Official Wano Thread

[Sengokusgoat]

Well, the main character of Act 1 was Tama and she's one of the key players of the war. The battle even started with Luffy getting mad thinking about her. And we even got a similar sharing food scene in Yamato's flashback. Speaking of Yamato, Ace's presence is Wano is obviously still very relevant. We've moved way too up the ladder for the likes of Urashima and Holdem to be relevant (Speed seems to be Tama's main sidekick now though). Tenguyama may have something more going on if the Sukiyaki theories are right, but he was mostly an exposition machine anyways, he doesn't need an important role.

I'd say it's all mostly there. There's just also a lot more going on. But it's not like there's a hard limit on characters and themes that can be addressed. Just because we focus on something else doesn't mean all the previous stuff magically disappears and doesn't matter anymore.

[black-leg jex]

Act 1 was also where Luffy lost to Kaido and pushed him on his path to develop his Haki further, which is still being addressed now.

[Ghidorah Guy]

@DollarScholar:

Is it me or does Wano act 1 feel incredible distant at this point? not just in terms of time past, i mean alot of the themes and characters from act 1 have literally no relation or impact on act 3

Because it's not time yet. They will later on imho, as we start getting into the real meat of the story.

[Sengokusgoat]

Now that we know Onigashima is practically a bomb, I feel it has to explode at some point. It's a Chekov's bomb. So, this requires everyone leaves the island beforehand somehow, don't ask me how. I think I've figured out the end of the arc.

Luffy is gonna punch Kaido into the island so hard it explodes, creating massive fireworks above the flower capital. The massive symbolism there seems like the kind of thing Oda loves to end battles with.

[Seafarer33]

@Sengokusgoat:

Luffy is gonna punch Kaido into the island so hard it explodes, creating massive fireworks above the flower capital. The massive symbolism there seems like the kind of thing Oda loves to end battles with.

And then debris of the destroyed Onigashima rain fire and death on the capital, which is barely better than Kaido's initial intention ? I can see the explosion and symbolic fireworks part happening, but not quite above the capital. Would be a shame, too, if Luffy explodes problems out of the sky and thus makes Momonosuke's growth all for nothing.

[Zik]

Yeah, at this point if Onigashima explodes at any point, even if it lands on the mountains it'll rein fire on a good deal of Wano. It'd wreak havoc for quite some time even during recovery.

[Chams]

Zoro will slash them into tiny bits of dust.

[Zik]

@Chams:

Zoro will slash them into tiny bits of dust.

He'd need to be much faster to do that to all of it.

[Gol D. Silvers]

Since this is the official Wano thread, will use this to voice this out:

Queen is awesome. One Piece villain. His antics throughout Wano has been fun. I've even watched some of the scenes how they translated to the anime - wasn't disappointed at all..

[Md-Martin]

@Gol:

Since this is the official Wano thread, will use this to voice this out:

Queen is awesome. One Piece villain. His antics throughout Wano has been fun. I've even watched some of the scenes how they translated to the anime - wasn't disappointed at all..

Seriously.

At this point Queen is vastly more interesting to me than Kaido. Hopefully that changes as we find out about Kaido's backstory.

But Queen has been such a fun bad guy. And keeps bringing surprises, like his attack in the last chapter that just make me love this guy.

It will be criminal if Oda doesn't give him a cover story.

[Alfiere]

I'm taking Zik's advice and try to move here the little debate that originated in the next crewmate thread a few days ago:

Do you think Wano will become part of the World Government by the end of this arc?

I'm quite convinced that yes, it will, it seemed to me the most logical outcome even before we heard confirmation from Lucci that warship are heading there, based on what we knew already and a couple of "meta"considerations. I'll try and summarize briefly what convinced me:

1. Kaido won't shut up about how important Wano is for still unknown reason, and we know it to be true and that it ties in multiple ways to the lost history. WG is surely not missing a chance to secure it under its watch, and especially is not risking having another pirate, one that has the poneglyph reader onboard even, replace kaido as its overlord;

2)WG knows nothing of Wano actual condition, recent history, actual military power. So they're approaching it as a "piracy rollback" operation. They can't imagine there's a "Open Wano to the world" party about to take over (i don't think the cp0s reporting from the raid have even remotedly thal level of insight). So they of course assume they're gong to get mostly by force, but an actually peaceful solution would be in their complete interest too.

