Warning: SPOILERS for Undead Unluck chapter 130A string of flashbacks from a manga called Undead Unluck that will receive an anime adaptation next year just showed One Piece how to do them right.
Although flashbacks are considered a strong point in One Piece, they are often a result of the series preferring to reveal mysteries at the last possible moment. This usually makes it difficult for readers to invest in certain characters, so by the time their tragic backstory finally rolls around, the damage has already been done. Some effects are different from others, however, like the villain Kaido's flashback in recent chapters of One Piece. The manga had been building up to his character for so many arcs that his backstory was expected to be epic, but when it finally came and was anything but, many fans were let down.
Now, mangaka Yoshifumi Totsuka of Undead Unluck just proved why it's so important to not keep everything until the very end like One Piece. In chapter 130, the split personality of the Undead Andy - Victor - and his lover Juiz take part in their last of many final battles against Undead Unluck's God before the end of the world and life resets to the very beginning. Before now, Juiz had always used a special vehicle called the Ark that allowed her to retain her memories every time she lost against God. But since her friend Fuuko Izumo will be taking the Ark instead of her, Juiz will lose her memories of those 99 former lives. As they fight in the present day, Victor recalls one of the first times they were going to fight against God and how he made her wear an absurd amount of armor so she wouldn't get hurt. Since he couldn't die, and she needed to live so she could loop, there was no need for her to fight. Another flashback in the same chapter shows Victor yelling at Juiz as she buries her friends since all of her suffering could have been prevented if she allowed him to fight alone.
How Undead Unluck Does Flashbacks Better Than One Piece
These flashbacks are so emotional now because readers already know what happens next in their tragic backstory. Much earlier on in the manga, Undead Unluck revealed that Victor used to loop with Juiz. But the more she looped, the more Juiz struggled because it meant she had to watch more friends die before having to start all over again. It soon became too much for him, and he actually tried to kill Juiz so that when the world looped again, she wouldn't remember and would be able to live in peace. If this were One Piece, readers wouldn't have known any of this or anything about Juiz and Victor's relationship, for that matter. But in Undead Unluck knowing that Victor will eventually try to kill Juiz, it's heartbreaking to see his attempts to protect her. It shows just what lengths he went to until he felt he had no other choice but to do the unthinkable, which eventually led to the creation of Undead Unluck's title hero, Undead Andy.
Of course, there are some reasons for manga to withhold information. For example, these latest flashbacks are completely new, and keeping them secret until now actually helps augment what later transpires in the chapter. But One Piece withholds everything. Parts of flashbacks aren't allowed to trickle through various points in the series like Undead Unluck has done with Juiz and Victor's story. In One Piece, the entire backstory is always saved for the very end, negating the possibility of experiencing what readers are getting to experience now in chapter 130 of Undead Unluck.