The conondrum between "don't uses the giants as hype tools" and "waaah, Saturn doesn't single-handedly body the entire giant crew including their leaders who may well be among the strongest fighters the giants have, all while he also has to hold out against an emperor, his crew, a warlord and a supernova"...

@Robby said in The Weight Of Elbaf:

@kevo_koma said in The Weight Of Elbaf:

And I can see shanks and teach being down for a db fight

WHile I won't discount the possibility of the inevitable Shanks match being a friendly game style fight... the time for Teach to be such an opponent ended when Ace died and he killed Whitebeard.

For all that he's taking hits and losses, he's still being built up a one of, if not the, big bad and having him go goofy after he's been murdering people and conquering the world wouldn't really feel right.

Also, as to your second point. I really think it's the exact opposite. His goofy, pirate-y side, laughing, partying, (in this case) playing games, all while he commits his ruthless murders work insanely well together and make him such a great villain.

Doing a Davy Back, with all his small-time pirates partying all around, teasing Luffy and Shanks while reminding them of THE RULES and being as backhanded as possible during the games in a more brutal fashion compared to Foxy feels exactly something he'd do and I think it would work with Luffy. Shanks, too, maybe, depending on how his character turns out to be once he's on the focus.

I think it could work both as a built-up for Blackbeard, maybe he even breaks the rules himself in the end when he's about to lose and, if that's the case, as a final confrontation for the crown, Pirates to the end.

Man, I guess I just really love the idea and want to find reasons as to why it'll come to pass.

@StrawHatJedi said in Chapter 1109: Interception:

@Captain-M

Thank you for the time zone analysis, particularly the images. I was trying to communicate a similar idea on twitter, but it's really difficult without visuals.

The biggest problem I think is Dressrosa. The Straw Hats entered the New World in the waters surrounding Punk Hazard, so we know it's very close to the Red Line. It was then a one day voyage to Dressrosa; this is much shorter than the time it took to reach Zou, WCI, and Wano.

The Straw Hats were also sailing across the width of the Grand Line in the SE direction toward Egghead and it took six days of sailing.

All of this tells us that Dressrosa should be much, much closer to Marijoa than it is to Egghead.

If it was still night in Dressrosa, or at least, not quite dawn, it would be feasible for a small portion of the West Blue to still have dark skies. The island would need to be very near the intersection point between Red Line and Grand Line, but it could work.

The other detail I'll add is that because the 'end of the line' is still in the North East direction from both Egghead and Wano, it positions the Straw Hats geographically in the first half of the New World. Meaning, this voyage is far from over. At the very least, there's more than one more stop along the Grand Line before they approach Lodestar and Laugh Tale.

As for your comment about Alabasta's river, I honestly think its scale is the most fitting for the One Piece world. It's a shame Oda didn't account for longer travel time between story arcs, because I think a world larger than our own is probably more fitting for the scale of the adventure and the fantastic locations they visit.

Honestly the only thing I would change about One Piece is a little more padding / filler between major story arcs, ironically enough. I love the down moments between big adventures / battles where we get to spend time with the Straw Hats sailing between islands. I feel like it would've benefited the sense of scale as well as the world building if the Straw Hats encountered a few more stops along the way like Gaimon's island where no big battles happen, no major conflicts, but perhaps we get to see another crew member take center stage; an island where Sanji's cooking skills advance, Robin arrives at some insightful discovery, Nami's thieving or navigation skills are highlighted, etc. Given the strength of the Straw Hat's bonds and the fact that Oda suggests they have regimented daily and weekly living routines aboard the ship, I feel like more travel time would have been really beneficial.

In my head-canon, I insert more travel time wherever possible - most notably, between Skypiea and Longring and between Thriller Bark and Sabaody. Those are the two stretches of story where it doesn't explicitly say the Straw Hats arrived at their destination 'a few days later.'

EDIT: I see you already bring up Egghead being in the first half of the New World; I just skipped over that, but should've realized since it's also in your diagram.

I couldn't agree more. More time passing between Islands (or some more small islands to be visited) would quite literally improve every aspect of the series.

@cavendishsama said in Chapter 1119: EMET:

Was unsure how I felt about JoyBonney last week but I'm glad I kept calm to wait and see how it played out. I think Merphy Napier summed it up well in her chapter review. To sum up her summary: It made sense, it works thematically but practically it could cause issues. For me, there was a limit to how much I could accept JoyBonney as a great conclusion for her arc before it would become jarring, I think Oda stayed well under that limit with this chapter so yeah thumbs up for Bonney.

Merphy Napier has easily been the biggest addition to my enjoyment of One Piece in years. I get all the negativity and "shit chapter" here, but her videos always show the positivity the fandom still has and she tends to not ignore how things that might not work in chapter format work very well in the greater picture of things.