3. Opening Wano borders in itself is arguably a synonym of joining the WG, as any other solution would leave it still isolated from the regular trafic of trade and visitors. Moreso if you consider that isolation meant becoming the HQ of one of the biggest criminals in the world, the WG can easily make a point of Wano being a danger for itself and the rest of the world if left to its own devices;

4. Momo's rule will make all of Orochi's wrongs right, sure, but right now Wano is suffering from 20 years of famine and enslavement. Most of its finest elite was wiped out long ago and all in all the country can't possibly face a war against the whole world. Repel a couple assaults, maybe, but it's a strategical suicide. The ability to compromise and take difficult decision to benefit the people of te country would be a good display of leadership from Momo, markig his surpassing of his father.

5. The warship on the way are very likely equipping the new super duper vegapunk weapon. The one that convinced the very cautious WG discard the whole 7 warlords system over a litteral forthnight. There's no way they're not using it witht the opportunity to take down 3 emperors and subdue an 800 year "rebellious" country. And it should be effective, or all the hype would be for nothing and also beacuse

6. the Navy needs do do something. Sakazuki taking the lead was supposed to be a huge thing when we learned about it in FI, but they have been almost a non-factor for the whole new world, the few times that were featured being allies or neutral. Sakazuki himself feels really unimpressive. It seemed to be this menacing fascist supersoldier who wasn't araid of playing dirty or killing main charachters in the present before timeskip, but since then we've only see him getting angry at people for disobeying him, and those people barely caring and basically tolerating him. Them being one of the big things to worry about in the endgame is what i'd expect and it's now or never for that at this point.

to sum it up, basically, while nothing will preclude Momo and the others to continue supporting and endorse the strawhats, avoiding a confrontation with the world government is the only sensible option, at least in the short period, while the navy can still walk away with the merit of taking tdown at the very least Kaido, and possibly big mom too, as the first achievement after discarding the warlords, it's a big deal. WG is determined to claim it one way or another, so there doesn't seem to be a relistic third -peaceful- way out of it.

I'm curious to read other takes on this matter though, as i very likely may be missing something crucial here.

[Fraco]

King and Elizabello will have a lawsuit on King Punch patent ownership

[Zik]

It would've been a nice addition or reveal if Kaido had a prominent member in his crew that use to be a Gecko pirate.

Fits in Kaido's view about all pirates eventually betraying each other when things get tough just to survive/win. So somebody like Moria's 1st mate.

Would've been more of a reason for Moria to show up in Wano.

[Ivotas]

@Zik:

It would've been a nice addition or reveal if Kaido had a prominent member in his crew that use to be a Gecko pirate.

Fits in Kaido's view about all pirates eventually betraying each other when things get tough just to survive/win. So somebody like Moria's 1st mate.

Would've been more of a reason for Moria to show up in Wano.

Seeing that Moria is holding a grudge because they are all dead it's more likely he killed them all because no one was worthy to be recruited.

[Zik]

@Ivotas:

Seeing that Moria is holding a grudge because they are all dead it's more likely he killed them all because no one was worthy to be recruited.

Moria could still hold that same grudge if all of his crew died by Kaido's hand cuz of one traitor he no longer considers nakama.

Also I don't think Moria's crew weren't worth recruiting. I think they stood tall and by the side of their defeated captain, refused to defect, and probably sacrificed themselves in order for him to escape.

Cuz from what I've seen, when Kaido gives you the choice to join him he'll take your crew as well. He doesn't mind adding more fodder to his army.

[Ivotas]

@Zik:

Moria could still hold that same grudge if all of his crew died by Kaido's hand cuz of one traitor he no longer considers nakama.

Also I don't think Moria's crew weren't worth recruiting. I think they stood tall and by the side of their defeated captain, refused to defect, and probably sacrificed themselves in order for him to escape.

Cuz from what I've seen, when Kaido gives you the choice to join him he'll take your crew as well. He doesn't mind adding more fodder to his army.

That's a valid scenario. However it's just as possible that Kaido killed them because they didn't have plot armor. I mean sometimes Oda does wonders and include insignificant characters like these to add more flavour to the story. And sometimes he totally misses the call on a proper cameo moment. Like during the Ma-bleh-ford arc when he introduced a crapload of allied pirate crews that sailed under Whitebeards banner to rescue Ace. But not a single former Spade Pirate. Yeah, I know, the arc was packed too much anyways but heck, at least have someone in the background we find out later was a Spade Pirate. Nothing. And I just think that even if your scenario would be happening it's nothing Oda would pull.

