@Seafarer33
@Seafarer33 said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
@Daz completely agreed. As many problems with Wano, it always comes to the same conclusion: the arc lacked an extra 5-10 chapters to expand Kaido's flashbacks (plural) and the epilogue. So many rushed plots, or threads that were left hanging, or ignored entirely, could have been settled in a more satisfying manner, it would have avoided the bitter aftertaste.
Tbf I think that explains the problems in almost every post-TS arc. They needed more chapters to flesh something out. Because while the arcs are long, they also have a hundred characters each, so they needed to be even longer to properly tell their stories. Because Oda doesn't want the manga to last 40 years, he started to rush arcs a while ago (I think WCI and Wano are the ones that have been rushed the most).
The sin is at the source, and it's the number of characters in each arc. But Oda can't help himself, he likes to create. It's the same problem with A Song of Ice and Fire, except the later doesn't do the rushing, so it's actaully become a work of fiction that cannot end. While OP will end, but with hiccups and imperfect plots along the way. Perfect OP only exists in a world where Oda actually extends this manga another 5-10 years and risks dying for it, which I don't think he wants to do (and I totally support that).
@TLC said in Greg: Teacher of SUPER " OP " course !:
Yamato's character was a complete betrayal of everything the series once stood for and it's what finally broke me of any hope and optimism I once had for the story. It's what opened my eyes and made me see how burnt out Oda is and how incapable he has become of steering this massive ship he's created. This isn't me just being salty, regardless of how you feel about the character, whether you loved or hated him, it all comes down to a simple fact. A character gave up their dream to explore the world. Yamato spent a decade on that island, starving and freezing and being tortured. It is nothing but a stew of bad memories and trauma, people he cared about died trying to protect him. He was always trying to run away and explore the world so he could finally be free and emulate his idol. But when the time came to leave, Yamato was not allowed to by the flimsiest of writing excuses.
I feel ya, but I absorbed the Yamato hype in a completely different way. The "explore the world" dream never had me convinced. It was just too undercooked. None of the strawhats wanted something just because "their mentor did too", there was always some emotional connection to it. And everything about Yamato felt half baked. There was no conflict, the flashback was short, the interactions with Luffy were insufficient. Yamato felt like someone's fanfiction of a new strawhat. Looks cool, has cool powers, says they want to joiun, but where is the substance? Where is the drama, the "say you wanna live", the "I'm so happy for being alive", the "Help me, Luffy"?
So my initial reaction of Yamato was thinking he was super cool, definitely a top candidate. Then the arc moved along and I keep waiting for that amazing character arc, and it never came. Instead, Momo was the one getting all the characterization. And people in the forum became more convinced Yamato was joinging, but meanwhile I was like "no, this doesn't make sense, where is the arc? where is the conflict? where is the emotion?" And when Yamato finally announced he was staying, I felt relieved. Not satisfied though, because I agree you the whole structure of Yamato's plot was just not great. Yamato was removed from the crew through a cop out. But he was never properly added to the crew either. He was never a protagonist of his own arc, someone really emotionally involved in it.
Again, it was Momo. He was the star, which is why he got a big scene talking about how he became a great king. Momo was the only character in Wano who got enough characterization to be allowed to join the main cast. He did not, because his arc demanded him to do something other than that. Which means Oda just never thought of adding a new strawhat in Wano at all.