>>73135126I was emotionally invested in the work for like 450 chapters or however long that was. I also started reading it in like 2000 and that arc ended in like 2009ish, so I spent the better part of decade on the hype train just to watch it come crashing down in the last third of the story.
>>73135428Post Pain had some really cool moments, but they were also moments. The fact that Guy lives also makes it kinda cheap, but I honestly didn't wanna see my boy Rock hurt; so I'll allow it. [/spoiler:lit]
>>73137254One Piece also has the benefit of being an ensemble cast on an adventure instead of a character focused drama. You get a lot more leeway in your storytelling with that structure. I don't need to know how Luffy feels all the time, or even see him for large chunks of the story, to still have the same emotional impact.
>>73137636He's said it himself. Determination and dumb luck. Dragon Ball also down-sized it's plot after the Freeza Saga, which really helped. After Pain, Naruto as a series, really tries to up the anti a few more times and it all just kinda feels like asspulls.
Toriyama, instead of doing a Dragon Ball Super, refocused the story back on Earth with some more understandable and tangible villains. Even with Cell being a time traveler, he was still a product of Earth and existed in both timelines. So it didn't feel cheap to have any of his reveals.