[Zik]

@Ivotas:

That's a valid scenario. However it's just as possible that Kaido killed them because they didn't have plot armor.

That's the scenario I think everyone assumes happened.

I just think the Moria nakama/traitor angle hammers down Kaido's whole pirate outlook and to a further extent his view on humans (based off his experiences. I'm sure watching the Rocks pirates constantly turn on each other and then fall a part had its affects.

I mean sometimes Oda does wonders and include insignificant characters like these to add more flavour to the story. And sometimes he totally misses the call on a proper cameo moment. Like during the Ma-bleh-ford arc when he introduced a crapload of allied pirate crews that sailed under Whitebeards banner to rescue Ace. But not a single former Spade Pirate. Yeah, I know, the arc was packed too much anyways but heck, at least have someone in the background we find out later was a Spade Pirate. Nothing. And I just think that even if your scenario would be happening it's nothing Oda would pull.

Yeah, Oda misses or forgets to cash on those things but in my head I just think to myself when a pirate captain disbanded his crew most of them go on to pursue other careers not associated with piracy. Look at Rayleigh living low-key as a ship coater spending most of his time gambling. This is what I figure happened at Roger's execution. Yeah Roger disbanded the crew but I feel like had they heard their former captain was going to be executed they'd show up to save him even if they knew he was going to die anyway other than Shanks (and I think Buggy? I forget). All those lesser known guys probably just went on with their lives.

So I figure some of those Spade pirates stopped being pirates when they got absorbed in to the WB pirates. Some probably stayed and those are the ones who probably should've showed up though.

Deuce for example, probably stopped being a pirate and became a full time writer.

[Ivotas]

@Zik:

That's the scenario I think everyone assumes happened.

I just think the Moria nakama/traitor angle hammers down Kaido's whole pirate outlook and to a further extent his view on humans (based off his experiences. I'm sure watching the Rocks pirates constantly turn on each other and then fall a part had its affects.

Hey, I'm one of the few that actually holds on to the belief that we'll get at least a little glimpse of a Moria/Kaido confrontation in one way or another (though the ship for Nightmare Luffy.2 has long sailed) so I would welcome a scenario like this. I just don't see it happening but I'll gladly embrace it if it happened.

Yeah, Oda misses or forgets to cash on those things but in my head I just think to myself when a pirate captain disbanded his crew most of them go on to pursue other careers not associated with piracy. Look at Rayleigh living low-key as a ship coater spending most of his time gambling. This is what I figure happened at Roger's execution. Yeah Roger disbanded the crew but I feel like had they heard their former captain was going to be executed they'd show up to save him even if they knew he was going to die anyway other than Shanks (and I think Buggy? I forget). All those lesser known guys probably just went on with their lives.

So I figure some of those Spade pirates stopped being pirates when they got absorbed in to the WB pirates. Some probably stayed and those are the ones who probably should've showed up though.

Deuce for example, probably stopped being a pirate and became a full time writer.

The problem I'm having with this is that it would somehow deminish the bond Ace had with his crewmates. I mean they were ready to take on Whitebeard to get their captain back, got beaten and then taken to be part of the WB themselves if I remember Thatch's words (was it him?) correctly. It took Ace a long while to accept Whitebeard so I'm sure that if they stayed they understood that Ace didn't just turn his back on his ideals easily. Otherwise it gives of the "it was fun while it lasted but now I'm hanging up on my dreams and trying to make this old dude the Pirate King. Sorry suckers" feeling. If those guys were real pirates when they sailed under Ace's flag then I don't see how they would stop to embrace the adventure they would have sailing with the big boys.

Or to look at it from a different perspective. Imagine Luffy would have been the one. Yes, we know that he would never sail under Whitebeards flag but let's just assume that he would, even if it's just for the time being do so, I don't see the Strawhats leaving him. And I most definitely don't see them not coming to his resque when he's about to be executed at Marine HQ.

[desa]

@Ivotas:

Or to look at it from a different perspective. Imagine Luffy would have been the one. Yes, we know that he would never sail under Whitebeards flag but let's just assume that he would, even if it's just for the time being do so, I don't see the Strawhats leaving him. And I most definitely don't see them not coming to his resque when he's about to be executed at Marine HQ.

