#ch588

I suppose that Ace did change an entire era before he died, so...

Luffy's got his priorities straight during the royal visit

After the flashback ends, Shanks will have a whole monologue telling Luffy it's okay for him to cry, which is the closest thing to Oda himself telling his audience it's okay to fully feel their big emotions. That's an important message for the target audience of young boys, and doesn't make the powerful, important characters of the series any less powerful or important.

In One Piece, pride is something that is treated positively--to a certain extent. But more important is protecting and caring for your friends. I think this balance is actually best seen with Zoro. Just compare his fight with Mihawk to the end of Thriller Bark. Both are treated as value positive by the narrative, but I'd argue that "Nothing happened" is more impactful.

This is just the One Piece fandom yelling at Oda after chapter 574

Situations like these is why you should never skip leg day