Why oh, why oh, One Piece's Wano

The Straw Hats' long-awaited sojourn to the country of Wano was simply a casualty of naked ambition, and nothing more.

The land of the samurai, really the land of old Japan, this country had been much anticipated by fans for - I think - this sole reason: a character from one of Oda's earliest one-shots, "Monsters", originated here; furthermore, the monster-slaying samurai, Ryuma, had a pretty intimate interaction with our favorite moss-head Stallone-wannabe swordsman, Zoro. However, given that Wano is based off of Oda's motherland, one couldn't rebuff him for making their adventure much, much more grandiose than it needed to be.

Oda is somewhat like a manager of a buffet. Always eager to satisfy the customer, the smallest of his stories become bigger, juicier, more dramatic, more emotional. This hadn't been the case when he started, but within the first five years of his career he slowly but surely transformed into a machine of content...with limits. I think he is the reason why the writers of my generation have opted for smaller series, because "One Piece" has turned into this giant snowball of bits and pieces everyone expects him to be accountable for. (That he is seemingly indifferent to the burden, unlike my generation, actually demonstrates the size of his balls.)

A very good example of this is the whole kerfuffle with the evil scientist, Caesar Clown, and our intrepid pirate crew. That character being such a non-character, it should have ended in 10 - 20 chapters. In reality, it is 46 chapters long. The story of Wano is nearly 150 chapters long (~2700 pages). As a point of reference, pre-timeskip the longest location we have ever been in is Skypiea at 66 chapters.

Generally speaking, the longer something goes, the more complicated it gets. That doesn't necessarily mean something short is simple, but it is a crucial factor. Of note, "Dragonball Z" is only 325 chapters long; people to this day are still finding plot holes in it, as if it were a kind of Chernobyl of inconsistencies. The whole tiff with the Chimera Ants in "Hunter x Hunter" goes for 133 chapters and I would be remiss if I did not admit my rereads typically begin with the death of the Chimera Ant Queen or, if I'm really in a pinch, the moment the palace is bombarded by Zeno's Dragon Dive.

If you want to accomplish something of significance, you have to introduce more elements; further, you need to place them in their proper relation to the story. Oda as a writer and as a human being should be praised for being ambitious, especially since he has so many achievements under his belt already. Yet the writer's skill is not in introducing those elements, but in balancing them all to tell one cohesive narrative. Oda's juggling act is throwing balls and pins up and, after completing one U-arc in the air, watching them land on the ground, while we are unsure whether we are intended to marvel on how lovely the balls and pins look tumbling by his feet.

It was weird that our main characters, known for their anarchic energy, had initially disguised themselves. It was weird that Zoro spent some time chasing a fox. It was weird that Luffy was in prison, when he tends to upper-cut his way through any situation. It was weird that pollution played such a crucial element in the story, when it adversely affects, well, everyone, defenseless commoners and Hokuto No Ken villains alike. It was weird that there was this elaborate plot involving cursed clans and traitors and conspiracies when we all knew that it only mattered on getting the punching people i.e Luffy to the people who had to be punched i.e Kaido. And it was really, really pretentious that Oda broke it up into acts, as if his work lives up to Aristotle's Unities which Japanese theatre, of course very different from Western theatre, likely adheres to in some form or other. The whole act structure is especially odd since not Luffy, not even Kinemon, were the focuses of these three acts, where a play is usually about, you know, a character.

Yet the choice to have Luffy meet Kaidou early was a good one - the latter, being so demonized, was given some pathos. Setting up Wano as a lawless, Wild West-like country was also a good idea, with the former ronin acting as gruff-but-noble outlaws and Kaidou's own men, including Hawkins, as government cronies. The beginning I think was set up very well. We should not chide Oda for being ambitious.

Unlike a different series, it's actually hard to know what Oda wanted to accomplish. It's clear he's pulling from various Japanese myths, legends and stories, but as to what idea is supposed to dominate is unknown. Nevertheless, for the fun of speculation, I'll tackle this in short shrift.

It's not Luffy's nature to be in prison. I mean, he had been in prison before, but in a daring jail break.

I think the story is better served if Zoro was actually in Luffy's position.

I wonder somewhat if Oda has lost some love for Zoro over the years. It appeared he empathized the most with his character when he was younger, but now, as a husband with children, not so much. It's odd because he has lavished much more love on Sanji who, incidentally, has a dilemna over the idea of marriage.

Zoro is the survivor. He is the Rambo, Mad Max, Future Trunks of the group. He should be the one placed in prison, having to survive various tortures while arguing with Kid and grunting for wine.

