Discussion WANO ARC - Rating and discussion

[Josef]

Give the overall raiting for Wano as well discuss general things about the story within it.

 

[Aki1991]

Wano has amazing moments but the bad moments are forcing me to rate this Arc as only mediocre to good. A lot of time wasted on unnecessary panels and too many unanswered things.

 

[Sachsenhesse]

Good aka mediocre. Too many sideplots i didnt care for, but the things i wanted to see(zoro and wano) were cut short.

Also ZKK didnt come true.

Rooftopfight was the hype... but Big Mom sucked in every panel and way imaginable.

 

[Crimson Ice]

Good, a 6.5-7 out of 10.

 

[catagon87]

Average. Better than Fishman Island, but not as good as Enies Lobby.
Pretty equal to Dressrosa for me in terms of how good it is.

Cons:

• Dragged on needlessly at points.
• Off-paneling got ridiculous. We don't even know what happened to Luffy that caused him to get knocked OFF Onigashima.
• Certain plot points dragged - notably anything involving Orochi and Kanjuro
• The end felt... unfulfilling?
• The acts were disproportionate lengths that almost made it feel like Oda forgot he structured the arc around acts.
• Usopp was disappointing, considering the last milestone he achieved was in Dressrosa. He gained COO but despite many opportunities to expand on that in the arc's drag, we didn't get anything of the sort.
• Akazaya 9 were meh. Denjiro was hyped up quite a bit but at the end of the day he did nothing special in the fight against Kaido, or anywhere else. Killing Orochi was a nice touch, but Orochi was practically dead at that point.
• Big Mom's crew went all the way to Wano but didn't even get to participate. I'm not sure what the point of them was other than getting Big Mom there, and possibly retrieving her.
• This is one of the only arcs that we don't really get full closure on what actually happened to the bad guy. Kaido, whose last attack involved surrounding himself with flames hot enough to melt rock (magma), sank into some lava.
• Apoo is a complete asshole, and despite that, combined with Kidd's overall harsh tough-guy attitude, they just... let him live? After all that? Not believable in the slightest.
• The deaths felt almost calculated in how insignificant they were. Which brings me to..
• Inconsistencies - Oda randomly killed off Izou in a mostly-off-screened skirmish with CP0. Ashura was killed by a bomb.. by Kanjuro. Ashura was going toe-to-toe with Jack at the beginning of Wano. I doubt Jack would be killed by a bomb in the OP world, so why was Ashura? Why was Kanjuro's ability so freaking powerful?
• The writing of child characters is just weird sometimes. Momo is 8, but I've only felt like I was reading dialogue from an 8 year old at a few points.
• Kaido had a lot of potential to be a much more interesting character, but unfortunately we barely got into that. I do not understand why it was relevant to give us so many chapters of Big Mom's past, but barely half a chapter of Kaido's.
• The arc created some of the dumbest, most mundane topics that refused to die down, including:
  • ZKK (I still think my avatar version is more likely than the actual theory panning out)
  • Yamato's gender
  • Sanji vs Zoro getting to previously unseen toxic levels

Pros:

• Gear 5 was fun.
• The intermediary chapters between acts were great; Learning about Rocks, and the bounties of pirates long past was also a nice touch.
• Sanji and Zoro's fights were good, IMHO.
• Bugging failing up one more level.
• Kaido was an absolute monster and the build up of his reputation makes his defeat feel better.
• Big Mom getting taken out by Kidd and Law.
• The first act felt adventurous and limitless in possibilities.
• I personally liked Yamato, and the dialogue with Ace/about Luffy.
• Straw Hats coming together after a crazy amount of years.
• Onigashima started strong, with Denjiro and Jinbei

 

[grey matter]

Average. Better than Fishman Island, but not as good as Enies Lobby.
Pretty equal to Dressrosa for me in terms of how good it is.

Cons:

