It's a mystery command chain.
Best posts made by Zanze
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RE: Egghead cuttaways
I kinda hate them, to be honest.
The events themselves feel mostly disconnected from the main story and they also feel somewhat abridged (Kidd getting one-shotted is the biggest offender, but also: the Blackbeards' powers get introduced a bit too quickly -some are not even shown in action-, Marco becomes friendly with Bakkin very suddenly...).
Then I can't help but feel like Elbaf and Fullalead are places we should have explored for the first time alongside the Straw Hats.Last but not least, I mostly enjoy One Piece for its moment-to-moment storytelling: the gags, the twists, the weird things the crew meets in a new island, the character interactions... The main plot in One Piece has mostly served to hold all that stuff together in my opinion, so these quick barrages of hype moments don't actually do a lot for me.
Plus I'm loving the Egghead arc and I'd like for the story to stay there.I might very well change my opinion if all this stuff gets to come together, and also, trying new things after 1000 chapters is of course okay... It's just that as of now I'm not really a fan.
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RE: Season 1 General Discussion
Finished the series. Overall I've really enjoyed it. The characters are on point, both visually and in terms of characterization, the sets are amazing, the story works and most of the changes are very inspired. Also loooved the soundtrack, I don't watch much of the anime but I wouldn't replace the sea shanties for anything else. Also liked how most characters had their own music style, jazzy Baratie, hip hop Arlong, and my favorite one is that distorted MEEEEOOOOOW that accompanies Kuro's scenes, ahah.
I liked Garp having a more expanded role. He's more down to earth than his manga version but I think he works. Him sending Mihawk after Luffy makes sense, he wanted to teach his grandson a lesson (or at the very least, test his will as is revealed in the last episode). Same for Koby, seeing him gradually grow into the heroic Marine he becomes later in the story is cool. I said that Arlong looked too scrawny in the trailers, but in the actual series he worked really well. He feels very intimidating, and I also liked how he's more in line with his characterization during the Fishman Island flashback than with his money-obsessed East Blue version. It just makes his character more grounded. Buggy is also very different from the manga, he's still a fun character but I'm not fully on board yet. But, he works.
Also, the action scenes just worked. I'm not fully convinced by Luffy's fights yet, but daaamn Zoro and Sanji's fights are spectacular. Really well-coreographed, and very readable. Buggy's powers also worked way better than I thought it would.My biggest criticism would be that they changed or streamlined some of the character beats too much. As a seasoned OP fan I didn't mind it that much, but my girlfriend, in her first exposure to the series, failed to connect with most of the crew with the exception of Nami. In particular:
-Luffy finding Zoro on the cross after, like, one hour he's been there reeeeally doesn't have the same impact as Luffy finding Zoro on the cross after he's been there for a week and is literally dying of starvation like in the manga. The rice ball scene with the little girl was also way stronger in the manga. It just feels kinda devoid of context in this version. Also, Morgan doesn't really come off as a villain at all here. It's not too much of a big deal, that section of the story still works as a quick introduction to the main characters, but the emotional beats kinda aren't there.
-They skipped way too much stuff about Usopp. You don't really get why he wants to become a brave warrior of the seas here, since he's never shown to be much of a coward. Without the Usopp Crew, his fascination with pirates is also barely conveyed. And without Django, he pretty much loses the moment where he's most useful to the crew. Also, with Merry dead, you don't even much get why he up and decides to leave Kaya all alone. Don't get me wrong, I think the actor did a very good job and Usopp very much feels like Usopp, I just feel like he lost most of what made him memorable in the early days of the series.
They also simplified Sanji's introduction arc but I think it worked a little better there.
Aside fom that, Episode 4 felt a little like it was dragging on sometimes, the Luffy fight scenes are for sure going to be better in future seasons, and some camera angles were weird.
That's pretty much it as far as my criticism goes. It's easier to talk about what you don't like as opposed to what you like, I want to stress that I've really enjoyed the series a lot.Nami I think is the real heart of the show here. She's the only character who gets development throughout the entire series, and is often the catalyst to bring out more character out of the rest of the cast (Luffy just like in the manga, but here Zoro and Kaya as well). Also, Arlong Park was the least streamlined arc and I think it really payed off here. For example, Arlong sending Nezumi to retrieve Nami's money is one of those things that could have easily been skipped (much like Kuro's crew assaulting the village and stuff like that), but it's the main catalyst to the "Help me" scene and keeping it really worked in making it as effective as it should be. Not every detail from the mangs is there, but I don't think it matters because you still really feel for Nami there.
