>>280279862Pretty much. Back when it came out, I saw the content of the tourney and little invasion as simply more setup for the MA arc, while taking the chance to give screen time to some characters that wouldn't appear in it, like Metal Bat, Watchdog Man and Drive Knight.
I will say though, that I did notice some cracks forming even all those years back. Specifically concerning Garou. Even back then, completely ignorant of what a shitfest the manga would eventually become and still very much optimistic and hyped, I was already wondering why they were softening Garou so much. A few more interactions with Tareo? Sure why not, nut the fight against the A-class group went so far to suck him off as a tragic anti-hero that I had to do a double take.
To me, the exact moment the manga becomes irredeemably shit is when Psykos fuses with Orochi (and then the Phoenix Man and Orochi fights get retroactively ruined through redraws), but I have to wonder if MUrata was already shitting up things with Garou's character much earlier, or if this change ACTUALLY was ONE's doing.