• Dragged on needlessly at points.
• Off-paneling got ridiculous. We don't even know what happened to Luffy that caused him to get knocked OFF Onigashima.
• Certain plot points dragged - notably anything involving Orochi and Kanjuro
• The end felt... unfulfilling?
• The acts were disproportionate lengths that almost made it feel like Oda forgot he structured the arc around acts.
• Usopp was disappointing, considering the last milestone he achieved was in Dressrosa. He gained COO but despite many opportunities to expand on that in the arc's drag, we didn't get anything of the sort.
• Akazaya 9 were meh. Denjiro was hyped up quite a bit but at the end of the day he did nothing special in the fight against Kaido, or anywhere else. Killing Orochi was a nice touch, but Orochi was practically dead at that point.
• Big Mom's crew went all the way to Wano but didn't even get to participate. I'm not sure what the point of them was other than getting Big Mom there, and possibly retrieving her.
• This is one of the only arcs that we don't really get full closure on what actually happened to the bad guy. Kaido, whose last attack involved surrounding himself with flames hot enough to melt rock (magma), sank into some lava.
• Apoo is a complete asshole, and despite that, combined with Kidd's overall harsh tough-guy attitude, they just... let him live? After all that? Not believable in the slightest.
• The deaths felt almost calculated in how insignificant they were. Which brings me to..
• Inconsistencies - Oda randomly killed off Izou in a mostly-off-screened skirmish with CP0. Ashura was killed by a bomb.. by Kanjuro. Ashura was going toe-to-toe with Jack at the beginning of Wano. I doubt Jack would be killed by a bomb in the OP world, so why was Ashura? Why was Kanjuro's ability so freaking powerful?
• The writing of child characters is just weird sometimes. Momo is 8, but I've only felt like I was reading dialogue from an 8 year old at a few points.
• Kaido had a lot of potential to be a much more interesting character, but unfortunately we barely got into that. I do not understand why it was relevant to give us so many chapters of Big Mom's past, but barely half a chapter of Kaido's.
• The arc created some of the dumbest, most mundane topics that refused to die down, including:
  • ZKK (I still think my avatar version is more likely than the actual theory panning out)
  • Yamato's gender
  • Sanji vs Zoro getting to previously unseen toxic levels

Pros:

• Gear 5 was fun.
• The intermediary chapters between acts were great; Learning about Rocks, and the bounties of pirates long past was also a nice touch.
• Sanji and Zoro's fights were good, IMHO.
• Bugging failing up one more level.
• Kaido was an absolute monster and the build up of his reputation makes his defeat feel better.
• Big Mom getting taken out by Kidd and Law.
• The first act felt adventurous and limitless in possibilities.
• I personally liked Yamato, and the dialogue with Ace/about Luffy.
• Straw Hats coming together after a crazy amount of years.
• Onigashima started strong, with Denjiro and Jinbei

I disagree with some of the "pros", but solid analysis otherwise man.

Gear 5 and Nika DF reveal was horrible IMO. Zoro and Sanji fights were garbage as well

 

[Demonspeed]

Below average. It started rather well though.

• Oden was trash and the flashback was far too long.
• The only good thing about Kaidou was his power level. He was a joke as an antagonist and so was Big Mom. But Big Mom at least had an interesting backstory.
• The plot armor was a bit too obvious.
• Too much focus on certain characters/plots without a satisfying conclusion.
• Zoro and Sanji's fights were bad and so was Luffy's fight.

No post TS arc can be worse than Fishman Island but this is the second worst IMO. There are some good moments of course but this arc wasn't good.

 

[Meliodaf]

I enjoyed it but that appears to be an unpopular opinion.

I like the Oden flashback and getting to see a young Whitebeard and Roger. I love Gear 5. I love any moment where we see Traffy, Kid and Luffy together. My only issues were the number of flashbacks (some felt unnecessary) and fakeout deaths.I don’t much care for Kaido but I like Big Mom as antagonist

Oh and I’m sick of Robin not having these conversations about incredibly dangerous ancient weapons in more private areas. I’m also tired of no one “hearing” Caribou but I’m not entirely sure how that works

 

[Zmsp]

Well, I'd rate it as the worst major arc to date, but mostly because it still looks unfinished, despite so many years invested in it. It's tremendously weird, because I feel like most of what happened is a setup for when we eventually come back to it, pretty much like Fishman Island.

If we do come back to it, I think we might get something amazing out of that sequence, and that'll largely be related to how much investment we had during these past few years. If that ends up happening, I'll evaluate Wano as a whole, and my perception will probably change.

With that being said, I can only evaluate what we have on our hands, and that's a really lackluster arc with some very sloppy/disjointed chains of events, and barely any pay-offs, and that's obviously aggravated by the lenght of the arc, the build up to it, and the pacing Oda went for.

 

[Lord Traffy Law]

7/10
I like nika fruit design not a fan of its fighting style it kinda removes tension

 

[Cortes]

Started good but the longer it went, the worse it became until it was overall just Poor.

Heck, I even skipped One Piece for a time during Oden flashback because I cared so little for it.

 

[Aki1991]

7/10
I like nika fruit design not a fan of its fighting style it kinda removes tension

Feel the same

 

[Vanshrimp]

it is a 4/10 for me. it should have ended months ago...

 

[weixiaobao]

So I just finished watching Act 1- One Pace version on 1.2x speed.