If Luffy got under someone's banner and has basically gotten to his final stop I could Zoro continuing to explore to become stronger or Nami finding a place to settle and make her map. Or chopper becoming a full time doctor some place. They want to help Luffy accomplish his goal but if no longer has a goal to get to and has the support system where he'll be safe and get help there's not as much need to be around. And I also assume most pirates working under Ace stayed with Ace on Whitebeard ship as part of the second commander fleet. And the rest trusted Whitebeard to live up to his name, considered it part of Ace adventures or just couldnt make it.

[Ivotas]

@desa:

If Luffy got under someone's banner and has basically gotten to his final stop I could Zoro continuing to explore to become stronger or Nami finding a place to settle and make her map. Or chopper becoming a full time doctor some place. They want to help Luffy accomplish his goal but if no longer has a goal to get to and has the support system where he'll be safe and get help there's not as much need to be around. And I also assume most pirates working under Ace stayed with Ace on Whitebeard ship as part of the second commander fleet. And the rest trusted Whitebeard to live up to his name, considered it part of Ace adventures or just couldnt make it.

Depends on if it's the "final stop" as you say or if it's actually a relationship that supports you. Let's just compare Whitebeard and Kaido here. While Ace was in the dark about Newgate actually fully intending to make Ace claim the top, Whitebeard did say something along the lines to roam free under his banner. Kaido on the other hand just wants to make the world burn and is looking for strong subordinates. So if Luffy would follow a guy like Whitebeard then I would see everyone still staying with him because a) it would still align with their own dreams and b) it would support Luffy achieving his one. If Luffy followed Kaido however it would most likely end in a similar scenario as when Usopp fought Luffy.

So since Ace chose to follow Whitebeard and not Kaido, I kinda find it a letdown that we didn't see a single Spade Pirate during the Summit Lunchbreak Skirmish.

[desa]

@Ivotas:

Depends on if it's the "final stop" as you say or if it's actually a relationship that supports you. Let's just compare Whitebeard and Kaido here. While Ace was in the dark about Newgate actually fully intending to make Ace claim the top, Whitebeard did say something along the lines to roam free under his banner. Kaido on the other hand just wants to make the world burn and is looking for strong subordinates. So if Luffy would follow a guy like Whitebeard then I would see everyone still staying with him because a) it would still align with their own dreams and b) it would support Luffy achieving his one. If Luffy followed Kaido however it would most likely end in a similar scenario as when Usopp fought Luffy.

Only reason to join under someone is if you find it a good status quo or plan to make a betrayal. Ace stop looking to be at at the top and found a status quo he enjoyed. If Luffy is in that position where he is cared for and has a position he enjoys I can see someone feeling they leave Luffy now in place where he is content. If its the betrayal play they would probably be around.

So since Ace chose to follow Whitebeard and not Kaido, I kinda find it a letdown that we didn't see a single Spade Pirate during the Summit Lunchbreak Skirmish.

I assume they were simply part of the second fleet since last we heard they came back to the boat and had their ass kick same as Ace. So its just part of 16 fleet. And the few that left couldnt make it(like could Usopp make it to Marine ford by himself? I doubt it) or trusted Whitebeard to be good enough to protect him or did Roger pirate thing of considering it to be his life and let him live his adventure.

My problem wasnt a lack of spades pirates(I assumed they were the second fleet). And more that I wanted people Ace met before he became part of Whitebeard crew.

[meundies]

Not going to go through 70 pages…but what's the consensus on the idea of the Mugiwara fleet showing up in Wano at some point? I just re-watched the episode where Sabo made a vivre card for Luffy...so it seems like it would be feasible for the fleet to head over once they hear about stuff going down.

[Nilitch]

@meundies:

Not going to go through 70 pages…but what's the consensus on the idea of the Mugiwara fleet showing up in Wano at some point? I just re-watched the episode where Sabo made a vivre card for Luffy...so it seems like it would be feasible for the fleet to head over once they hear about stuff going down.

