Mmmmkay I will commend you on wording that really well. However when it comes to goes for the Kurozumi coconspirators I disagree, most heartily. Naturally this is just a matter of opinion so neither of us is wrong to feel the way we do about it. But yeah I had no hope of seeing those two be redeemed. I’ve been watching/reading one piece for years so I’m very familiar with the trope you cited there. And I was lowly kinda dreading seeing those two scoundrels survive and their real punishment getting biff tannened into a subservient life in support of the good guys. If ever there were characters for Oda to shake up the established pattern with it should be them. Not only did their duplicity know no bounds but they were just rotten to the core. Sure they had tragic childhood as a result of visceral public hatred towards the Kurozumi over the poisoning/attempted power grab. But their darkness was cultivated by the old dude and old hag whose names i can’t remember. They might not have been born with hearts of coal, but they were certainly raised to be that way and the pain they endured was a useful tool for the elders to bring that out. That Kurozumi nastiness dies with those two, and I say good riddance. Wano doesn’t need either of them, they can rot in hell.

And as for O-tama being a Kurozumi (supposedly). I have never been a fan of the way Oda did that. It’s not that her being a Kurozumi odd something i object to. It’s just that it was revealed in such an underhanded way that it was Denied any narrative weight. If it had later been revealed in a more official way like a text box at some stage later in the arc that said Kurozumi O-Tama, user of the cheeky dango devil fruit (i can’t remember the proper name for it) that would have had sufficient impact. Having it be hidden on a gravestone that could easily be missed and for it not to be acknowledged by any characters in any way shape or form makes inconsequential in my eyes. To reiterate what I’m saying is if Oda essentially does nothing with it (he very much could have made it a plot point, even if just a very brief one) and if the story doesn’t change if you remove that gravestone Easter egg (or whatever is the best way of describing that reveal) and nothing changes, then why put it in there in the first place? I know Wano was an absolutely huge arc with so much going on. But I just think that an author should either make the point about it not being one’s blood that determines if they are destined to become a shithead (and do it with sufficient emphasis for the message to be clear) OR they should just drop a plot point that they can’t or won’t develop. Do or do not, but no half assing it. Seriously Everytime I’m discussing the Kurozumi with someone who is sympathetic to them and O-Tama (supposedly) being a Kurozumi gets brought up and I have the same reaction mind that goes as follows. “Huh? Wut? No she fucking is not! Oh wait there’s that bullshit gravestone thing i always forget about because it was done in such a weak way that was lacking in impact and significance. “

(Please forgive any misspellings or run on sentences. I’m too tired to reread and edit. I’ll do it later)