Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas

[Daz]

After more than four years and almost 150 chapters the Wano arc has finally concluded, as well as the larger “Big Mom/Kaidou” saga, spanning plotlines as far back as Fishman Island and Punk Hazard. Simultaneously, the forums were absent for a good while during this period of resolution. In short, theres a lot to look back on and discuss, and while we have “general Wano“ discussion for Macro arc takes, I thought it’d be interesting to have threads dedicated wholly to particular plotthreads.

Some of the most prominent supporting characters in Wano were part of the supernovas introduced way back in Sabaody, with Law and Kid getting the lions share of the focus. While Law has been very present since Punk Hazard, Kid and the others have received regular check-ins to rope them into this saga, which has now culminated with two defeated emperors.

How did you feel the handling of Law and Kid, and to a lesser extent Drake, Apoo and Hawkins, fared in this saga? How well do you feel they meshed in the extremely crowded tapestry that was Wano? Would you have liked to see more Bepo?

Also, we can talk about Caribou here too I guess

[Nobodyman]

For the most part, I think the Supernovas were amusing enough additions to Wano even though most of them didn't end up contributing a whole lot.

Kid - Was really hoping we'd get some more development for him this arc. Maybe do for him what Dressrosa did for Law. But nah, he was pretty much there to do his angry violent schtick and then tag team with Law to take down Big Mom.

Law - I doubt anything can top his backstory in development in Dressrosa and this point I'm kinda sick of him. It'd be nice to a break from him, but with the final arc on the horizon I doubt it'll last long.

Drake - Him being a Tobi Roppo was an interesting development even though it didn't amount to much.

Killer - We got to see his face. shrugs Cool.

Hawkins and Apoo - I've honestly forgotten anything these guys did in Wano.

Capone - I maintain that Capone was probably the most improved character to come out of Whole Cake. I initially dismissed him as a low-tier Supernova, but with the sheer imposing power he demonstrated, his vital role in the arc, and him becoming a dad......man, the guy's a friggin' boss!

Now where da fudge are Urouge and Bonney?

[Zanze]

Overall the Supernovas were one of the most fun parts of the arc in my opinion.
Drake - the most disappointing one by far. He didn't do much in the mainland, then during the raid he allied with Luffy, disappeared for like 30 chapters and showed up again to get owned by CP0. He got a couple of cool scenes (the last confrontation with the CP0 guy in particular) and Sword is an interesting concept and he's probably going to be more important later, but overall as of now... Meh. He's been connected to Kaido since the pre-skip and he has a t-rex Devil Fruit, I think everyone was expecting something more out of the guy.
Apoo - he was consistently fun but honestly he's also been just kinda there, and we didn't even get a quick showdown with Brook. A kinda wasted character
Hawkins - rounding up the disappointment trio... But actually I think Hawkins has been pretty cool. It's just that I think his design and his powers are incredibly cool and interesting and I wanted more. He was pretty proactive in mainland Wano though, and his fights with Law were cool. I like that he's the one major character to actually get his morale broken by Kaido. The fight with Killer, pretty cool, his final scene with Drake pretty cool again. It's just... Compared to Law, Kidd and Capone he feels underdeveloped and underused, though not as much as Apoo and Drake and I loved every time he was on scene regardless. I hope he's not dead...

I'll do the others later

[theackwardstation]

The Supernovas are not made equal. Some are meant to be more important than others and get more screentime, so any judgement should be proportional to their role in the story. It's fine if a Supernova was not very important... but the problem is when he's presence was wasting space without adding anything at all.

~ The Great ~

• Trafalgar Law: like or dislike him, he was one of the stars of the show in the New World. He's got charisma, great powers, fun interactions with the crew, lots ot of focus/development in Punk Hazard and Dressrosa, and great action moments in Wano. Got lots of screentime and deserved it.

~ The Good ~

• Eustass Kid: very strong design and presence, but lacking a little in substance. For the amount of screentime he got, he could be a better character, but still fine. He's got some cool moments in roofpiece and against Big Mom, among other little things. At the end of the day, I give Kid a pass.

• Capone Bege: not super important, but great participation in WCI. Fun character with fun gimmicks, never wasted his screentime. A personal favorite.

• Killer: for his role as Kid's second, I think he was pretty good. Great fight against Hawkins.

• Apoo: people hate him, but I love Apoo. It's awesome that he's a scammy pirate with no loyalty that's only looking for his own selfish interests. That said, his participation could have been more relevant...

~ The Bad ~

• X-Drake: super interesting character, especially because of SWORD, but unfortunatelly Oda didn't know what to do with him at all. Super whacky writing both in Act II and III of Wano, without proper focus and relevance. His presence went nowhere.

• Hawkins: interesting character too, but during most of Wano he was just moving around without doing anything noteworthy. His only saving grace was his fight against Killer and his final scene before death.