-Kinemon's retelling of the past is especially weak. At one point, he is like I remember Oden last moment. The anime had some extended scene which literally wasn't Oden's last moment. Of course, how could they know at the time.
-Hawkins were pretty competent in Act 1
-I remember a lot of people criticized Luffy in Dressrosa and other part of the story that he didn't improve. Especially giving what happened in MF. And Zoro told him to be more serious in Punk Hazard. But the whole Act 1 was put into motion due to the rashness of Luffy. He almost destroyed a village.
-The infamous fight between Kaido and Luffy. Yeah, the manga and anime really give very different feel. But boy, since I just watch Demon Slayer which also feature a fight in a middle of a city. Boy, Kaido being that big could have kill a ton of bystanders.
-The "Ha" joke was yuck. The diarrhea joke was just barely better. O-Kiku feigning weakness was getting annoying as well.
-Shutenmaru/Kamawatsu had pretty bad ass appearance. They did give room for each of the scabbards to showcase themselves.
-By sidelining most of the strawhats, the whole Luffy/Zoro going on an adventure together feel like early One Piece. And then Zoro went off on another journey. It kinda contrive the way they had him out of that storyline, and move into another one with his sense of direction.
-They did a decent job to paint the current Orochi's Wano. Some of it feel western, with gunslingers riding lizards.
-O-Tama became the face of the regular people of Wano giving her struggle. And her story with Ace, making it personal for Luffy.
-Holdem power is pretty decent. I didn't remember his sword is disconnect like Renji from Bleach.

-I totally understand why it took 20 years just so the timeline match up. Having Oden tangled with Roger and Whitebeard. And also having Luffy entering Wano. Even then, latter on, they had to extend the 5 years of stupid dancing to have everything match up. But logically, 20 years is too long and too short. Too long because the enemies will have a stronger foothold in the country, and time to get stronger. Too short, because with her power she could literally send her kids to the time after the enemies already dead. A shorter amount of time, Kinemon could have easily go to Whitebeard for help. It is a plot convenient, neither here or there. But one thing about this plot that I do like is that Orochi became really paranoid due to it.

 

[qdtimes2]

Overall good.

The good:
1. Showcases Kaido's power by 1 hitting Gear 4 Luffy.
2. Intermission with Gecko Moria/Blackbeard, Rocks Pirates, the Yonkou and Roger's bounty, good flashback of Oden, Whitebeard and Roger, nice touch of Laugh Tale.
3. Reveal of the new admiral Ryokugyu, and Shanks showing off.
4. Buggy and Cross Guild reveal.
5. Big Mom landing on Wano and hilariously losing memory.
6. Luffy's haki level up + devil fruit nature reveal
7. Yasuie and the fox Onimaru's sacrifices
8. Return of Marco the Phoenix, Jimbei, Neko and Izou
9. Nami's official power up with Zeus.

The bad:
1. Orochi and Kanjuro lived too long, despite being on the verge of death already.
2. Kanjuro's traitorous acts and rationale for betraying felt underwhelming and unnecessary. I had faith that he was double agent.
3. Off-screen deaths of Ashura (who could stand off against Oden for some time, and also an equal to Inu and Neko and Jack) and Izou.
4. CP0 members in Wano felt underwhelming compared to Lucci and Kaku, despite earlier tease in Dressrosa.
5. Kaido's underlings felt underwhelming.
6. Kid's power and awakening felt underwhelming, felt like Franky's mish-mashed attacking of sorts.
7. Luffy's getting KO-ed from the island felt underwhelming and unnecessary.
8. The nine scabbards could take down and hurt Kaido to my expectations, only to my disappointment later that it wasn't really anything in the end.

The ok:
1. Many of Strawhats not getting to show off or go on detailed fights. Hope this is reserved for the last Saga.

Not sure:
1. I felt like Kaido wasn't so much of a villain, even though this Saga was meant to build up until this point. Compared to Arlong, Crocodile, Enel, Lucci, the only reason Luffy was pissed off with him is because Kaido enslaved Wano and made Wano starved.

 

[FetherMan]

Wano had its moments, but dragged out too long much like Dressrosa with a mundane ending. Even the set up for what’s coming is meh, right now.

 

[weixiaobao]

Act 2 is so long, and Act 3 is even longer. Just finished the capital shenanigan which is O-Soba Mask and infiltration of Orochi’s banquet. Using the spoiler thing so that it doesn't take up too much space. I am surprisingly enjoying this watching so far. I could see how a chapter with so many different scenes. Zooming back and forth would be annoying and dizzying. But the Anime slowing down a bit does help out.