I was banking on Oda going brutal and having the Revolution torch Marijoa with all the CDs at the end of the series, but more and more I think (and hope) they'll get sidelined during the final events, when Imu, Elders, Holy Knights and Marines have their hands full, resulting in them starving and ultimately being killed off by their own workers when they rise up as soon as all the high military defenses are out of the picture.
(Maybe with some of them realizing the suffering they caused and aiding the uprising so we don't get an "all evil from birth"-scenario like with Orochis clan.

The "fight for safe havens"-comment Dragon made surely could be used to set this up. Citizens of the world storming the Red Line, getting killed by Celestial Dragons and retelliating without fear of Admirals would be interesting, too.

I really wish for Oda to not pull his punches with them.

@The-Light-of-Shandora said in The Weight Of Elbaf:

I try not to go in with high expectations, but I want that sense of wonder when the crew visited Skypia.
Everything was so different, the giant trees and birds, the culture of the Shandians. I hope we get something similar.
In the last chapter Oda already nailed the perspective and size different between the giants and the crew on the last page, I hope we get more of that during the arc.
Also I expect a lot of callbacks to Vicky the Viking.

I've had this idea for a while ever since people started talking about how few people are left that can challenge Emperor Luffy and his crew.
Vicky as a villain, something few people would expect, maybe mixed up with Loki the trickster god, as a villain who's dangerous because he keeps outthinking the crew could be interesting. Could also be an opportunity for the less combat oriented strawhats to shine...after all, I still firmly believe that every strawhat needs to/ will be a name to be feared before the end.

@Robby said in The Weight Of Elbaf:

@kevo_koma said in The Weight Of Elbaf:

And I can see shanks and teach being down for a db fight

WHile I won't discount the possibility of the inevitable Shanks match being a friendly game style fight... the time for Teach to be such an opponent ended when Ace died and he killed Whitebeard.

For all that he's taking hits and losses, he's still being built up a one of, if not the, big bad and having him go goofy after he's been murdering people and conquering the world wouldn't really feel right.

Also, as to your second point. I really think it's the exact opposite. His goofy, pirate-y side, laughing, partying, (in this case) playing games, all while he commits his ruthless murders work insanely well together and make him such a great villain.

Doing a Davy Back, with all his small-time pirates partying all around, teasing Luffy and Shanks while reminding them of THE RULES and being as backhanded as possible during the games in a more brutal fashion compared to Foxy feels exactly something he'd do and I think it would work with Luffy. Shanks, too, maybe, depending on how his character turns out to be once he's on the focus.

I think it could work both as a built-up for Blackbeard, maybe he even breaks the rules himself in the end when he's about to lose and, if that's the case, as a final confrontation for the crown, Pirates to the end.

Man, I guess I just really love the idea and want to find reasons as to why it'll come to pass.

@Robby said in The Weight Of Elbaf:

@kevo_koma said in The Weight Of Elbaf:

And I can see shanks and teach being down for a db fight

WHile I won't discount the possibility of the inevitable Shanks match being a friendly game style fight... the time for Teach to be such an opponent ended when Ace died and he killed Whitebeard.

For all that he's taking hits and losses, he's still being built up a one of, if not the, big bad and having him go goofy after he's been murdering people and conquering the world wouldn't really feel right.

I get your point, but I still think there's a good chance it'll happen - and personally? I really hope it does.

If you skip through the original Davy Back, you'll find a LOT of small moments about the crew wondering why the hell they're even taking part in this, pirate honor, etc., all resulting in them still playing by the rules of the event to the end. I can't help but think that that was intentional. Hell, the entire Davy Back-Arc seems like it could've been skipped if it wasn't for some bigger payoff in the long run. I've reread it recently for this reason and it really does feel like its there to built up for a more serious variant later-on.

Plus, it's the best way (at least the best way I can see with my limited storytelling capabilities) to have the "necessary" serious fights between "allies" without it feeling tacked-on or forced. Zoro vs Hawkeye is the biggest example, but I'm also thinking about possibilities like a shootout between Usopp and Yasopp, Shanks testing if Luffys crew really is better than even his own like Luffy promised, etc. It just feels like a handtailored opportunity to pull focus back on the main crew, to conclude a lot of character moments that wouldn't be possible in life-or-death fights like Wano, etc...to waste it. Might just be my own wishfull thinking, though.

I agree that adding Blackbeard to the fray would/will be a huge challenge, but I think Oda could pull it off, especially it he has had it planned for as long as I believe.

The conondrum between "don't uses the giants as hype tools" and "waaah, Saturn doesn't single-handedly body the entire giant crew including their leaders who may well be among the strongest fighters the giants have, all while he also has to hold out against an emperor, his crew, a warlord and a supernova"...