[RomanceDawn]

I for one am so glad we didn't dive too deep into Kid crew or Law's. The scabbards were enough. I am mildly interested in headcannon match ups between their crews and the Straw Hats but ultimately I am super not interested. I thought how the crew mates were handled was a good move. Killer getting the focus that he did was nice and I'm glad it wasn't any more than it was.

I wish there was a little more motivation for Kid and Law to go after Big Mom. I mean there is plenty of motivation, she is an Emperor after all who'd kill them all if not stopped. Something more personal though. I enjoyed the battle between them and Mom, their finishers were more entertaining than Luffy's i'd say, I just wish there was a nice personal grudge thrown into the mix.

Even though I ultimately love the Straw Hat's doing things over ALL other characters it is good that someone else managed to take down an Emperor. The rest of the world moves without the main characters and the other Super Novas can still be contenders somewhat. When you think about it the main plot of Mom and Kaidou began at Fishman Island but we were seeded quite a few important things in relation to them starting at Thriller Bark.

Also Bege is better than all those muther fletchers!

[puffing.cinema]

Law had so much screentime that lumping him with the rest is just unfair. Great flashback, hex powers, found a new life goal after Kaido fall that is more seemingly to be accomplished than the PK crown.

Kid deserved better, imo. I had faint hope that Act II would build him a better contender to the PK title. He still needs more substance, and I wouldn't mind if he appeared previously to the end war and had some more shenanigans. The problem is his crew, which is large, and one that I have no interest whatsoever.

Killer had one of the best fights in Onigashima. A bit lacking in development, but since his main whole is to contrast Kidd, it is more than enough. Don't really have any major issues with him, besides he being a bit flat.

Hawkins was a bit of a let down. Interesting powers, enough personality to hold a scene, well positioned to give some good moments. And then Oda trashed him offscreen, lol. Got some more screentime, but didn't even show off his Strawman Cardgame and limited himself to headbutt a stone pillar to f*ck with Kid. Errrr, I had some expectations for a bigger swing as a fighter, but it's a done deal (sadly).

Drake has to come back. SWORD member and we still have to learn how Alossaurus hunt in the past. During Wano Oda clearly didn't know what to do with him so he was juggled around the stage until the very end. Was beat down to hype CP0, which is a shame really.

Apoo is the funnier of the bunch. A weasel that you just can't get a hold, but served entertaiment non-stop while on screen. Wish Oda had put some though to show us more of him as a fighter, he having the same attack pattern since Saboady was kinda lazy. Got Inbi as a consolation prize, still hope to catch him wreacking some havoc now that he has such a powered soldier.

Capone was a fun surprise. Nice powers without being as broken as Law, got a good moment with a family focused arc, and is still kicking. Good for him. Def an ally in the finale.

[Deicide]

@theackwardstation said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

His presence went nowhere.

I feel Drake is going to appear again pretty soon.

[King Cannon]

Of the SN we've seen so far, Bege was definitely a positive surprise because I didn't think highly of him pre-timeskip. Making him a more tactical character certainly helped in making him stand out. And it also helped that he was overall pretty competent in his brief schtick as an antagonist at Zou. I loved the way he used lies to get around Caesar and Nekomamushi.

I feel like the minor SN from Wano really suffered from having to share screentime with each other. I think only Drake should've been there due to his prior buildup pre-timeskip and Caribou's cover story. Neither Hawkins nor Apoo added much and could've been cut out with little consequence.

[theackwardstation]

@Deicide said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

@theackwardstation said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

His presence went nowhere.

I feel Drake is going to appear again pretty soon.

It could be the case, although I'm not excited about it either way even though SWORD is an interesting faction. Drake was very poorly handled, in my opinion, and that almost killed the character to me. It's not only an issue of lack of screentime, but even the quality of his panels. The entire plot twist of his Marine allegiance was unnecessarily convoluted, and even worse was the situation in Onigashima which forced him to switch sides. And then there was the Apoo stuff and CP0 conflict... which just felt like Oda trying to figure out something for Drake to do but failing miserably each time.

[.access timeco.]

A part of me wishes that Kid's invasion on WCI had happened at the same time as Luffy, so his rivalry with the rest of the trio would feel less shoehorned in Wano (and it would also make his fight with BM a lot more rewarding). Instead all we got was Law, Law, Law and a bit more Law.
But since that would mean no Bege, my other part silences the first, because let's be honest, one chapter of Bege is more worthy than Law and Kid's whole history so far. He is definitely my favorite of the group along with Apoo.
I do feel like Kid and Killer will grow a lot on me the more they appear though, so I am looking forward to that (AFTER Urouge and Bonney get their time, because Drake and Hawkins already showed us what happens when the lesser SN need to fight with the Popular Trio for the screentime).