Sanji's flashback was also very good.The final scenes were also great, I loved Shanks in this. "I could beat you with one arm tied behind my b-wahahahahahahahah", and the barrel scene was perfect. The Smoker tease too!
Oh and I couldn't help but smile at the references to later stuff like Sypiea, Foxy and Punk Hazard. They were very smooth with the easter eggs!
Overall I've had a ton of fun. My girlfriend not as much, though. She only started to get more into the series from Sanji's flashback, which... makes sense. That's how it goes for most people. She even cheered on Nami during the Nezumi scene! She's still not fully convinced though. But Drum and Alabasta might do the trick a couple years from now.
Also glad that the series is finding success. It's fun, fresh and well made, I'd certainly want to see more.
That's pretty much it as far as my impressions go... -
RE: Chapter 1075: Labophase Death Game
If anything, more or less grounded theorycrafting and predictions are more interesting to read than the endless and increasingly wilder Yamato coping. Even if they pan out to be wrong they can offer you a new perspective into the story you didn't think about.
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RE: Chapter 1078: Escape Limit
After having been hyped for more than half of the story, I think it's only right that Vegapunk gets to be a well-developed, memorable character instead of just a glorified in-story SBS lore drop.
I also appreciate that Oda is trying to write a well-intentioned character who also has a ton of flaws. It's somewhat rare in shonen and even in One Piece itself, really, at least to this extent.Plus the art was on fire this week, York towering over Stella with her absent-minded smile that now feels intimitading and that panel with Bonney crying are just really great.
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RE: Chapter 1106: On Your Side
Egghead as of now also feels to me like it's going to end in 3 chapters at most, but on the other hand Saturn has really been built up as the despiceable villain that gets taken down in a big climax. Saving him for later would remove most of the catharsis for all the Kuma/Bonney related stuff... Who knows.
There's some things that I haven't liked that much about Egghead, but at the very least it's been an unpredictable ride. -
RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 9 - Yamato vs. The World)
I got a lot of flak a few months ago when I said Yamato's role in the story was to enable other characters' stories.
We need someone to have Oden's journal.
We need someone to protect Momonosuke.
We need someone to stall Kaido once Luffy is thrown outside.
We need someone to teach Momo how to be a dragon.
We need someone to be Momo's mentor figure while Luffy is busy.So, someone was made to fill those blanks. How do you make people interested in such a character? Create big expectations about him.
I do see Yamato having a character arc, it's just does not seem to be the one people want. If it's meant to make him fond of Momonosuke and realise his role is as Wano's "Guardian Spirit", every choice so far makes sense. He starts in Point A ("I want to go to the sea") and ends in Point B ("I see this is my place after all"). Wants vs Needs. If not, then it's questionable while he got those roles in the first place. His character arc should have been something else.
You know, given his background (20 years of isolation and suffering, with pretending to be another person being the only thing to keep him sane) I thought Yamato would be a little too naive, or a little too nutty, or a little too sheltered or all of the above. And he was like that in the first few chapters, but then as soon as he met Franky he was basically the most mature person in the entire Onigashima already and then he went on to become Momo's mentor. Even the Oden thing was kinda dropped.
It all felt a little artificial, I don't know how to say it -
RE: One Piece Live-Adaptation Drama Announced
The trailer looked... fine?
The sets are very good, the characters are mostly on point, Lord of the Coast looked great, and I really don't mind them changing Luffy or Zoro's characterization a little bit to make them more grounded, or changing the humor to be a bit more mainstream. But this mostly felt like One Piece to me.
The two things I didn't like are:
-the lighting, it's way too yellow/brown, the One Piece world should be colorful and vibrant, and it's even more of a weird decision because the characters fully embrace the goofy vibes instead,
-and the Gum Gum Pistol, the effect looks fine but the composition of the shot is weird. Alvida (?) looks like she's just standing there waiting to get punched in the face.
But overall this looked pretty good, even fresh actually, I'm definitely going to watch it.
I'd also be more interested in the reactions of people who weren't already familiar with One Piece. -
RE: Chapter 1065: Six Vegapunks
Vegapunk is so fun. We've been waiting for more than half of the series' runtime to meet him, but so far it's been worth it.
The idea that he didn't split only his body, but also his personality is really cool. It both makes for a fun cast of weird scientists, and creates intrigue for just what kind of person is the main Vegapunk going to be. He has made many ethically questionable things to say the least, and it's a bit telling that two of his personalities are devoted to "negative" traits (Lilith is Evil and Atlas is Wrath), while the other four are more impersonal (Edison and Pythagoras just do "cold" scientific research, York just does bodily functions, and Shaka... seems to be a decent guy?), but everyone spoke very well of him in his home island, and overall we've been getting an ambigous vibe from him.
