One Piece
Oh how nice it is to wake up to a new One Piece chapter. Best one of this arc so far (if we're not counting the SH's finally meeting up as a part of the FI arc). Great great action. Luffy not really giving a fuck about the people and just straight wrecking VDD and the giant in one shot each was just fantastic. Him doing it while tied up is no surprise. I also loved Sanji's petrification moment. I don't know what Nami could be up to, but it's interesting that her goals are information first, money second now. She could have easily been worried about losing all the money she could've gotten from looting shit at the palace but now she strictly wants to go see Jinbei.
And then there's Zoro. One shot. Epic shit. Just what I expected. I don't know what's going to happen from here on out but Hodi and VDD have officially become Timeskip Fodder. Not that there's a problem with that. Timeskip/Training fodder is one of the things we love about shounen, right? We know that the SH's have many battles ahead of them, so it's not a big deal. Like I said at the beginning of the arc, I don't expect to see a battle where any of the monster trio actually struggle until the New World. I might be wrong, but yeah. Hopefully we don't spend too much time more in this arc as it seems like Luffy is tired of it and I know we al want them to get to the New World.
I only wish we could've seen the start and end of Zoro's fight instead of just the end-slash and I also wish we could've gotten a bigger/more detailed panel for Luffy's great Haki moment.
Like some say, I'm not surprised at all that Hodi and VDD turned out like this. What the hell do people expect. HOWEVER, this assessment:
Squall ASF said:
The problem with this is that Oda doesn't know how to properly display how bad ass they are because he didn't set up the villains better. DBZ did it right, show the ginyuu force destroy the other fighters including Vegita who was pretty strong up till then to really emphasize how strong the enemies were so that when Goku came and one shot Recume, it was a big deal. Zoro one shot Hodi, good, because Hodi is a scrub so he should. Doesn't emphasize how strong Zoro actually is because none of us respect Hodi in the first place. How many posts have we had talking about how weak Hodi is, that he needs drugs to have any sort of power, etc.? You need some kind of build up for the enemies, make them look badass and strong before the protagonists crush them if you really want to display the protag's new found strength.
I agree with. It would have been like if DBZ did this: Talk of Ginyu force (most feared group/fighters evar etc. etc. etc.) -> Ginyu arrives -> As soon as Ginyu arrives, Goku arrives -> Goku wrecks Ginyu force. We would have just been like "okay well I guess that means Goku's training made him a beast." Like how we just assume that "SH's 2-year training made them beasts." THat's fine (to me), but it's even better if the enemies do something horrific to townsfolk/army/other characters and then zoro comes in and one shots him/luffy rapes.
But there are differences among the two that the comparison might not be able to be taken wholly as accurate (mainly, the chracters), but I still agree that while I was wowed by the actions of luffy and Zoro, I wasn't like "OH SHIT" or "OH SNAP SON" like with other moments, mainly because I thought that Hodi and VDD rubbish all along. It doesn't say much to emphasize the strength of training/timeskip if the enemy you defeat is fodder. Now when I see Luffy one shot the main villain of this arc (if he/she appears soon)...then I'll be like "OH SHIT SON." Some might cry fowl but like I said we still have the entire new world, this is just the interlude between it and the first half of the GL.
Yoboman said:
Why the Hell does Hodi have to be strong? You think this nobody villain should destroy a few Strawhats first?
It's not that Hodi has to be strong, it's just that he should be strong in relation to most other people. Or at least the readers should get that if we want to emphasize the effectiveness of the SH's training. They were built up verbally but they never really did anything (YET - they might not be down for the count, changing this discussion entirely - but I don't see Hodi getting back up and being ready and rearing to go). Also, I don't see that swordsman being a challenege
And not that he should destroy one of the strawhats, the SH's aren't the only catalysts to display strength.
The comparison has some differences, but I say that it's valid in it's grounding point: That as villains, readers don't seem to give a fuck about VDD and Hodi (at least I didn't). This kind of underhands the great victories we just saw. If we knew that one of the two of them have been doing horrific things for years to the townsfolk or successfully manhandled Ryuuguu palace before, something to add to their characters before they became Timeskip fodder. I knew it was going to happen but to emphasize Zoro and Luffy's strength it could have helped to make them less like lames from the beginning.
Also, I don't see that swordsman being a challenege to Zoro either, he had a good moment, but come on. This is fucking Zoro right now. He didn't even really do anything against Hodi but a strike and he was underwater for Christ's sake.
Now, I know how people feel about OP. So yeah. :lol
Kreed said:
And unfortunately the Straw Hats fighting random Fishmen and struggling like they normally do against bad guys in previous arcs will not help the audience see how much stronger they've become when you have monsters like Akainu, Marco, and Blackbeard running around the Grandline.
Isn't that the point of what is being talked about here. These guys should not have been seen as "random fishmen." If they were seen as big bad guys like previous villains in arcs, and then Luffy and Zoro one shotted them, it would have a bigger effect and show off their training more. If they were a lot more respected by the audience and had more credentials as villains, we would be ready to believe and start to see the differences in strength.
I also agree with your assessment on this arc, but I think that Hodi and VDD would have been better off getting more development as big bad villains (if they are going to be the villains) to show the difference in strength. However, if someone new shows up, I won't be surprised either. Oda can go a couple of routes from here.
Edit: Jesus that was a long post. Waiting for
Bleach now.