Apoo to me was the highlight of Onigashima. He didn't really served any role to the plot, but his presence alone felt so refreshing (similar to how the Cross Guild scene felt in this chapter). He is an unapologetic opportunist pirate to the core that crossed every person he could, left to die anyone who made the mistake of trusting him for one second, and I absolutely LOOOVE the fact that he never got retribution for that.

Drake was a waste. He is the type of character that bores me to death, so I can't say I feel bad for him. If anything, the fact that he decided his entire role on Onigashima should be act as Apoo's nemesis and ended up maybe dying for that decision puts a smile on my face. But still, a complete waste of a supernova that had absolutely no role in the entire arc and Oda managed to waste any contribution he could have given there (I mean, even I feel robbed from having a dinosaur joining the SN x Emperors fight, and Drake had the more iconic dinosaur look of all the BP cast).

Hawkins at least was given a very interesting twist to his character at the end. Too bad it was at the end and you need to reread the entire arc with that in mind to properly appreciate the character (something I only intend to do in 1 or 2 years).

Looking forward, I really want to see more of Urouge because he has the exact type of character design fans overlook but Oda loves to hype.
As for Bonney, I don't expect her to do much more than cry and act like a resolute princess, sadly, so I am not so curious about her.

[Deicide]

@theackwardstation
I understand the feelings. Drake was the most intriguing Supernova to me, but his role in Wano killed my interest in him.

[Ivotas]

Hawkins is easily the most disappointing. While I agree with the overall sentiment that him together with Drake and Apoo build the disappointment trio, the latter two at least have a chance to come back and do something. Hawkins is dead (until I read that scene wrong). That's an utter waste of a prominent character because he literally contributed nothing to the entire arc.

[King Cannon]

I think Hawkins will return. Like many have said, Oda didn't develop him, even though everybody who did die at least got a flashback or two to show a bit of who they were.

Hawkins' role is particularly weird because he doesn't really antagonize the SH as much as he should. He spends most of Wano screwing around with Kid and Law, which is why he feels so removed of the actual Wano plot.

[.access timeco.]

If he survived, I can see Drake giving him a ride away from Onigashima so he can start things again. But, I don't know, do we really want they coming back? I mean, whenever I think about the next arcs, even reducing the cast to only the Emperor crews, the RA, Law and Kid, the 2 SN that didn't got a chance to appear yet, the Marine, the Five Elders, Im, the characters that promised to come back... I already start feeling pessimistic about how overcrowded the next arcs might end up getting, so I don't know if supposedly dead characters coming back for a second chance to be relevant is good.

[King Cannon]

@access-timeco Oda will probably want to include everybody with a relevant title, so I don't doubt it. It's not like they will be at the forefront anyway.

[Ivotas]

@King-Cannon said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

I think Hawkins will return. Like many have said, Oda didn't develop him, even though everybody who did die at least got a flashback or two to show a bit of who they were.

Hawkins' role is particularly weird because he doesn't really antagonize the SH as much as he should. He spends most of Wano screwing around with Kid and Law, which is why he feels so removed of the actual Wano plot.

Didn't he supposedly die? Or did I just read that part wrong?

[King Cannon]

@Ivotas "Supposedly". It's as convincing as Pell's death. Especially because he still has a 1% chance to survive.

We don't see any further confirmation that he's dead anyway, unlike Izo and Ashura.

[Ivotas]

@King-Cannon said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

@Ivotas "Supposedly". It's as convincing as Pell's death. Especially because he still has a 1% chance to survive.

We don't see any further confirmation that he's dead anyway, unlike Izo and Ashura.

Wait what? It was a 1% chance? I thought it was 0% to survive the day. Dammit I have to reread that part again somehow.

[Daz]

Starting off with Drake, I’ll join the chorus that he has so much wasted potential. To start off with, he’s a marine mole who’s infiltrated an Emperor crew, and we’ve seen him make the effort to join this crew specifically as far back as two years ago. And yet we never learn what his mission is, nor do we really get to see him do any real subterfuge or undermining of Kaidou from within. The closest is when he lets Law, a guy who’d shown up a few days ago, out of jail, but we have no sense of what he’s been doing for the past two years, or what he was hoping to do.

In terms of integration into Wano itself he feels lacking, which I feel is a major problem for all the supernova – going along with Drake being a largely inqonsequential mole he never seems to really care about the people of Wano. In fact quite the opposite, as he helps the Beast Pirates out at Yasuies execution and the Pivotal Soba Stand Raid, and very pointedly was the one to raze Tamas village to the ground, something that is absolutely NEVER brought up again. You could’ve so easily done some beats of Drake gradually coming to sympathise with the plight of the Wano residents which informs his switchings of sides, perhaps even have him go against his orders to do so, but instead he just joins Luffy when his cover is blown and a “Coby told him to trust Luffy” flashback materializes. And then at the end, Luffys whole alliance just forget abouts him and he’s left forgotten and beaten up inside Onagashima, lol?