Here's my idea for the first act. Who knows, it won't be as interesting as Sanji's little vignette, but maybe it'll be a cool idea. His arc would be underpinned by his poor sense of direction and his reactionary attitude. He would essentially go through a journey around Wano, becoming a legendary ronin, while unintentionally reuniting the Red Scabbards, beating the crap out of a few bad guys (and maybe some well-meaning good guys), freeing Hyogoro and getting some swords for his troubles. During this whole time people are condescending him about how to be a noble, courageous, elegant samurai, and at the end of his adventures, when he finally reunites with the rest of the Straw Hats, he says, "I would rather die than be a lousy samurai!" The idea is to begin the story with something fun and cool, easing the audience into the complex world of Wano. To wrap up the story line in a neat bow tie, Zoro should probably duel with someone who is purportedly one of the greatest swordspeople in the world, similar to his victory over Ryuma who has been given the epithet of "Sword Saint".

The second act is a complication of the plot. Nico Robin is the center of this story. As a result, it may be wise to begin this with Oden's backstory or intersperse the act with little scenes (as narrated by Robin).

In any case, Robin explains to Franky and Usopp (who have been working in some capacity as bumbling carpenters, Usopp the younger brother to Franky's older) the current Wano government and the premonition of its doom, covering the details of the Scabbards' conspiracy; furthermore, she explains the status of the country's poneglyph, which could come into play later in the future; obviously the boys' brains short-circuit in face of her explanation.

The role of a geisha works really well for Robin. Certain geishas were noted for their intellectual qualities. While Robin is not heavy on the entertainment side, her storytelling ability and her mannerisms would appeal her greatly to the top gentry. Furthermore, evil has never been better concealed than behind Robin's smile. This would naturally make her an enemy of the country's shinobi, which means she could work extensively with Raizo and Shinobu, who would lecture her about being a ninja. Robin, perhaps the stealthiest woman alive, may not need most of their tips.

She would compete with Komurasaki for attention. She would be extremely incensed by Orochi's actions, finding his erasure of history offensive. Her story would include the execution of Yasuie and ending with the sneak attack on Onigashima.

The third act returns back to Luffy. He would be spending his time up to this point training in isolation after his defeat by Kaido, just like "Rocky IV". I don't know who would save him.

The whole raid on Onigashima is a big mess so I'll handwave it. In hindsight, Oda is the king of action, within his genre. His stories often have one or more of these attributes: 1) it's clear where characters are going; 2) it's clear what characters are accomplishing, and how they intend to; 3) it's clear who is doing what. In the Onigashima raid, someone is doing something that will vaguely do something bad for Kaidou and his friends and they are always somewhere on the island but usually indoors in some room.

Feels like the sensible thing is for Onigashima to be a free-for-all, a bloody brawl where friends fight friends and the enemy of my enemy is my friend, which thematically fits Kaidou. The MacGuffin is a map to the One Piece (which can be a lie, or Luffy sets it on fire). Everyone in the heart of Onigashima, Kaidou's throne, is a demon in of themself, while the nameless goons - i.e. the samurai and the minks - contain the conflict outside of the palace walls. You know what a missed opportunity is? Aokiji, Kizaru and Akainu are named after Momotaro's pals. (Considering this is very close to the premise of the film "One Piece: Stampede", one can't help but wonder if Oda had to shave off ideas for his main series.)

The silver lining to Oda's untempered, unmitigated ambition is that we can take lessons away from it. Arguably, that may even be the most worthy function of art: the refinement of flawed ideas, so that they can serve some greater function.

Some truth time: I had been an on-again off-again "One Piece" fan since...probably the whole debacle at Marineford. I think that's when the reading experience became fractured at best and I stopped admiring Oda as much. But recently, he said something in an interview with Gosho Aoyama of "Detective Conan" fame. The translation:

I loved those symbols [sic] type of expressions but it's ceasing to be drawn. No one is drawing it even though our predecessors created and left several formulas. Battle mangas have to keep getting more and more serious in order to meet the fans' expectations and I've always hated that. That's why I definitely don't want to become a serious manga in the end, I just want and decided to be playful, and I'm finally able to do that.

My admiration for Oda has peaked, even greater than the admiration I held when I fell in love with his world as a young lad.

We do need to be mindful of quality for the sake of quality, but quality also comes from innovation, from failure. I think, as a result of the criticism leveled at "Naruto" and "Bleach", mangaka of my generation, I'm starting to find out, are more scared of failure. They may be interested in telling a meaningful story, but they're no longer interested in entertaining the audience. Entertainment is a mercenary profession, which uses every trick in the book to achieve its aim. As much as I love something like "Chainsawman", when my eyes glide from that to "One Piece", I can't help but feel, as well-written as it is and as well-crafted as it is, that it is missing that expense of fun. And I would admit, I myself am likelier to write a "Chainsawman" than a "One Piece", which puzzles me.

His series has always been transparent to me; that's why I was able to be so upset by it, at times. The reality is that I always knew what he was thinking. He wears his heart on his sleeve. Sometimes a creator has to be smarter than their audience, but if it's the case they are not, then perhaps it is better to be honest (or, not write at all). So I hope Oda continues to reap his blessings, and I think, regardless of how much criticism his work has acquired, everyone wants to know, with muted adoration, what the end of his journey - more than his characters' - will look like.