One Piece’s lack of Kaido and God Valley flashbacks sparks twitter debates as Wano officially ends

The recently released One Piece Chapter 1057 saw the series’ four-year odyssey through the Wano arc come to a close, with the Straw Hats officially leaving the island in the issue.

While fans should be discussing what’s ahead for the series, many are instead debating issues in the Wano arc.

One Piece fans are particularly discussing the lack of Kaido and God Valley flashbacks in Wano, despite both being integral to the arc’s overarching plot in some way. The topic is certainly divisive, evident in reactions from fans on both sides of the fence.

Follow along as this article fully breaks down exactly what One Piece fans are debating and why the issue is so divisive.

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One Piece fans at each other’s throats over opinions on intertwined relationship between story arcs, antagonists, and flashbacks

The debate

One of the most celebrated and famous aspects of author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s smash-hit One Piece manga series is its expert use of incredible flashbacks.

Whether for heroes, villains, or those who dwell in between, nearly every single major flashback in the series has been incredibly well-executed and memorable.

For this reason, it's likely that many fans were disappointed to see the Wano arc end without an extensive flashback pertaining to Kaido or the God Valley incident. Both were integral to the arc’s overarching plot in one way or another, albeit with God Valley being more of a backseat factor to Kaido’s antagonistic presence.

Nevertheless, each played a role in the arc’s development one way or another. However, this importance has only exacerbated fans’ disappointment at neither receiving a substantial retroactive exposition in the series’ longest arc yet. Many are calling it one of Wano’s biggest failures as a story arc.

Conversely, some argue that the series’ flashbacks are so special because there is no cookie-cutter answer to who does and doesn’t receive one. One villain fans are harping back to with this mindset is Crocodile, who received no sort of exposition on his past during his time as antagonist of the Alabasta arc.

Despite the lack of flashbacks, however, many celebrate him as one of the series’ best villains and, since his reappearance in the Impel Down arc, best characters overall.

Fans argue that this shows that an arc’s enemy doesn’t need an overly complicated, drawn-out flashback to excel both in their role and as a general character.

While such arguments are respectable, other fans who share a similar sentiment are vying for a more logical approach to the issue at hand. With Wano already being the longest arc in the series thus far by a wide margin, some posit that Oda didn’t want to draw the arc out any longer with a long, drawn-out flashback.

Others also point out that revealing anything more about Kaido’s past and God Valley would likely harm future reveals surrounding Rocks D. Xebec and his goals and crew.

While no one but Oda knows for sure whether or not these reveals are coming, many fans agree that such topics are incredibly likely to be broached by One Piece’s end.

For now, however, fans are left arguing amongst themselves as to whether or not Oda’s treatment of Kaido’s backstory will be justified by One Piece’s end.

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