Drake also expresses another problem of some of the other Supernova in Wano, in lack of follow through on his various interactions and connections. Like mentioned before the Tama connection goes nowhere. He tangoes with Sanji in act 2, but don’t interact with him after that. He rescues Law, but I can’t recall them ever getting a moment after that. He’s betrays Hawkins and is betrayed by him in turn, but ends up fighting…Apoo, whom he out of nowhere declares that he has a deep grudge against. Then suddenly, CP0 enters from stage left.

Like I said Drake had a lot of potential for interesting development, but he’s just left a bowl of sprawling, undercooked plotline noodles.

Also, he has the worst looking hybrid form in the entire series, which doesn’t help matters.

[King Cannon]

Regarding Drake, Oda probably has something in store for him later on and may have changed his role in the story to reflect it.

I do wish Oda addressed the Amigasa Village destruction. Maybe when we inevitably return to Wano someday.

[desa]

Law was fine. He was good support which I think is what he should be at this point.He already shine brightly in Punk Hazard and Dressrosa so being a reliable wingman is good enough at this point.

Kidd is very disapointing because this is return arc. It's his moment to be a proeminent player like Law was in the early arcs or Bege in whole cake. Bege and Law are both leader and integral to the plans that the arc is unveiling but Kidd is just another member of the alliance that wants to beat Kaido. He's not Law. He's Cavendish. A fun but ultimately quite secondary character and for a returning supernova that's disapointing.

[Trueblade74]

I'm still upset that Law vs Hawkins happened offscreen.

[Daz]

I'm not too down on Hawkins; he's "wasted" in the sense that he completely falls out of the manga for a huge chunk of the arc, but I can roll with him just being another Beast Pirate baddie through and through. He's basically the only time we've seen Kaidous "Recruitment through fear" policy work sucessfully. As just another enemy Hawkins role isn't too complicated, but that conversely means that there isn't a hundred tangled plot strings attached to him. His connections to Law and the people he menaces early on in Wano doesn't amount to much, neither does his beef with Drake, but at least theres some thread connecting him to Killer. I consider his DF ability and overall abilities off the wall in an annoying way, and I'm not as enamored with his battle with Killer as most people seemed to be, at least not visually (Killer basically charges through him three times in a row at slightly different angles), but it was fine enough, and the arm payoff was nicely clever.
Hawkins isn't too exciting, but he's not as messy as the other supernovas

[Ivotas]

@Trueblade74 said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

I'm still upset that Law vs Hawkins happened offscreen.

I'm still upset or should I rather say confused at the entire controntation between the two. IIRC Hawkins is holding Law's crew hostage and using his ability on them to protect himself from being hurt. And Hawkins agrees to let the prisoners go in exchange for Law because he's afraid that he would go the "I have nothing to lose" route by cutting Hawkins until he is defeated even he might end up hurting his crew. So he really expects that Law, who gives himself up in order to save his own crew would actually really cut through his own crew to hurt Hawkins? Am I missing something here or is this really how this scene was meant to work? Because to this day I believe that I've missed an integral part of the entire situation.

[Jabberwok]

@Ivotas said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

@Trueblade74 said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

I'm still upset that Law vs Hawkins happened offscreen.

I'm still upset or should I rather say confused at the entire controntation between the two. IIRC Hawkins is holding Law's crew hostage and using his ability on them to protect himself from being hurt. And Hawkins agrees to let the prisoners go in exchange for Law because he's afraid that he would go the "I have nothing to lose" route by cutting Hawkins until he is defeated even he might end up hurting his crew. So he really expects that Law, who gives himself up in order to save his own crew would actually really cut through his own crew to hurt Hawkins? Am I missing something here or is this really how this scene was meant to work? Because to this day I believe that I've missed an integral part of the entire situation.

My impression was more that Law could make the confrontation a lot more difficult by attempting to escape or otherwise resisting. I doubt Hawkins was too worried about actually being injured, but perhaps Law's Surgeon of Death reputation gave him pause.

