This arc has been one of the best. I was not a fan of Nami's fight, nor was I the tedious filler stretch we got while trekking through the desert. And to say that this arc couldn't have been sped up and paced better would also be a lie, little happened over large periods of time. That being said there have been other cases of this such as the Khaladore arc but I would argue it was better then as moments like the showdown on the slope were focused on developing the characters, seeing their motives and their pasts over progressing the plot a lot more than Alabasta has been. Still however this arc has been phenomenal in its supporting characters like Cobra, Pell, Koza, Ace, and Nico Robbin, as well as arguably the best villain and almost confirmed for everyone in the universe at least a top two villain. The world building has been the best easily where we've understood a whole island's views, problems, way of life, their development of their views, their philosophies, their issues, their strengths, and more. Our development for own main cast has even been here especially in cases like Usopp and Chopper fighting together, or Zoro learning to use technique in his swordsmanship.
I think Arlong arc was better paced, I thought it's development for the cast was more important(although this can be seen as being the case due to being so early that it was necessary and it's harder to do now), I thought the world building and supports were good as well with the supporting cast being nearly comparable to ours here, and the villain Arlong was much less developed in so far as we didn't understand much about him other than his superiority complex and racism. I feel we have a greater grasp on who Crocodile is which I've gotten into detail with my last posts. The fights in Arlong such as Usopp vs Big Lips, and Zoro vs Hachi, Sanji vs Karate Shark, or Luffy vs Arlong were all good, especially the Usopp fight being one of my all time favorites, but I would argue outside of Nami's this arc they've been better overall especially when comparing the somewhat unsatisfying Arlong conclusion to this presumable one.
Now to talk about the actual episode, this was by far the most climactic and epic moment we've seen. This is the first use of an orchestral piece like this as far as I recall and it was done beautifully. Luffy smashing Crocodiles hook and beating him into the sky had to have been Luffy's best fight yet. Him absorbing the wind from Crocodile to Kamehameha launch himself into a punch Son Goku style was insane. And not only this, but I already wrote about why I love Luffy vs Crocodile. It's because Luffy and Crocodile go back and forth alike equals. Crocodile may get the fatal blow but he always leaves utterly messed up comparatively much more than the last fight, whereas Luffy comes back with an even greater resolve. It was self evident that Luffy would eventually take this gator down as it went like this as long as he didn't stay permanently dead.
That was epic. I feel the rain was for dramatic effect at the moment and if so it was a rule of cool element that saved the day, a symbolic sign that the fight was over perhaps which is excusable I suppose but something to mention. We'll see if it makes more sense, but to change the story off rule of cool or emotive elements alone is something that makes me worrisome for times where it's less excusable. |