User blog comment:Fliu/New Thoughts on the Whole Cake Island Arc/@comment-24850639-20171114223332/@comment-3986064-20171201105932

I absolutely agree with most points from both the blog and your discussion. What I would like to mention is that the bureaucracy that was formed around Big Mom was the biggest cause of this lack of responsiveness - people not knowing how to react, who has to react; additionally, there were no contingency plans should someone invade their HQ - simply because it never happened.

I would therefore argue that although luck played its part - the prep for this arc was huge with all elements you mentioned before and that any other points are statistically |plausible|, if not likely.

About Pudding's complex behaviour - I must say that's an exceptional analysis - relating her thought-process to her biology, since it... makes sense; at least symbolically. Having a third eye = Having an additional point of reference; which always makes pattern-recognition and therefore behaviour more complex.

About the bullying - that's pretty simple. It was authorized by Big Mom. Imitating a figure of authority to gain their approval seems like a typical response to me. Also, her attitudes towards her children is clearly different and relate to how valuable they are to her (pragmatically and aesthetically), so while some might be treated with less dignity, other will be held in very high esteem. Additionally, there's also the complexities of every respective relationship between Pudding and other individuals.

What I think about the power levels might be pretty simplistic, but it is obvious at this point that the only distinguishable power level between where Luffy is and where a Yonko is are exactly these commanders. The billion bounty-men. Especially since they are clearly more powerful than any foes Luffy had fought before - Doflamingo-level opponents.

Additionally - this is a VERY good exercise for growth. Rayleigh - one of the experts in Haki and fighting prowess - has clearly endorsed real-life experience over simple physical and mental training. So, if such situations where you're being pushed to the brink are the limit breakers, then it will be critical for Luffy to struggle and surpass his limits, developing the new abilities required and defeat only enemies that sepparate him in terms of power from Admiral/Yonko-class oponents.

(Also... we're clearly going to need this gap-bridging. I mean, holy damn Kaido f actively attempts to kill himself and fails... And Big Mom had the strength of a superhuman from early childhood - Luffy clearly needs some major power-ups to face these opponents - and I definitely agree that a 2-year crash course on haki isn't enough)

All in all, fantastic reading these reviews and joining the conversation, even though I was only pro-Oda this time XD