[Alfiere]

• Law First half of Wano he was there, mostly brooding in the background or following his little sidestory that went absolutely nowhere. I get he didn't ever expect to actually face Kaido and it shows, he basically goes along with whatever happens. Then the raid comes and he's the Law we've learned to endure love for the last 10 years: his power is completely broken except when the story needs it not to be, he's a genius tactician except when the story needs him to be an idiot, he's spent and out of stamina except... you know. 6/10 just doing his usual
• Kid Sneaky Oda tries to throw in a last minute Vegeta for our now fully Gokufied Luffy. I still don't get if we were always supposed to get this lovable jerk who cares for his fwends vibe from the guy who was inroduced as the one that systematically went after civilians (and enough of them to warrant an higher bounty than the guy who just burned the supreme court to the ground) and crucified the first people he came across in the New World, but who cares, when all was said and done he emerged as the most fun of the bunch. 8/10
• Killer He stood out too. Unexpected depth for the masked guy with the most boring name in the whole series and a fun duel, 7/10
• Drake LOL 2/10 literally remove him from the story and the only thing you get is better pacing.
• Hawkins Meh. He's kinda fine, a jobber with a somewhat unique flavour. Bit of a disappointment that the one guy with probably the farthest conception of nakamaship from Luffy went out by some tertiary charachter without ever interacting with him, but whatever. 5/10, wait. 5- for the unforgivable "I was actually talking about me with the 1% chance of survival" stunt
• Apoo I think this is were Oda is wasting potential the most. He went from trying to blow and admiral's head off in Sabaody to... lure pirates' to kaid with fake alliances? how does that even make sense again?
  He has one of the better designs among the Snovas and one of the best fruit abilities in the series, he's wasted as the stereotypical slimy coward, but i guess that's the role he ended up with for the rest of the series. 4/10 for falling short of what could have been

[Hakase]

Law is just a well written character for me. Like him or hate him Oda put in the effort.
Capone and Apoo I thought were fine for what they were well done side characters that had their gimmicks shine through for the limited showlight they had.

Kid, Hawkins and Killer I think are just absolute failure for me. The single decent Kid gimmick was his playing off the rivalry bit but other than that we actually got to learn more about Kid and Killer as individuals from SBS answers than in the manga pages. Just absolutely terrible. The only feeling I have left after Wano is that Kid just absolutely did not deserve to be part of a 10 year build arc with his paper thin characterization and he kinda ruined part of it. I only feel regret at the sendoff big mom got by this nothing of a character.
Hawkins to me was teetering on the edge of fine but what ruins him for me is the absolutely out of place reveal of how he was the 1% man. It's just one of the most obvious awful pacing decisions Oda made in this entire arc, dragging that mystery for so long and then shoving it as a priority at the end while a lot more important stuff just got skipped.
Just makes me resent the character.

Drake I'm ambivalent on cause yeah did he need to be in Wano? Not really... as of now. But given we didn't learn shit about sword it's likely his story isn't done. In a way I can see looking back at drake in Wano after knowing his whole deal being just a very prominent cameo. Which is problematic in the sense of how it can be another thing where Oda might have overprioritized this part but maybe in isolation we can appreciate Drake in the future having a decent bit of highlight here.

[King Cannon]

@Hakase Kid reminds me of how Law was in Punk Hazard. We didn't know much about him back then and no one liked him taking away Smoker's spotlight, but the fleshing out could only happen at Dressrosa because Doflamingo was an essential part of his backstory.

Oda will likely do the same with Kid, especially since he didn't really have any personal Wano connection to warrant a flashback or anything of the sort. Robin had to wait three arcs to have her story revealed, because it needed Aokiji and CP9 to be introduced first.

[Hakase]

@King-Cannon said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

@Hakase Kid reminds me of how Law was in Punk Hazard. We didn't know much about him back then and no one liked him taking away Smoker's spotlight, but the fleshing out could only happen at Dressrosa because Doflamingo was an essential part of his backstory.

Oda will likely do the same with Kid, especially since he didn't really have any personal Wano connection to warrant a flashback or anything of the sort. Robin had to wait three arcs to have her story revealed, because it needed Aokiji and CP9 to be introduced first.

It's definitely fair to hope that Kid gets more in the future but I don't think stealing smokers spotlight is all that comparable to being part of a 10 year build up finale dropping out of nowhere and just posing in as the cool guy.

Oda being like hey look how cool this guy is!!!! During the raid made the exit of Big Mom being caused by this nothing character not any less disappointing.
Like I've seen some people still holding out on Elbaf maybe mending some of that but that feels like massive copium to me.

[Ivotas]

@Jabberwok said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

@Ivotas said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

@Trueblade74 said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

I'm still upset that Law vs Hawkins happened offscreen.

I'm still upset or should I rather say confused at the entire controntation between the two. IIRC Hawkins is holding Law's crew hostage and using his ability on them to protect himself from being hurt. And Hawkins agrees to let the prisoners go in exchange for Law because he's afraid that he would go the "I have nothing to lose" route by cutting Hawkins until he is defeated even he might end up hurting his crew. So he really expects that Law, who gives himself up in order to save his own crew would actually really cut through his own crew to hurt Hawkins? Am I missing something here or is this really how this scene was meant to work? Because to this day I believe that I've missed an integral part of the entire situation.

