Thoughts on Haki?

[Future Warrior]

Honestly it feels pointless to me, not to mention generic. I understand that it was needed to counter Logia but it just feels too generic in comparison to other power systems from other manga. Armament Haki is just making the arms black by everyone who uses it (it just looks like another Devil Fruit power to me) and Observation Haki seems rarely used by anybody who knows it. Conquerors Haki just makes fodder pass out...

I also believe it could have been better foreshadowed pre timeskip, but instead we get inconsistencies on how Haki is utilized.

 

[Papasmurf]

Is it quite as inconsistent as the whole Togashi being a Hunter Examiner debacle though?

 

[Papasmurf]

Is it quite as inconsistent as the whole Togashi being a Hunter Examiner debacle though?

 

[SSJ2]

I think the execution of it was terrible. We see the strongest man on the planet battle with the strongest Admirals and seemingly never use Haki. But then we fast-forward some chapters to when Rayleigh divulges the secrets of Haki, and suddenly it's as though it is this extremely common power among pirates. I guess if we were to go by the idea that Haki is invisible to anyone who isn't capable of seeing it then it becomes more reasonable, but even still, the execution was filled with inconsistencies.

Idk where you are in the story but the types of Haki do become more fleshed out and advanced, including Kenbunshoku and Haoshoku. Aside from more recent developments, I'd definitely agree that it seems like a generic power up.

 

[Future Warrior]

Idk where you are in the story but the types of Haki do become more fleshed out and advanced, including Kenbunshoku and Haoshoku. Aside from more recent developments, I'd definitely agree that it seems like a generic power up.

I'm at Dressrosa. Honestly, the black skin just looks so fucking ugly when they use it. If it were me I'd just have Haki be invisible and only for the purpose of making contact with a Logia, without any power increase too.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

It was decent in premise, but ultimately failed in execution. The implementation of Busoshoku Haki in Part 2 of everyone having the BLACKED.COM blackening effect as opposed to it being exclusive to Luffy as some nod to vulcanised rubber as initially theorised by many retroactively makes Marineford as a whole inconsistent when the greatest veterans of the world had no reason not to be spamming it. Another major problem with it is how it cheapens the power system. Devil Fruits and how different ones interact despite the difference in power such as Mr. 3's hard-countering Magellan's made Part 1's power system not too linear. Part 2 cheapened all that with the reveal you can simply counter DF abilities with greater Haki, reducing the method of countering more haxed DFs to basically just raising your power level in a manner not too dissimilar to how Super treats countering special abilities. Haoshoku Haki is also a cheap plot device as the idea of only 1 in a million people being born with it makes it apparent how certain characters were virtually destined for greatness, as though Luffy conveniently being the son of the world's most wanted man, grandson of the Marines' greatest hero and foster brother of Roger's son wasn't enough already.
The only category of Haki that still holds up in its utilisation is Kenbunshoku since its usage ever since Skypiea was consistent and had decent foreshadowing prior.

 

[Future Warrior]

It was decent in premise, but ultimately failed in execution.

How was the premise good?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

The idea of there being some kind of spiritual force in the power system seemed to be established by Alabasta at the very latest with things such as Zoro's Shishi Sonson that made it essential to bring in to some capacity, so long as it wasn't taken to the level of cheapness as it became in Part 2. Had Kenbunshoku been the only Haki (or just remained its own thing as Mantra) or Busoshoku hadn't exceeded its fairly limited capacity within Part 1, it would've been a far more tolerable aspect of the series.

 

[SSJ2]

Idk where you are in the story but the types of Haki do become more fleshed out and advanced, including Kenbunshoku and Haoshoku. Aside from more recent developments, I'd definitely agree that it seems like a generic power up.

I'm at Dressrosa. Honestly, the black skin just looks so fucking ugly when they use it. If it were me I'd just have Haki be invisible and only for the purpose of making contact with a Logia, without any power increase too.

 

[Future Warrior]

At least Gear 4 Armament Haki looks badass on Luffy. That full body Armament sucks.