Yeah to me this is the first great arc of the series. Arlong Park was really good, but here you start to see even more complexity in the writing. One Piece is so hard to recommend, because while I do think it deserves most of its hype, it' s going to take a while before you get to the truly great parts, and that might make you disappointed in the beginning.
From the answers Oda gives in interviews and Q&As, he does seem to like to combine improvisation with long term planning. Like with Vivi, he knew he wanted a princess for a certain role in this arc, but he decided it was going to be Vivi after she had already been introduced.
Things are always going to switch between ridiculous and serious, One Piece never stops also being silly. But I think that sometimes the silliness can even elevate the serious moments.
Tony Tony is derived from the Japanese word for reindeer, "tonakai". And then doubled up, because that makes it sound cuter!
As always, great analysis. You're really getting your teeth into it now.
desolate leng
2024-01-07 16:54:00 +0000 UTC
About Goda's writing style, he has said a lot of times that it is Luffy who is leading the story not him.
But he also has a mountain of notebooks in his work space that contain feature possibilities so it's not like he 's winging it!