I've had so many mixed reactions to the past year that it's been definitely effecting my output (of course RL has a role in that too but...). I still feel that Ace's death was...not cheap, exactly, but bitter. Very very bitter in a way that I had not been prepared to expect by what had come before. Whitebeard's death, even in the face of Ace's death and therefore his own 'failure' doesn't have that same taste.
The flashback arc is working to both increase and decrease that feeling. It makes Ace's words and actions that much more poignant on the one hand (and your family theme comments really ring true to me), but on the other hand it just makes his death that much more UGLY as well. We've known almost from the beginning (see Axe Hand Morgan for the marines and Alvida for the pirates) that the One Piece world isn't pretty or nice but that fact has been beaten into us for two years now. I need some LIGHT gosh darn it.
As for Luffy...I see your points but at the same time I think this really adds to his levels of complexity, which we've seen flashes of before and that are now being made clear. Garp...not a winning family figure on the one hand but we don't know any of his motivations so I'm withholding judgement.
Regarding Usopp, I don't think it cheapens it at all. Usopp and Chopper to me have parallel youths. It's about isolation. No, Usopp wasn't shunned but there's a feeling of some self-removal on his part that could lead to similar internalized feelings. Luffy, at least, has never been alone or made to feel alone, for the most part.
To conclude this horribly disjointed reply, I MISS THE STRAWHAT CREW SO VERY VERY MUCH and just want them back as soon as possible. I need a Zoro/Usopp/Nami/Chopper/Robin/Franky/Brook/even SANJI fix so bad that I can't articulate it!
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The flashback arc is working to both increase and decrease that feeling. It makes Ace's words and actions that much more poignant on the one hand (and your family theme comments really ring true to me), but on the other hand it just makes his death that much more UGLY as well. We've known almost from the beginning (see Axe Hand Morgan for the marines and Alvida for the pirates) that the One Piece world isn't pretty or nice but that fact has been beaten into us for two years now. I need some LIGHT gosh darn it.
As for Luffy...I see your points but at the same time I think this really adds to his levels of complexity, which we've seen flashes of before and that are now being made clear. Garp...not a winning family figure on the one hand but we don't know any of his motivations so I'm withholding judgement.
Regarding Usopp, I don't think it cheapens it at all. Usopp and Chopper to me have parallel youths. It's about isolation. No, Usopp wasn't shunned but there's a feeling of some self-removal on his part that could lead to similar internalized feelings. Luffy, at least, has never been alone or made to feel alone, for the most part.
To conclude this horribly disjointed reply, I MISS THE STRAWHAT CREW SO VERY VERY MUCH and just want them back as soon as possible.
I need a Zoro/Usopp/Nami/Chopper/Robin/Franky/Brook/even SANJI fix so bad that I can't articulate it!