Spoiler

-The interlude, we got Moriah showing up again. Reading weekly was fun because it finally provide the answer for one of the theory involving Absalom and the news. Perona really care for Moriah. And Moriah really care for Absalom. One could wonder what was the aftermath of Kaido’s slaughter of his previous crew. I had hope he showed up in Wano to help bring down Kaido. Outside of that theory, there was a lot of discussion involving who is the traitor and the time travel stuffs. Pretty great for coming up with theories.

-X Drake showed up here, which made me think of the previous Act where about a year ago, he destroyed a village. Tama’s village. I don’t remember if this will get brought up again. But that is a tad cruel for a good faction of the Marine.

-Udon, the whole break your spirit thing was kinda silly since Hyogoro was there forever. And even if he broke his spirit now, he is useless to the Beast Pirate being that frail and underfed for years now.

-Damn, Dobon’s existence is painful. The Hippo part probably had a jaw ache having to close its mouth rarely. And coming out of the pandemic, bad breath and mask is a terrible combination. So having your nose inside a mouth is not an ideal situation for Dobon. Caribou too with his tongue and never closing his mouth. Either way, X Drake or other Beast Pirate should have turn in Caribou. His bounty worth more than whatever labor he provided.

-New characters, Oniwabanshu was so promising here. Sneaking up and surrounded Robin, was quite pleasant surprise reading. Too bad it gonna go down hill from here. It is interesting that Ebisu town, Toko, and Yasuie all appeared around the same time. Not to mentioned when the story focus on Denjiro again, the Witching Hour Boy was mentioned at the same time (by Robin, and by Ebisu town folks).

-Komurasaki unmasked and was a really strong presence. Her slapping of Orochi was something. Though, it is weird Denjiro (at least in the anime) didn’t appear to be too worry when she was in Orochi’s mouth. But in retrospect, his laughter and his face does seemed boiling up with anger. We also see Denjiro picking up the paper. I think this only add into more confusion and more speculation on who figure out and or leaking or a traitor.

-So in about the same sequence when we see Orochi for real, picking out his meal for the banquet. It was contrast nicely with Ebisu people starving. The whole people offering Zoro’s water. I could see how that seemed force, but my brain wired to see it as wholesome. Orochi talked to CP0 and seemed like CP0 stucked around for a while. On one hand, the story wants to make out Orochi as a coward and incompetent. Which then building up into a nice surprise latter on that Orochi as a chess master. But I am surprise at his competency. Knowing about Vegapunk. Knowing about what going on around different regions of Wano.

-Fun to see the setting at night. I think of all the strawhats, Usopp had the least to do. He was selling some toad oil which boomerang back nicely. Franky help beat up some thugs. Law being an exposition machine. But Sanji really a star. Which just had Shiryu getting his Clear Clear Fruit in the interim and how Sanji basically getting the same deal. The whole gathering of allies while stay quiet kinda dumb. Outside of the strong people, who care about the rest of the fodders. Sanji said something I was totally agree with. Which is more allies would be nice, but reducing the enemies is just as good.

-Nami, Robin, and Brook had some moments here. And the shenanigan was fun. Though, I would believe that Robin at this point could destroy the whole Oniwabanshu by herself. Her ability allow her attack multiple people from every angle at once.

-And lastly, Big Mom and King. The anime add some stuffs there. In the manga, it seemed like Kaido is slightly panicking about an all out war, while in the anime, he seemed to get hype up about the war. The extended scene really give King some speed feat. Because Big Mom was half way up the waterfall when King flew from Onigashima or wherever to the waterfall. That is really really really fast. In the manga, he appeared out of nowhere and took them by surprise. In the anime, the fighting back and forth, kinda making Big Mom’s pirates look a tad weak. Also if one Big Mom ship is almost penetrate their wall/defense system. Not to mentioned these wall are not really manned. Then if the Marines sending multiple admirals would definitely allow them to breach Wano pretty easily despite those natural obstacle. Not much of a fortress.

-Then Chopper began his part of the story. We got Franky/Sanji/Usopp group. Robin/Nami/Brook group. Zoro is chilling, and Luffy is also chilling. And the controversial amnesia plotline. But boy, Big Mom sure is creepy in the anime even when she is being nice. It feel like she about to eat them all at any moment.

-So the next two part would be Yatsuie’s sacrifice and Udon’s prison break. Have that to look forward to. The presence of Hawkins made Act 1 pretty decent. But Act 2 had a lot of Strawhats interaction (Anime extension really made it stand out). And I am enjoying it so far.

 

[Hannibal Psyche]

4/10. Worst arc in the series personally.

 

[Aki1991]

Arc was average at best but the worst moment of all one piece was to rush the ending and bringing an admiral and shanks in order to hype up a non canon movie. I am still so confused and angry about this.