a complete puzzle set.
Seriously, there's nothing that would have been wrong with even getting half a chapter dedicated to Chopper and Carrot's Mirror World adventures. I find it hypocritical that everybody is claiming that seeing those things aren't essential and would be less exciting, and yet criticized the people who were complaining that there being too much panel time in the Seducing Woods. Not that those impatient complainers were ever in the right, but there is legitimate merit in getting these adventures elaborated on in an arc as creative, quirky, and entertaining as Totland. Seeing Chopper flip a giant croc in Monster Point is cool and Carrot shocking the Big Mom Pirates and catching Diesel is both hilarious and clever. But how much more satisfying would those moments have been if we actually got more panel time to get invested in the conflict with how Chopper and Carrot felt pressured and seeing the villains more to truly grasp how intimidating the situation was for them?
One Piece as an action-adventure series is so compelling to me with its fights not just because of the superficially cool action, but how the tension and character interaction showcased get me engrossed in the cathartic manner of which the protagonists overcome their opponents. As of right now, Chopper and Carrot's Mirror World misadventures feel like a sideshow I could care less about. Especially when I've been craving for Sanji, Nami, Chopper, and Brook to get substantial amounts of attention for how lacking they've been post-timeskip, and yet most of them are just getting brief feats that are cool, but lacking in the execution and panel time that would get me properly hooked into their scenes. I don't even care much for Brook fighting the big goons in the treasure room because they were just one-shotted without showcasing any type of memorable threat, personality, or interaction besides being nameless obstacles. Compelling action is not just about "amazing surprise attacks", but properly building up to how they are surprising and amazing in the tone and overall narrative.
All this chapter reminds me of is how disjointed and sidelined Zoro's scenes when fighting Pica in Dressrosa were. Which made the fight feel extremely dragged out and less impressive than it should have been. I've seen people argue that showing off more of Chopper and other plot threads would slow down the pacing too much, but I fail to see how a couple extra chapters or so would do that. or why it's even a bad thing that Totland is slightly longer for how we can all unanimously agree that it's the most enticing and unique arc we've had since the timeskip. Just because we can figure out simple explanations for how things came to happen doesn't mean we have to be satisfied with how they were left out. It's not about explaining the why or the how, but about investment. That matters a lot in fictional stories and is why we read them for escapism and inspiration to apply in real life.
To this day I still remember how cool it was to see full scenes of Chopper fighting Gedatsu, combatting Mr. 4 and Miss Merrychristmas with Usopp and their character interaction of Usopp building up the confidence to fight for his friends, and being outraged with Caesar and Hogback's immoral actions as doctors. Now I have the pleasure of fondly reminiscing on the few seconds he flipped a giant crocodile whose name I can't bother to remember and coming up with a brilliant plan off-screen. Oh yeah, and there was a mirror witch called Brulee who was making some stew and got one-shotted from two separate instances of being zapped. Can't forget those hallmarks.