I want to enjoy this arc, but the plot point of people being erased from memory just bugs me. It's claimed that nobody noticed the missing people because they were forgotten due to Sugar's Devil Fruit power, but in the long run it would only raise greater suspicion about Doflamingo. First off, memories aren't the only mark people leave upon the world. There's also physical evidence, and we know they aren't removing the physical traces because of Kyros' statue in the Colosseum. Aren't people going to start wondering why they have so many records of people who apparently never existed?! Take Milo's wife, for example. She doesn't remember her husband, yes, but she must have photos of him, clothing, a bed big enough for two people to share, among other things. If she never got married, why does her house have so much evidence that she did? And who is that in those photos?! And that's assuming memories of interactions where Milo was present were erased as well. If they weren't, that's a huge and troubling gap in her memory, because she can remember falling in love, getting married and having a son, but not who she did all that with. If it doesn't, and it's all a blank, then this poor woman must think she's losing her mind because she has such gaps in her memory and is apparently suffering delusional fugue states where she is hoarding men's clothes in her bedroom. Either way, her attitude towards all this would not be "That's not so strange, is it?"
And that's just ONE person in Dressrosa. There were hundreds of people being forgotten, and hundreds more who knew those people. Am I really supposed to believe that NONE of these people found the discrepancies in their memory odd...or found it suspicious that these bizarrely specific bouts of amnesia didn't start being reported until after Doflamingo took over?! And that's just the problem when Sugar made people forget citizens of Dressrosa. They also did it to pirates who had wanted posters, bounties, crews on which they served in such official capacity, and news reports of their actions. Even CP 0 wouldn't be able to claim that all that was just a simple misprint, especially in regards to the pirate crews who would surely wonder how the hell they made it to the New World without a captain, navigator, doctor, of whatever role the forgotten pirate served.
But all that pales in comparison to the biggest problem with the scheme: THE MARINES. The forgotten of Dressrosa includes Marines, and some pretty high-ranking ones at that. The Marines are a pretty organized bunch. They must keep records of their officers, their ranks and which crews they're with. If Sugar makes everyone forget about a particular Marine officer, the Marines are going to wonder why this particular unit didn't have a CO, and why they have records of a Marine officer who apparently never existed. And they are going to launch an inquiry. Sure, Doflamingo has agents in the Marines, but they don't control the whole organization. If they did, they wouldn't have allowed someone like Sakazuki be in charge. Besides, covering up ALL the evidence of the forgotten people will a) be like herding cats becuase there are so many people from all walks of life and so many people who knew them, b) nvolve locating, removing and destroying so much evidence, that it will be nearly impossible to do without anybody noticing, and c) would only raise further suspicion.
Doflamingo's attempt to cover up his atrocities on Dressrosa is the worst kind of cover-up: the kind that only raises further suspicion. He kept this up for ten whole years without arousing suspicion?! My arse! His coverup shouldn't even have lasted two years before it was exposed, either due to investigation, mistakes on the Doflamingo family's part, or simple bad luck. The only way I can salvage the story arc in my mind is by pretending the secret of Dressrosa is an "open secret;" everyone knows Doflamingo is hiding something, even if they don't know what it is he's hiding, but they're playing along either out of fear of reprisal, a cynical "he keeps the trains running on time" attitude, or simple apathy.
Sorry for the wall of text, This has been bugging me for a while, and I needed to get it off my chest.
I want to enjoy this arc, but the plot point of people being erased from memory just bugs me. It's claimed that nobody noticed the missing people because they were forgotten due to Sugar's Devil Fruit power, but in the long run it would only raise greater suspicion about Doflamingo. First off, memories aren't the only mark people leave upon the world. There's also physical evidence, and we know they aren't removing the physical traces because of Kyros' statue in the Colosseum. Aren't people going to start wondering why they have so many records of people who apparently never existed?! Take Milo's wife, for example. She doesn't remember her husband, yes, but she must have photos of him, clothing, a bed big enough for two people to share, among other things. If she never got married, why does her house have so much evidence that she did? And who is that in those photos?! And that's assuming memories of interactions where Milo was present were erased as well. If they weren't, that's a huge and troubling gap in her memory, because she can remember falling in love, getting married and having a son, but not who she did all that with. If it doesn't, and it's all a blank, then this poor woman must think she's losing her mind because she has such gaps in her memory and is apparently suffering delusional fugue states where she is hoarding men's clothes in her bedroom. Either way, her attitude towards all this would not be "That's not so strange, is it?"
And that's just ONE person in Dressrosa. There were hundreds of people being forgotten, and hundreds more who knew those people. Am I really supposed to believe that NONE of these people found the discrepancies in their memory odd...or found it suspicious that these bizarrely specific bouts of amnesia didn't start being reported until after Doflamingo took over?! And that's just the problem when Sugar made people forget citizens of Dressrosa. They also did it to pirates who had wanted posters, bounties, crews on which they served in such official capacity, and news reports of their actions. Even CP 0 wouldn't be able to claim that all that was just a simple misprint, especially in regards to the pirate crews who would surely wonder how the hell they made it to the New World without a captain, navigator, doctor, of whatever role the forgotten pirate served.
But all that pales in comparison to the biggest problem with the scheme: THE MARINES. The forgotten of Dressrosa includes Marines, and some pretty high-ranking ones at that. The Marines are a pretty organized bunch. They must keep records of their officers, their ranks and which crews they're with. If Sugar makes everyone forget about a particular Marine officer, the Marines are going to wonder why this particular unit didn't have a CO, and why they have records of a Marine officer who apparently never existed. And they are going to launch an inquiry. Sure, Doflamingo has agents in the Marines, but they don't control the whole organization. If they did, they wouldn't have allowed someone like Sakazuki be in charge. Besides, covering up ALL the evidence of the forgotten people will a) be like herding cats becuase there are so many people from all walks of life and so many people who knew them, b) nvolve locating, removing and destroying so much evidence, that it will be nearly impossible to do without anybody noticing, and c) would only raise further suspicion.
Doflamingo's attempt to cover up his atrocities on Dressrosa is the worst kind of cover-up: the kind that only raises further suspicion. He kept this up for ten whole years without arousing suspicion?! My arse! His coverup shouldn't even have lasted two years before it was exposed, either due to investigation, mistakes on the Doflamingo family's part, or simple bad luck. The only way I can salvage the story arc in my mind is by pretending the secret of Dressrosa is an "open secret;" everyone knows Doflamingo is hiding something, even if they don't know what it is he's hiding, but they're playing along either out of fear of reprisal, a cynical "he keeps the trains running on time" attitude, or simple apathy.
Sorry for the wall of text, This has been bugging me for a while, and I needed to get it off my chest.