Although Wano has been a little different so far. Things have been happening ever ever since Luffy set foot on the Island. It may sound exciting but turns out a lot of readers are a bit disappointed. The main reason being they would like to know a bit more about the island and it's characters before things really start heating. Basically what seems to lack is the traditional exploration phase.
I believe there are two things we should be paying attention to:
1) Are we getting a satisfactory amount of development for wano as an island and for the new characters?
2) Is there any reason why Oda would delibaritaly want to "rush things" a little from a story telling perspective?
The first chapters confirmed that Wano is definitely the land of Japanese culture (which is something most OP readers are probably famillar with). We also knew a little about the people and the political climate of Wano through kinemon and his friends. We therefore had a rough idea of what to expect from the island and its people before the arc really started (more specifically we knew what to expect in terms of visuals, politics and the type of new characters we might encounter (samurai, ninjas etc) which is more than we know when we usually start an arc).
This means Oda was able to get into discovering new characters right away without losing us in terms of understanding the setting.
The new characters (following the Japanese culture theme as expected) gave us an idea of what the the civilization of Wano was like (samurai, geisha, ninja, yokai, sumo etc). Civilization being an important part of world building, Oda hit two bird with one stone since these different characters also ended up tying into the main plot directly.
One might argue that Oda could've spent more time developing the newly introduced characters (O-Kiku). Sure, but what kind of development are we talking about? Are we expecting Kiku to start a monologue about her tragic backstory or her favorite customers from the tea shop?
This type of development would most likely be out of place at this point.
On the other hand, seeing a character in action gives as much about the character's personality than dialogue (if not more).
The events with O-Kiku and the Yokozuna gave us a good idea of how Wano works as a society. It seems like the strong can claim whatever he wants as his, women probably don't have much rights and nothing is more important than honor (as we've seen with Tama and now with the sumo).
As said earlier, Oda would usually take his time before involving the straw hats in dangerous situations and let each of them explore the island creating multiple subplots tying into one big climax at the end. Wano also follows this usual arc structure with one difference: Luffy (and Zoro) got into trouble right at the start leaving no time to explore the island peacefully to Luffy and the readers.
This turn of events left a lot of readers feeling like things are being rushed and that Wano is not getting the proper introduction it diserves. It's perfectly understandable. If you made it this far into One Piece it's very likely that you appreciate the exploration bits and Oda's very meticulous world building. And if you think about it, it's very likely that Oda really enjoys and appreciates world building and the early arc exploration scenes as well.
So why rush things at one of the most anticipated arc of the series? It's not like him to worry about the length of the arcs and I'm pretty sure the editors are smart enough to understand the appeal of One Piece after such a long time.
So why? (and now we're getting into question 2)
Is there any reason why Oda would delibaritaly want to "rush things" a little from a story telling perspective?
As we've seen earlier, it's not like Oda is completely skipping world building and the development of Wano as island. But it's definitely different to what we previously got.
I believe that Oda had a really good (or at least interesting) reason to write the arc like this.
One of the main purpose of world building is to help the reader understand what it's like and how it feels to be in the fictional world for the characters.
How Oda likes to do it is through pure, simple and fun exploration. The One Piece world is a generally a Wonderland waiting to be discovered. Exploration is therefore the most fitting way of having Luffy interact with the world around him.
It's also the best way for to show the readers that the world of One Piece is wonderful and exciting until the villains come into play. The readers get to experience it just like the characters.
Wano is another of those wonderful islands. Like always there are beautiful places to discover, strong people to challenge and beautiful woman to meet, new species of animals to interact with (or eat), a rich history to learn about, interesting architecture to admire and maybe even good music to hear.
Yet, there's also something off about Wano. something that doesn't belong in this Japanese themed paradise. Something that will coincidentally interfere with Luffy's exploration and lastly something that will most likely be the embodiment of the occupation and persecution themes of this arc.
Obviously I'm talking about the Beast Pirates.
While Luffy could be having a great time exploring the island like he usually does with his new friend Tama; The beast Pirate have been inferefering with his adventure constantly.
Either directly by confronting him in combat or indirectly by polluting the water (which poisoned his new
friend) and deteriorating the environment Luffy could be enjoying peacefully. Not to mention they ended up kidnapping Tama right after she healed.
Now that doesn't sound like a very pleasant day so far does it?
Well that's exactly the point!
Luffy peacefully enjoying the island wouldn't be a correct representation of what it's like to live in Wano because Wano is NOT at peace.
Sure most of the islands Luffy visits aren't truly peaceful but the people of these islands usually live in the illusion that everything is good (think Dressrosa). But Wano is different. Wano is currently under the occupation of what's supposed to be the most violent pirate crew of the world (as seen on Zou).
In a way, the Beast Pirates have been keeping Luffy from taking his time to visit the island as he traditionally does at the beginning of a new arc.
That must be very frustrating for him as he loves the exploration phase and it's also frustrating to the readers that things are going so fast after such long wait.
But that's exactly the point.
If good world building involves showing the readers what it feels like to live in the imaginary world, then it makes perfect sense that the introduction to the Wano arc feels frustrating beacuse living in Wano under the occupation of the beast pirates IS frustrating.
To a certain extent (and here's where it gets far-fetched), Kaido's crew aren't only interfering with Luffy's adventure but with our reading experience as well. As if their constant interventions in this arc were part of a scheme to take the adventure bits away from us. (As discussed earlier they're behind everything that's been moving the plot so fast). Which makes our experience of the story oddly similar to Luffy's experience of Wano. The adventure we crave for is taken away from us by the same people. Keeping us from discovering the true nature of what could be a wonderful island. And with that reading, what we're having right now is a whole new level of immersion (which should be the goal of world building).
This would mean that Oda used one of his tools as a story teller (pacing) in an unconventional way to convey a feeling he couldn't have with his traditional approach to world building. Which is a true display of creativity.
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