It was probably a foreshadowing for something even bigger. Since the beginning of Wano, we've been many to say that there are enough allies in Wano to take down Kaido.
Moreover, it would take days to get there while there is only 5minutes left before Onigashima crushes the flower capital…

So they're either coming to prevent the marines "to arrest" everyone, or they just don't come

But yeah, I don't know what Oda had in mind when he foreshadowed this. The endgame war "that will engulf the entire world" ? Of course the fleet is gonna be part of it, I expect literally anyone on the planet to take part on it, lol

[electricmastro]

@meundies:

Not going to go through 70 pages…but what's the consensus on the idea of the Mugiwara fleet showing up in Wano at some point? I just re-watched the episode where Sabo made a vivre card for Luffy...so it seems like it would be feasible for the fleet to head over once they hear about stuff going down.

Maybe it burned a little bit when Luffy got defeated for the second time by Kaidou, giving enough reason for Bartolomeo and the others to go there.

[flandrian15]

@electricmastro:

Maybe it burned a little bit when Luffy got defeated for the second time by Kaidou, giving enough reason for Bartolomeo and the others to go there.

So then, they'd probably run in to the remainder of the Big Mom pirates and/or the CP0 troops. Would be interesting if they'd have a true naval battle just ouside of Wano.

[kouch_lee]

Don't know if this adds nothing right now, but I guess I got this in my head and wanted to thow it out there, and this feels like the right thread to do so.

I think, even more than the fights themselves feeling more or less underwhelming (I think Robin's is great, Franky's is fun but too short, Jinbe's has good coreography but is too easy and marred by bizarre exposition dumps and Nami & Usopp's is the worst One Piece "fight" so far), the most disapointing thing for me about the Tobbi Roppo is the fact that they had so little time to show themselves.

Say what you will about the Dofla family. It's true when push came to shove, almost all of them ended up being disappointing, but the thing is, we had them shown onscreen from as far back as Punk Hazard. We got time to see their personality quirks, we got to see their "roles" throughout the arc. Some of them ganged up on Franky, Giolla attacked the Sunny, Diamante was the Colosseum guy, Dellinger was sent to "kill" Bellamy, Trebol guarded Sugar, etc…We had them do "stuff" before the final fights. Hell, they had a flashback as a "family". It's weird the Flying 6 weren't allowed that, when they are actually a pretty interesting bunch that I feel worked well with what they got (Ulti is now a favorite, for example) but were introduced on chapter...978? Of an arc that started on chapter 909?

Honestly, I feel this IS a wasted opportunity. Little things would've worked perfectly fine. Like he did with Page One, Oda should've 100% springled the Flying 6 throughout the Wano arc. Have Sasaki show up to drink sake with Kyoshiro, so we know they have "history" as pals. Have Ulti bandage Page One after his fight with Sanji, while Page One complaints that "it doesn't hurt, leave me alone". Have Black Maria test the Oirans that'll go to Onigashima during the fire festival (a shamisen playing test or something like that, where she kills one that messes up a note or something). I know that then messes up the "introducing the Tobbi Roppo!" chapter, which was a cool intro and everything, and I really liked those chapters where the Tobbi Roppo got to bounce off one another and interact with the Calamities and Kaido and all that. It is good stuff! But maybe we could've seen them beforehand during the arc. . .WITHOUT us knowing they were part of the Flying 6, so when they are revealed we go "oh, that giant lady was one of the flying 6! as was Kyoshiro's drinking pal! so they are big shots indeed, huh!".

And that's it, that's the thought I had.

[Kdom]

I would agree but is their late introduction really much that different from Baroque Works agents in Arabasta ? I have the impression it is similar to the flying 6 except Oda had the time to make the fight last longer than 1 chapter back then

[kouch_lee]

@Kdom:

I would agree but is their late introduction really much that different from Baroque Works agents in Arabasta ? I have the impression it is similar to the flying 6 except Oda had the time to make the fight last longer than 1 chapter back then

Interesting thought. It's been ages since I read Alabasta and I will be completely honest, I thought Daz Bonez, to name the most memorable non- Bon Kurei BW agent, was a presence in the arc for much longer. I just checked - he was introduced on chapter 160 and defeated by Zoro on chapter 195. For comparison's sake, Who's Who was introduced with the rest of the Flying 6 on chapter 977 and defeated by Jinbe on chapter 1018.

So I guess I'll have to re-read Alabasta to make a fair comparison, cause otherwise I'd be talking from memory.

