I have to agree the part that has souring effects is mostly the expectations. Thoroughly analyzing a piece of art can just as well be done from the viewpoints of ignoring the the existence of the curtain in whole -from either side of it- or aknowledging it's inseperable place as part of the medium. Cancellations of magazines affecting the flow of the story and such are things that can answer questions lenses disregarding the authorial touch just cannot.
There is however a huge difference between what is and what ought be, and when we have a series like One Piece that in it's relatively early run set new standards for what ought be face real life hiccups such as a pandemic what is comes into real conflict with what ought be. And let's be honest, that ought is often very subjective and abstract for each viewer. Yet it's important enough that even when reconciling known factors it can leave a bad taste in the mouth of the reader. A taste so bad it can be even therapeutic to indulge in a bit of speculation and narrative building.
In the long term I think such behavior can only turn toxic in regards to one's ability to engage the final product that actually exists. A whole community can be swept in the tide of misguided oughts. But that's not AP forums, even if doomerism sets in every once in a while. I can't and don't want to speak for OP fandom on twitter or reddit, but this forum is usually pretty good at engaging with the work, with differing viewpoints of other forumers and keeping their speculation tied to understanding OP instead of raging at the heavens for it not being something entirely different they want it to be.
To really end this post that got away with as cheesy a note as possible I'd like to note that examining those expectations can and should also lead to healthy analysis of where they stem from. The fodder for it may come from statistics or interviews but the expectations come from within and something something OP is about accepting your true self. Sometimes that means blaming marketing trends for bad story choices, sometimes it means stepping away from the series for the duration of the current arc. Most times it means sorting out our feelings by having fun and/or heated conversations about a thing we love on this wack internet island.