An entire body being devoted to eat/poop/sleep and seemingly not even being able to talk is pretty creepy, though. I wonder how far Oda's going to explore this potential thread.The fight with Seraphim Jinbe was cool, him having Pink's fruit is also a stroke of genius. Can't help but feel worried for Pink though... Maybe he's dead and that's why his meeting at a bar with Franky was drawn as a non-canon chapter cover. I always found that a little weird, but it's only clicking now.
Otherwise, Vegapunk can now wholesale copy Devil Fruits. He already did that with Kaido's fruit but that was supposed to be a secret, at least to the WG, while now DF clonation is public. Assuming Pink is still alive, of course.
The final reveal isn't super surprising, with the Ancient Kingdom having built Pluton and all the similarities to Atlantis assuming they were very technologically advanced was sort of a 2+2. I'd agree that these reveals are being introduced in a bit of an anticlimatic way, but so far the set-up of the island is still very intriguing and these are easily the most fun chapters we've had in a long while. -
RE: Post-Wano plotline roundup: Law, Kid and the other supernovas
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.
Latest posts made by Zanze
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RE: Chapter 1106: On Your Side
Egghead as of now also feels to me like it's going to end in 3 chapters at most, but on the other hand Saturn has really been built up as the despiceable villain that gets taken down in a big climax. Saving him for later would remove most of the catharsis for all the Kuma/Bonney related stuff... Who knows.
There's some things that I haven't liked that much about Egghead, but at the very least it's been an unpredictable ride. -
RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
@Zin-Magala I see. To be fair I don't think Vivi is joining either, I just think she's going to play the most important role and to get the most emotional reunion with the crew out of all the pseudo-crewmembers in the grand finale.
Actually, I'm a next crewmate atheist.
It's just been Luffy to Brook for such a long time, Jinbe works because he's also been around since forever and he already went through quite a few big story arcs as basically a crewmate anyways. I can't see any entirely new character join this late in the game and be convincing as a part of the group. In fact, I probably shouldn't even be posting in this thread. Crew's full! -
RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
@black-leg-jex said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead):
Well yeah, my point wasn't to compare both of Brook and Yamato's situation, I was just pointing out the hypocrisy of the red herring argument. Yamato suffers from Wano's bloat which is an issue Brook didn't have with Thriller Bark and while both do have an existing connection with a friend of the Straw Hats (Laboon for Brook, Ace for Yamato) the former is far more impactful because of how little focus Laboon actually had and how long it was between his introduction and Thriller Bark.
Eh, you can only tell what was a red herring and what wasn't with hindsight. I didn't think Yamato had "the sauce" to become a main character, but only because his role in Onigashima wasn't really building up to that. From his introduction alone it could have gone either way.
But I'm sure Oda could have developed him more if he was a priority. Law got a ton of focus during Dressrosa, which was also a very crowded arc, and Yamato had plenty of screen time anyways, it's just that Oda didn't do much with it... Which I also didn't like, because future crewmember or not, Yamato's past with Kaido was very interesting and it feels like it all kinda got glossed over. Like a lot things Kaido, in fact. Ah well.@Zin-Magala said in Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead):
As far as Yamato not having a character arc, both Nami and Robin joined without getting a character arc until later. Robin joined without anything checked off. Certain events needed to happen before Oda could tell that story and who's to say that's not the case for Yamato. Sorry, Oda doesn't work on your timetable and he's not sitting at home thinking, "Welp, I didn't do a thing in Wano so I have to scrap Yamato and come up with a new character to be the last SH."
In principle, sure, but I couldn't see this working in Yamato's case. He never left Onigashima in his whole life iirc, and the man responsible for all his pain and suffering was Kaido, the arc villain and his very own father. You'd think that would be the arc where Yamato gets the most amount of focus. Like, he could find his Hogback later, but his Wapol was Kaido.
Instead of being front and center of the struggle against Kaido, Yamato got more or less relegated to playing second fiddle to Momo. He wasn't even mentioned by Luffy when he was gathering his forces before the final Gear 5, and he even named Pedro there.I'm not saying that the character is worthless or is never going to get any other important role in the future (in fact it's pretty clear that he will), just that he never got the amount of development that's usually reserved to crewmembers, and the ship has sailed without him.
I'm pretty sure that whatever happens with Pluton will involve both him and Momo (and hopefully my boy Kin) because that's more or less what the story has been setting up, then of course I could be wrong.And also, Vivi has already abandoned Alabasta. Not willingly, of course... but if I had to bet on a pseudo-crewmember becoming very, very important it would be her.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
I started reading when Brook was already in, but what really sells him in Thriller Bark, more than Luffy asking him to join, is everything that comes after.
