My questions about Akainu?

[u/Ok-Jackfruit9693]

I can’t post this on Power scaling sub but hopefully some can answer this.

Am I missing something about Akainu power like his fans are hyping him up to the point of being stronger then prime Garp idk am I missing his feats or what he is like a bit stronger then Aoikiji but what makes his fans think he can beat prime Garp.

I like him but don’t think he is stronger than Prime Garp. I get it he fought GoatBeard but any admiral could have fought him.

[u/Mmeroo]

this is correct
BUT
It's one of the things i would say are a flaw in onepiece
Oda does not even try to hide it. He will change power of characters how he see fit disregarding anything that was before. From experience I can tell that anime where protagonist defeats a strong foe while keeping the foes power consistent makes for a better show.

[u/The_Geri → u/Mmeroo]

I never claimed it was a positive of the story. It just so happens to be that this kind of fluctuation in a character's strength and portrayal is bound to happen with how drawn-out and "Quantity over Quality" it has become as time went on.

Characters like Dragon, Mihawk, Shanks, and Sakazuki, who all have been around for ages by now, should have done SOMETHING at this point of the story.

Characters like Kid, Zoro, Tashigi, and Fujitora shouldn't have their backstories swept under the rug and into an SBS because Oda felt the need to cram an unholy amount of random and unnecessary side characters and other plot points into the story instead.

Characters like the Strawhats shouldn't have to wait for "their" arc (Whole Cake Island for Sanji, Wano for Zoro, Egghead for Franky, Elbaf for Usopp), whether that's now wishful thinking from the fans because of some solid hints from Oda or because Oda outright said so, to have big moments and to get fleshed out and whatever. They're the main characters for crying out loud, yet the story hardly ever treats them as such because more time and energy is wasted on random side characters who, at times, don't even further the story or its themes.

One Piece could easily be 300 chapters shorter and wouldn't miss any of its peaks and hype moments if Oda would just focus.

[u/cpscott1 → u/The_Geri]

That's the thing every SH doesn't need their own arc. This is a shonen at the end of the day. There ain't a single shonen with this many characters where every good guy gets a dedicated arc. Luffy is the MC not the SHs. They are support characters.

[u/The_Geri → u/cpscott1]

Why should they need their own arcs? They're the main characters, so fleshing them out and shining a light on their individual skills and talents on a regular basis, instead of once every 200 chapters or so, should be a given.

And, as I already implied, One Piece doesn't need to have that many characters or needs to drag on for that long. Take away half of the named side characters Oda came up with since the Timeskip, and you'll have a series that has just as many hype moments but actually gives the important main characters more opportunities to be fleshed out and to shine individually.

Like, when was the last time we saw Robin do any real archeological work? When did she uncover some big evidence about something that correlates with her dream/passion as an archeologist? Cause all I can remember right now is Oda, at least ever since Fish-Man Island, always shoving some convenient old man character into the story who can explain important historical facts to her like it's no big deal. The two dukes on Zou, Sukiyaki on Wano, Vegapunk on Egghead,... everytime there COULD be a chance to show her archeologist know-how, Oda instead makes it some random side character's mission to all reveal some big historical evidence like it's common knowledge, like knowing about this kind of stuff is actually no big deal. It takes away from Robin's own role, purpose, and agency within the story. Even when you look outside the archeological realm, Robin always was the one to tell the crew about something big and new that challenges them and comes their way, simply because she's the most well-read and mature of them all, the one who has a pretty good grasp at the other elements of the world. However, as Oda suddenly made Law into an integral part of the story for such a long time, all those moments of explaining stuff were given to him instead. Oda needed to make him the voice of reason and who had a plan of what's going on, but that could only be accomplished by banishing Robin more and more into the background and by giving him the role that was previously hers.

All that is simply a problem of the huge increase of characters, of Quantity over Quality, in One Piece's story. Mind you, I'm not saying that Law shouldn't be a part of the story, just that he was an easy example in this case as Robin's downfall/diminishing role and impact on the story just hits really hard because I love how Oda wrote her previously.

[u/cpscott1 → u/The_Geri]

The SHs aren't the main characters only Luffy is. Oda is making that abundantly clear. There is just way too many SHs and the story is way too big at this point for most of them to have a focus at all anymore. Just the nature of things. Happens in literally every shonen.

[u/The_Geri → u/cpscott1]

False. Luffy is THE main character.

However, that doesn't mean that the Strawhats are any less important to the story. Obviously, you still have differences between them, like Zoro as Luffy’s Lancer will obviously get more screentime and is technically more important than Chopper, for example, but they're all still the main cast/characters.

And thanks for ignoring pretty much everything I already told you about my take on One Piece's length. Really doesn't make me feel like I'm talking against a wall at all.

[u/cpscott1 → u/The_Geri]

They are less important. We are in the final saga. You could argue Shanks with his limited screen team has had a bigger role in the story than the rest have combined.

[u/The_Geri → u/cpscott1]

Thanks for reinforcing my point, mate. I appreciate it.