[xan]

Random thought but I've always thought that Mihawk's blade must have been made by Shimotsuki kozabaru considering his legendary status. Now that he has specifically mentioned that Enma was his greatest creation, it makes me wonder if there was some other master craftsman who can make incredible swords and is still alive. Secondly, there has also been no mihawk related references in the Wano arc yet. So I am wondering if Oda is waiting to mention his relationship to wano somewhere and also explain how he got his blade. It would be nice if both are related! Someone from Wano who can still make excellent swords who has made for mihawk at some point of time in the past and who could possibly make one for Zoro post the fighting perhaps? Tenguyama seems like the obvious option but would like to see how this pans out

[King Cannon]

@xan:

Random thought but I've always thought that Mihawk's blade must have been made by Shimotsuki kozabaru considering his legendary status. Now that he has specifically mentioned that Enma was his greatest creation, it makes me wonder if there was some other master craftsman who can make incredible swords and is still alive. Secondly, there has also been no mihawk related references in the Wano arc yet. So I am wondering if Oda is waiting to mention his relationship to wano somewhere and also explain how he got his blade. It would be nice if both are related! Someone from Wano who can still make excellent swords who has made for mihawk at some point of time in the past and who could possibly make one for Zoro post the fighting perhaps? Tenguyama seems like the obvious option but would like to see how this pans out

Mihawk's sword looks nothing like a katana though, which I assume Wano swords tend to be.

[Zik]

Yeah, just off the look of the sword alone I knew Mihawk and his sword most likely have nothing to do with Wano.

[FolhaS]

Mihawk's sword could still be counted as a katana, I may be misremembering but I think this sort of question was adress on an SBS long long ago.

It's the blade that matters, not the grip guard. So yes, Mihawk's sword is much more european looking than Zoro's swords because of it's cross shaped hilt, but the blade is still one-sided.
Japanese swords have one sharp side and a dull one, european swords had both sides sharpened.

Not that I believe Mihawk's blade was made in Wano, it would be pretty cool to find out other places where they make great swords. It was just a semantics thing.

[King Cannon]

@FolhaS:

Mihawk's sword could still be counted as a katana, I may be misremembering but I think this sort of question was adress on an SBS long long ago.

It's the blade that matters, not the grip guard. So yes, Mihawk's sword is much more european looking than Zoro's swords because of it's cross shaped hilt, but the blade is still one-sided.
Japanese swords have one sharp side and a dull one, european swords had both sides sharpened.

This is very reductionist since Europe also had single-edged swords and vice-versa. Sabers and cutlasses come to mind.

Mihawk's sword is not a katana.

[FolhaS]

@King:

This is very reductionist since Europe also had single-edged swords and vice-versa. Sabers and cutlasses come to mind.

Mihawk's sword is not a katana.

Well, you're right. I was thinking more of the medieval/knight's sword, but OP is based on later centuries where those types of swords are very prevalent. My bad on that one.

I tried to look for it a bit but so far no luck on finding an SBS where Oda commented on Mihawk's sword. Still, outside of the hilt and guard I think Oda draws the sword much like any other sword on the series, only bigger. But that may be just general cultural influence. Dude is japanese so unless he's activily going for a distinct blade look and researches the topic his swords will always have something of a katana.

But going back to semantics, and I just learned this because I got curious with this discussion, Yoru is indeed a katana.
Katana means one-sided, as in a blade with only one side. It's mainly used to describe that classic samurai sword, which has the more complete name of uchigatana, but it can be used to describe any kind of one-sided blade, like Law's nodachi.

So Yoru is not a samurai sword, and I do hope it's origins are away from Wano, but we can still call it a katana.

[electricmastro]

Most frequently appearing characters at Wano as of last chapter for anyone who wants to know:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/comments/spwwx9/the_top_50_characters_in_wano_as_of_chapter_1040/

](https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/comments/spwwx9/the_top_50_characters_in_wano_as_of_chapter_1040/)

[King Cannon]

Really goes to show how Carrot was completely sidelined in Wano.

Also, lol Jack.

[electricmastro]

@King:

Really goes to show how Carrot was completely sidelined in Wano.

Also, lol Jack.

Well, Carrot got to share a moment like Neko like father and daughter, which was nice. I suppose it can also be telling just how Oda prioritized the All-Stars when King and Queen both have over 250 panels while Jack has less than 100 too.