One full chapter of bonding with the crew while some mysteries about his past and motivations still linger. Him saving Franky and Robin and impressing them with his backstory, which at that point is still under wraps. Then the Laboon twist, and the recovery of Brook's shadow becoming one of the main reasons Luffy fought Moria for, with Zoro even commenting that now they have to recover one more shadow. The afro scene! The fact that in the fight against Oars he was already doing team moves with the crew. Then, his flashback which is not only moving but also very unique still 55 volumes later, culminating in a crying scene (THAT is what every single crewmate has actually gotten).
And last but not least, Brook of course has that striking design (not that Yamato's is bad but it's not a gentleman skeleton with an afro and a yohoho). All this from Vol. 45 to 50.
Meanwhile in the same amount of chapters Yamato speaks to Luffy like twice and to Franky for one panel. There's no twists or mysteries to his story, and I wouldn't rank his half-a-chapter long flashback among the best of the series. The emotional center of the arc still lies very clearly in Momo with a side of Kin'emon....and then of course, Brook joined while Yamato didn't.
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RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
So long after the fact, I can say that pulling the "I'm going to join your crew!" card with Yamato wasn't really that great of an idea. It created unreasonable expectations for the character - he'd have to get a striking flashback, a unique fighting style, some funny or endearing interactions with the crew, a greater struggle with Kaido and a bigger sense of catharsis when he finally went down.
Then of course none of that happened, because Yamato was a Wano side character, which is fine. But if he was to become a crewmember, I was expecting much more from week to week and in the end it became frustrating and a lot of the Yamato stuff ended up feeling like a waste of pages. In hindsight, though, there was nothing wrong with Yamato as a side character, in particular as Momo's mentor and "other half". That's the role he actually played in the story, and he worked well enough for that - aside from, again, all those pages wasted for the fire subplot that didn't really accomplish anything.Can't understand how people still expect him to join the crew, after the ship has already sailed and after the character didn't get any of the typical developments a crewmate gets. Even Jinbe's delayed joining made sense, since he had a higher standing than Luffy back in Fishman Island, but that's not the case for Yamato. And Jinbe got more of the typical treatment anyways, some of his scenes with Luffy in Marineford and Fishman Island were very heavy, he had a flashback and he interacted a lot with the other crewmates, particularly with Nami.
So Yamato should come back randomly one day, join the crew for no reason, being uber stronker than anyone else, already knowing Luffy's endgame without having sailed with him, and being instantly beloved by everyone without the audience getting to see how that bond formed? That's 100% Poochie territory.
Isn't it better if he just remains a side character that will probably play some important role (alongside Momo) in the grand finale? Oda knows better than to make the last crewmate a Poochie. He can still do amazing backstories, Kuma and Bonney just got one, why couldn't the last crewmember get it? -
RE: Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 10 - Egghead)
Yamato has a strong case for joining the crew, but before that happens he should get access to a time machine. In the meantime, whenever Yamato is not on screen, the other characters should be wondering: "Where's Yamato??"
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RE: Jump Festa 2024
Fullalead would be amazing, when was the last time One Piece had a strictly pirate-themed setting? Sabaody? Jaya?
Between Rocky Port, the Wang Zhi dude, the treasure of the island, the Davy Back Fight origins, and the place having been the base of operations of the Rocks pirates there's already plenty of stuff to explore. Not to mention Garp and the Blackbeards being there...
The "that treasure" thing in particolar really sounds like a teaser for future events imo.That said, I think Oda is just referring to Elbaf here
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RE: Chapter 1100: Thank You, Bonney
I've just now realized that Luffy and Kuma might very well have interacted with each other back in Goa. Kuma just needed to erase Luffy's memory of their meeting. Maybe this is how we get to know Luffy's ultimate dream?
I've also come up with another crackpot theory. What if Kuma's mind was never erased? He's just been faking it? Nobody but Vegapunk could know. It destroys the tragedy but I dunno, it's the kind of twist that Oda sometimes likes to do.
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RE: The New Nintendo Thread™
F-Zero 99 is a blast. I was initially disappointed in getting a battle royale based on the SNES game after 20 years of waiting for a GX sequel, but they really captured everything I like about F-Zero in this game and they even added a new spin on it.
This is the most fun I've had with a videogame since like Smash Ultimate or Metroid Dread, I just can't stop playing -
RE: Season 2 (and Beyond?) Speculation Thread (Spoilers)
I don't think they'd make Brook join in a movie.
Maybe they could adapt Strong World