@cavendishsama said in Chapter 1119: EMET:

Was unsure how I felt about JoyBonney last week but I'm glad I kept calm to wait and see how it played out. I think Merphy Napier summed it up well in her chapter review. To sum up her summary: It made sense, it works thematically but practically it could cause issues. For me, there was a limit to how much I could accept JoyBonney as a great conclusion for her arc before it would become jarring, I think Oda stayed well under that limit with this chapter so yeah thumbs up for Bonney.

Merphy Napier has easily been the biggest addition to my enjoyment of One Piece in years. I get all the negativity and "shit chapter" here, but her videos always show the positivity the fandom still has and she tends to not ignore how things that might not work in chapter format work very well in the greater picture of things.

@access-timeco said in Chapter 1117: A:

I feel like the only person who absolutely hates the popular theory of Cross Guild turning into a hub for former-Warlords.
Weevil I could get behind because the organization seems the kind of thing Miss Bucking would want to join, but that's it. Hopefully the fact Mihawk still has a relevant individual role to play ensures that won't happen, since it would turn CG into a collection of "others".

I'm 50/50 on it. I absolutely love it, if it's used as build-up for the three (or four) -way Davy Back Fight, one of my absolute all-time-favorite theories (and imo the perfect way to do a final character-focused arc, to set up Zorro VS. Mihawk, to have Weevil play a role without highjacking an arc he imo has no place in, etc)...if it's not, I dislike it, too. Croc, Hawkeye and Buggy is enough in that case.

@StrawHatJedi said in Chapter 1109: Interception:

@Captain-M

Thank you for the time zone analysis, particularly the images. I was trying to communicate a similar idea on twitter, but it's really difficult without visuals.

The biggest problem I think is Dressrosa. The Straw Hats entered the New World in the waters surrounding Punk Hazard, so we know it's very close to the Red Line. It was then a one day voyage to Dressrosa; this is much shorter than the time it took to reach Zou, WCI, and Wano.

The Straw Hats were also sailing across the width of the Grand Line in the SE direction toward Egghead and it took six days of sailing.

All of this tells us that Dressrosa should be much, much closer to Marijoa than it is to Egghead.

If it was still night in Dressrosa, or at least, not quite dawn, it would be feasible for a small portion of the West Blue to still have dark skies. The island would need to be very near the intersection point between Red Line and Grand Line, but it could work.

The other detail I'll add is that because the 'end of the line' is still in the North East direction from both Egghead and Wano, it positions the Straw Hats geographically in the first half of the New World. Meaning, this voyage is far from over. At the very least, there's more than one more stop along the Grand Line before they approach Lodestar and Laugh Tale.

As for your comment about Alabasta's river, I honestly think its scale is the most fitting for the One Piece world. It's a shame Oda didn't account for longer travel time between story arcs, because I think a world larger than our own is probably more fitting for the scale of the adventure and the fantastic locations they visit.

Honestly the only thing I would change about One Piece is a little more padding / filler between major story arcs, ironically enough. I love the down moments between big adventures / battles where we get to spend time with the Straw Hats sailing between islands. I feel like it would've benefited the sense of scale as well as the world building if the Straw Hats encountered a few more stops along the way like Gaimon's island where no big battles happen, no major conflicts, but perhaps we get to see another crew member take center stage; an island where Sanji's cooking skills advance, Robin arrives at some insightful discovery, Nami's thieving or navigation skills are highlighted, etc. Given the strength of the Straw Hat's bonds and the fact that Oda suggests they have regimented daily and weekly living routines aboard the ship, I feel like more travel time would have been really beneficial.

In my head-canon, I insert more travel time wherever possible - most notably, between Skypiea and Longring and between Thriller Bark and Sabaody. Those are the two stretches of story where it doesn't explicitly say the Straw Hats arrived at their destination 'a few days later.'

EDIT: I see you already bring up Egghead being in the first half of the New World; I just skipped over that, but should've realized since it's also in your diagram.

I couldn't agree more. More time passing between Islands (or some more small islands to be visited) would quite literally improve every aspect of the series.

Personally I vibe with the idea of all 6 Vegapunks "dying"...then, as the last post-Egghead-scene we get a small vessel (maybe an Ufo or something) docking on Egghead and an ominous seventh shade overlooking the wreckage and going all "oh goddamn, can't leave the house for a day, can I?"

I really hope Zoros question/request is about helping the people from Wano with the afterefects of the SMILES.
Wano promised so much of what makes Zoro a cool character but the only pay-off was another "cool fight" which is always the lamest part of Zoro.

Also I really hope Luccis not supposed to be a threat once again. At this point at the very least everybody from Luffy to Franky should be able to stomp them and we desperately need some scenes that show the world reacting to the threat level the crew poses nowadays. Vegapunk talking about Robin and Zoro was a great first step, there's no need to ruin that by letting Lucci defeat crewmembers.

That being said, MAN, do the new chapters feel good and fresh again, I was a bit jaded after many things during Wano felt off for me, but this is rekindling my love for the series.