My impression was more that Law could make the confrontation a lot more difficult by attempting to escape or otherwise resisting. I doubt Hawkins was too worried about actually being injured, but perhaps Law's Surgeon of Death reputation gave him pause.

I don't know really. Hawkins seemed to have been pretty worried about Law going the "I have nothing to lose" route with him. Which considering the bargaining chips in hand and actual role switch with Law and his crew just seem self contratictory to me.

[black-leg jex]

I think the Supernova's have been used well so far, except maybe Drake who feels like he should've done more than just defend Chopper. He was set-up to be on Kaido's side since the end of pre-Timeskip and all it really amounted to was an extra ally for the fight. That said, him being a part of Sword means he'll probably come back and player a bigger role later.

For Hawkins, I like what he did in this arc I just wish he didn't die. It feels like he still has more he can contribute but Oda just decided to cut it short.

I am really curious what Urogue will do in the future. Bonney is conneted to Kuma and the Revolutionaries but I have no idea what Urogue's role is going to be. Eneru maybe?

[ShinmenTakezo]

Most have been disappointing to me to be honest:

• Law: For me his newly straight faced comedic relief does not really work, but that´s ok. At least he had a lot of development in PH/Dressrosa, and the dynamic with him and Doflamingo is one of the most well executed characterizations in the entire manga. Powers still very interesting.

• Kid: For the fact that Oda had planned the most with Kid, he was certainly disappointing. Never truly grew out of the tsundere character, very annoying to me. Nevertheless, at least the partner dynamic with Killer was noteworthy. His powers, rather the lack of creativity of Oda, was also disappointing.

• Apoo: From beginning to end the personification of annoying, which is weird since i usually like quirky.

• Hawkins: Empty hype, and the fact that his prediction referred to himself felt very cheap.

• Killer: Same as Kid, i liked the SMILE subline though.

• Drake: Missed opportunity, i think others wrote enough about him.

Outside of Wano:

• Capone: Went from least likeable to probably most likeable Supernova in WCI.

• Urouge: Not much to say, i hope he will become relevant.

• Bonney: I had high hopes for her with the setup of Shabondy and post war, i hope it will become relevant for the Strawhats.

[Zanze]

Let's do the not disappointing ones now.

Kidd - It might be because of his punk rock theme but I really like Kidd. He hasn't been as developed as Law did during Dressrosa, which is a bit of a shame considering they're the two most prominent members of the Worst Gen (sans Luffy and Blackbeard)... But I don't think his role is finished. In any case, I like what we got. His bond with Killer is really well made, you can feel they're every bit as close as Luffy and Zoro, but unlike our two main characters they're also allowed to fail, which made for some interesting scenes. The scene where Kidd and Kilelr are brought back to Udon in particular really hit hard for me for some reason. Killer got basically disfigured, and Kidd rushed to his aid despite having just managed to escape the prison... It's nice stuff. And they also have each other's back during Onigashima, which is also pretty cool. Then, the gags with Luffy, Law and Kidd have been consistently fun and I just like the way he fights, like yeah he uses magnetism in a very unrefined way but it fits the character - plus, the skeleton mecha, the metal bull and the final laser cannon were all really cool. Also I think he's by far the supernova who got the most natural shift from mainland Wano to Onigashima. Law, Drake and Hawkins were getting involved into all kinds of subplots that promptly went nowhere, while Kidd just befriended Luffy in Udon, regrouped with Killer and the rest of his crew and then went to war against Kaido. I guess there's not a lot of substance to the character aside from being rude and headstrong and his bond with Killer, but that's enough. I see him and Killer as kind of a pair, and Killer is the one who expresses their philosophy a little more explicitely. Which leads me to...
Killer - what a surpirse this character was. No lie, I think his fight with Hawkins might be one of the best ones in Onigashima. Sure, other fights were more spectacular, but this one felt so personal, and it felt like not only a clash between characters but a clash between lifestyles. We were told at the beginning of the post-skip that there's only two ways to survive in the New World - serve the emperors or fight them, and here we have two characters representing those two opposite choices. And it was executed so well, Killer being the one who suffered the most (he's basically disfigured because of the Smile he ate) and yet standing his ground proudly against the man who chose the easy way out was very cool. When he tells Hawkins to F off with his luck predictions, we rely on our own strenght, aah, so cool. Just classic One Piece. And the tower card at the end... That fight was just perfect in my opinion. Killer's fighting style is a bit whatever though, but he got to participate in the rooftop battle and every character involved was spectacular there.
Kidd and Killer as a pair added a lot to the story in my opinion.

