One Piece is a series I keep reading almost out of obligation. Having already read almost 800 chapters, I feel I should keep reading it despite all of the problems that I've had with this long series. That's not to say that I don't often enjoy One Piece. There have been plenty of moments and arcs that I do enjoy. But, volume 77 was an attempt to give the series another try after taking a break from it, and it didn't really do much to convince me to keep going.
Volume 77 picks up with the flashback of the relationship between Law and Doflamingo's brother, Corazon. After Law and Corazon learn more about each other, they develop a close relationship and Corazon decides to help Law find a cure for his disease. Meanwhile, in the present, the battle in Dressrosa continues (there's really not much to say here, but I'll get to that).
Law's past is tragic, and the way that his relationship with Corazon develops has its emotional beats, but the action scenes in the present don't really do much to compare. Half of the book is ultimately an awkward scramble between various fights. That doesn't mean that development doesn't occur, just that it ultimately isn't handled well. Oda's pacing of One Piece has always been fine, but it is his development and amplification of the various plots and characters that makes this series so long. Sometimes, this works, but Dressrosa, being the longest arc yet, spends a lot of time to develop characters who are (so far and presumably) only important to the current arc, such as the villains.
Volume 77 gives quite a bit of time with flashbacks and dialogue to develop the members of Doflamingo's family and some of the gladiators from the Colosseum, particularly Baby 5 and Senor Pink. Unfortunately, none of this works. Baby 5's development does nothing to deter her character's tendency to fall in love with people and do everything they say (which is annoying at best and misogynistic at worst) and tries to explain it away in an unconvincing way. Senor Pink's backstory is just plain awkward, coming randomly and trying to also give a very serious and tragic explanation to an eccentric character (it explains why he wears baby clothes), doing no better than Baby 5's backstory in being convincing. All of this also just accentuates the awkward dialogue in One Piece (something I have never able to figure out; is it the result of an awkward, literal translation, or Oda's original script is just that bad?), which never flows and feels like real dialogue.
I want to enjoy One Piece more, because it is such a creative series, and at its best it has emotional storylines centered on characters you care about and a deep sense of continuity and foreshadowing. But Volume 77 is not a high point for the series (or Dressrosa, for that matter). Although I will probably continue to read One Piece (I've come this far, and there's always the hope that the character highs of Alabasta and Water 7 can return), but this volume hasn't done much to reignite my interest in the series.