[Johnny B. Decent]

@King:

This is very reductionist since Europe also had single-edged swords and vice-versa. Sabers and cutlasses come to mind.

Mihawk's sword is not a katana.

I believe it is similar to the German Messer:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ae/22/80/ae2280a2c591a58b0ea0440f7c47b657.jpg

[DarthAsthma]

I hope the blueballing ends soon on the Kaido flashback. If there is none I will be quite disappointed with the lack of emotional investment this Kaido battle is going to have. We've got a lot fragments and hints from other characters but I'm still strongly convinced that a Kaido flashback is absolutely integral to tie it all together emotionally and have Kaido become more than simply a force of nature and actually an engaging villain.

[Daz]

7 of the straw hat crewmembers out-featured by a flashback-only character in the longest arc in the series history. Ouch.

6 of them are being outshone by friggin Raizou.

[wolfwood]

While my no more flashbacks stance has softened somewhat since the Oden disaster i still maintain that more than one long flashback is way too many flashbacks for a single arc. A trip in the wayback machine is a spice that should be used sparingly for maximum enjoyment.

[Daz]

Even with the 7 chapter Robin flashback, the entire Enies Lobby siege is shorter than the still ongoing Onagashima raid. Hell, Onagashima alone would be one of OPs longest arcs. So while Kaidou definetely could use the context a beefy flashback would provide, please just, let this end

[DarthAsthma]

When all is said and done I have a hard time imagining not feeling like Wano had too many characters that didn't need to exist and first on my personal chopping block would have been the Hyogoro and the Yakuza. Could have easily just taken a scabbard spot instead and fulfilled essentially the same role.

[Deicide]

Kaido's flashback is among the things I expected to happen in this arc.

…alongside many others that didn't happen...

So, I'm not crossing my fingers anymore.

I feel this arc has been needless long, and I'm just hoping it ends soon. Still, I can see it going anywhere between 5 (end of Volume 103) and 15 chapters (end of Volume 104) before we get into the epilogue.

[Daz]

Beyond Wano having I'm fairly sure the largest cast of the entire series contributing to bloat, what really does it in is that so many characters get their own subplots and all sorts of connections and history to consider. Earlier arcs you could pick out a small handful of characters and go "these are the important supporting players, the ones with some meat on them" and everyone were just colorful but shallow flavor. You had a Wiper, and Wipers friends. But in Wano its hard to narrow it doen to one Wiper, and all Wipers friends now come with all sorts of time-consuming detail.

It makes for A BIGGER WORLD WITH SO MANY STORIES TO TELL, THE SCOPE OF IT ALL but falls into the quantity over quality problem that comes with that approach, where the main throughline suffers

[DarthAsthma]

I think an important thing too is it wouldn't matter if it felt like the main cast wasn't suffering for it. But as it stands how many readers would trade all the panels that went into the hyogoro plot for strawhat time panels? There is many of these kind of things where it feels like we're getting bloat of stuff that doesn't feel particularly meaningful in the long run nor is making the current going more exciting. I still absolutely dread how inconsequential the ice oni thing was and I really don't think it was a great way to highlight chopper as a doctor. It's going to be even weirder imo if the chopper finds miracle solution repeats for the smile fruit as many have predicted. It's the type of wasteful doubling of a moment that becomes less effective if repeated the second time around which has been going on a lot this arc.

[wolfwood]

Raizou getting more of a real fight than Usopp really bothers me.

[King Cannon]

@wolfwood:

Raizou getting more of a real fight than Usopp really bothers me.

You telling me you wanted Usopp vs Page One in an intense staring contest?

[Zar]

Another thing that's dragging it down are the parallel stories going on. Instead of feeling like one cohesive narrative we got a samurai story and a pirate story that are fighting for attention. Lots of times the strawhats felt like guest characters in the scabbards story. It's not a nice feeling.

I don't mind focusing on another character for a while, I love Vivi and Law, but both of them felt integrated into the One Piece world. After Punk Hazard ended Kin'emon and his friends felt more like chess pieces gathering dust on the Strawhat's ship until they arrived to the board called Wano where they could be put in play.

[wolfwood]

@King:

You telling me you wanted Usopp vs Page One in an intense staring contest?

I mean compared to being the assistant to the assistant of the guy who does the fighting i'll take he who flinches first burns any day.