Law in my opinion has gotten a bit old, we've seen his tricks over and over and the bulk of his development as a character was in Dressrosa. He felt a little just along for the ride sometimes. But his new goal of finding the meaning behind the D is a very natural development for him, and I liked that. And like Kidd, yeah he might have lacked in substance a little but he sure provided some spectacle. Although he was handled in a very messy way during the Wano portion of the arc, like, what was the deal with him getting captured? But whatever...
Also Law and Kidd's final blow against Big Mom felt more satisfying than Luffy's one against Kaido, for some reason.

Another thing I liked about the Supernovas is that they provided some break from all the samurai and dinosaurs fighting styles. Magnets and mechas! Voodoo! Music! They all still feel like very fresh characters even when they're underused. I guess this is another field where Drake gets the short end of the stick...
Anyways, I hope they manage to stay in the story somehow.

[.access timeco.]

Talking about how they were handled in Wano, one thing that was never mentioned is what happened with Drake and Hawkin's crews. This could have easily played into Hawkins decision to follow Kaido, and Drake crew should make a huge difference since his whole thing in Onigashima was the fact he had no allies in there (even though he should have an entire group supporting him).
We know Who's Who had his crew with him, so it's not like Kaido only picked the captains.

Also, as it ever explained how Kid and Killer reunited with the rest of their crew?

[IAmTheMilkman]

@Zanze said in Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas:

Although he was handled in a very messy way during the Wano portion of the arc, like, what was the deal with him getting captured? But whatever...

If I recall correctly, from a narrative standpoint, Law's crew getting captured allowed for them to be able to spread Yasuie's new raid plan outside of the prison once they were eventually released. If Law hadn't swapped with them, then the new plan wouldn't have spread, or at least wouldn't have reached our main characters as quickly.

I am shocked at the amount of Law shade being thrown in this thread. I'm not sure I really understand why, unless some are just salty that he gets more focus that a lot of Straw Hats...? I guess I don't really engage enough with the online fanbase to have been aware of this. It's interesting seeing how popular he is in Japan vs in English-speaking countries, where the more outspoken fans seem over him. I personally love him and am disappointed that he's not going to be around for a bit. He's felt like one of the crew for years now.

[ArcOfDrawing]

@desa Except Cavendish is an incredibly fun and non-failure of a character who shouldn't be put on level with Kid of all people.

[desa]

I enjoyed our time with Law. I mostly think he did well at being a ally to Luffy that is manipulative but also does value him. And I find his story with Doffly fairly engaging. But I'm not upset to see him narratively retire since I think once his Doflamingo goal was accomplished he no longer had a reason to be around and should have just become someone that shows up at the war to repay his debt to Luffy.

[electricmastro]

I suppose it might have been a missed opportunity to see Drake fight alongside Luffy more, not necessarily on the roof either, since he did seem willing enough to fight on his side in the first place, but ah well.

[Dragon D. Luffy]

Supernovas are a bonus feature. They are characters Oda made up overnight just to fill up Sabaody's cast, and the main story as he originally planned functioned just fine without any of them. Yes, even Law, because the Dressrosa arc could have been done without Law (it would have probably been worse, though).

So based on what we got, I think for the most part Oda got way more mileage from them than the average reader, or Oda himself, probably expected.

Law is the obvious winner here, he became one of the strongest non-SH characters in the series. Some people dislike him for the "generic coolguy" type, but even then I think he's written better than most such characters in shonen manga. In Wano he wasn't amazing, though. But he gets not to be amazing in Wano because Dressrosa exists.

Kid is weird because Oda wants us to buy he is a major rival to Luffy but he didn't get the power boost, and most importantly, the character development, to justify that. So he feels half baked. He is a very entertaining character though, and I want to see more of him.

The other supernovas have even less expectations from them since they aren't even portrayed as big rivals (they all capitulated to yonkou or marines one way or another). So for the most part I'm fine with them. I don't really think Oda had any obligation to make Hawkins, Drake or Apoo deliver more than they did. While Killer delivered more than he had to, and Capone was another big winner, being a really cool character who enhanced the arc he was in. And he was one of the supernovas I expected the least from when introduced.

Finally, Bonney and Urouge haven't really had proper screentime yet, and I hope Oda at least elevates them to where he took Hawkins and Apoo, because leaving just two supernovas in the dust would be weird.

[.Nonsh.]

I think there have been too many Supernovas involved in this arc so they have not been able to shine as brightly as Bege in WCI.

Law: My favorite so far. I liked him in PH and Dressrosa and he hasn't been bad in Wano, although he's had a more secondary role.

Kidd: I'm still not completely sold on him. The only thing I've liked about him is his relationship with Killer.

Killer: He's growing on me. His appearance as a moderator when forming the allizance, now his plot with the Smile and his fight against Hawkings...

Drake: So far he's been very much in the background. Let's see if when SWORD reappears he gets more screen time.

Apoo: I don't like him. His powers are interesting, but that's about it....

Hawkings: The truth is that he has caught my attention in Wano so I hope he is not dead. I liked his relationship with Drake and his final moments, but I was disappointed by his fight against Killer. I would have preferred him to show more of his abilities.

Boonie: Interested in his actions during the Levely and his relationship with Kuma, but she is still a mistery.

[Daz]

Apoo is a weird case in that he’s at once highly enjoyable to watch, yet he might also be the most herky-jerk messily handled of all the supernovas in Wano? Like, his personality is great, his design is great, his ability is great, it’s just fun to watch Apoo exist, but it also feels like Oda was constantly changing his mind on what Apoo should be doing.

Apoos biggest pre-existing character connection is to Kid, and indeed even though he arrives to the arc late we pretty much launch directly into a confrontation between the two after a fun showcase of Apoos powers. I don’t think the idea of “Apoo the backstabbing informant” gels perfectly with what we were shown during Kaidous introduction, but “Guy who joined Kaidou vs guy who wouldn’t break” is a fine enough basis for an encounter…But then they immediately disengage. The beef between them ceases to be a point of focus, and is not commented on when Apoo shows back up after the end of the raid. From this point on, his musical abilities also sort of fade away?

Apoo then becomes the centerpiece for the just established Ice virus plotline! Its a bit sudden, but the hunt for the antidote could lead to a fun chase and it’s a potentially fun spin on his just-established interplay with Queen…but then the antidote is recovered straight away.

Then its Zoro but mainly Drake vs Apoo, whom he has never interacted with before but announces to have "always hated" – and then Zoro but not Drake cuts Apoo down in a decisive manner, all cool like.

Wait no Apoo later lurches to his feet in order for Drake to transform and casually chomp him down in a big spread because he needed something to do as part of the "ancient Zoan" gang in the "ancient zoan spotlight" chapter. I guess this pays off their supposed beef? And concludes the stop-and-go handled antidote subplot? Is Apoo down now?
…
...
Drake and Apoo are now forming an alliance! No wait, they aren’t, wait, they’re teaming up after all to fight CP0 because Apoo has completely bailed on the whole battle offscreen and wants to sell CP0 pictures to Morgans, but then they disengage and Apoo just hangs around until after the battle where he’s offscreen become on good terms with the alliance, despite only Drake- who was just left to rot in the castle- witnessing his "turn" if you can even call it that.

Also, Apoo is the commander of the Numbers because I guess they needed to tie into something, and it’s a neat idea, but it doesn’t feel like it amounts to much (because the numbers amount to so very little).

And the thing is, I like all of these ideas, they’re entertaining ideas, and if just half of them had been allowed to build properly I think we could’ve gotten some truly spectacular sequences out of it. Like a committed arc-long interplay with Drake, or a more elaborate Antidote chase involving the numbers as a deadly literally jazzed-up dance troupe or something. Or it the story could’ve leaned into Apoos later flightiness and make it more of an overt quirk, with the story explicitly highlighting his worminess. As is, while Apoos snippets are entertaining, they’re very messy and disjointed snippets.

And like pretty much all of the Supernova, Apoo is largely detached from the Wano-centric characters. He’s an “external” character who almost only bounces off other “external” characters. You could plonk him and Drake into onother scenario with very little trouble.

Also… it’d have been cool to see an extended battle for the Ice Virus Antidote in a burning castle between a musical goofball with a gang of dancing giants vs Straw Hat musical goofball who has unique immunity to the Ice Virus. It could be a battle of who can make the giants dance the most!

Sigh.

[Hakase]

I think a reason why I'm largely fine with Apoo is cause his involvement is true to his character being a flip flopping sack of shit. You have a very strong sense of what apoo is about very quickly and his involvement matches his importance too.

Hawkins is more dubious because mysterious mystery guy talking mysteriously in riddles is just shit characterization for that low level of involvement landing him on a note that feels very random for his character arc. The same goes for masked Killer dude who's character is reliant on being loyal to Kid. And kid would also be fine for what he is if he wasn't tied to a 10 year built up climax.

[Daz]

Apoos flightiness "makes sense", but I'd still have liked it to be a more overt part of his character and his usage -show people reacting to him through that lens, show his on-screen rationalization of his shifting allegiances. After Kid punches him Apoo goes "How could you ever think we would be able to topple an emperor? Thats unrealistic! Pirate alliances will never work!", but then later he's apparently bailed on Kaidou entirely, is proposing alliances, and at the end of it all he's just...there, no longer an enemy. I'd have liked some more explicit storytelling glue to bridge those beats more cleanly.

[Hakase]

I don't disagree we could have done with more for sure.
But in the long list of issues I have with Wano as an arc I think Apoo as a character lands for me at this is the minimum of what I'm okay with for what he is.
With Hawkins and Killer being quite a bit below that. I will say if Drake just disappears from the story for good after Wano add him to that group as well.