An arc that had an amazing backstory, an amazing start in Jaya, and a good conclusion but not much else. Easily the worst fights in the series, some of the worst villains- definitely the worst in potential wasted being Enel. The worst paced arc which ended up moving at a snails pace nor offering anything substantial that wouldn't have been done if it was cut in half. The world building was mostly rule of cool, angel wings that don't have functionality existing back on the original Shandians so I've heard, roller coaster cloud paths, and Enel's position of Skypiea being unnatural not really being explored at all apart from showing some construction. I suppose what I'm saying is that everything in this arc that wasn't Skypiea was great. The meat of the arc was mediocre in One Piece standards but nonetheless watchable. At least for me, backstory and themes cannot carry an arc that lacks in world building, has bad fights that take up a large portion of screen time, lack of main character importance and development, and lack of steady focused pacing. The Shandians may have been better explored than the Alabasta rebels but other than that Alabasta did nearly everything better. If you cut out Calgara and Noland then I hardly care for this arc at all, I appreciate the supporting characters, some ideas, however that doesn't warrant such a long and slow arc that does everything else disappointingly.
Even though I complimented the conclusion, the fact that no one died or that it didn't focus on anyone who died, and the only ones who could have were no names, makes the stakes in this arc feel null. Sure the land was destroyed but that has only promoted both groups to live in harmony, in a weird way it's a good thing. This also makes the already boring Enel feel like a pathetic baby who couldn't even do one thing he set out to do. Not only are his powers absurdly unexplained, with his mantra and the concept of mantra's not being pursued enough, but his actual strength is questionable too. He wasn't able to seriously hurt anyone, including a NORMAL guy named Pagaya who got hit directly by judgement. Seriously... I know it wouldn't be One Piece, yet I still think some arcs ending not perfectly happy, perhaps with some death being done, and some Shandians not wanting Gan Fall to rule, would be an amazing new and more serious direction One Piece could go. It could end on a melancholic, somewhat bittersweet note, and still be going in the direction of unity and reform, which then we could revisit and see that the hurt Shandians and Skypieans ended up getting along and getting over their losses. That would be, yes not One Piece, but something much more special, to me at least.
Aisa is adorable. I love the fact that Laki is going to stop cutting her hair because no matter how much she calls herself a warrior, her fighting is over and she can go back to being a little girl. :) This was one part of the conclusion that I support entirely.
I wonder if the upcoming filler will break the same log pose rules the last did, basically making it a giant plot hole of filler.
The Straw Hats leaving with the bells toll, being seen as saviors of Skypiea, was so similar to Noland leaving Calgara and the Shandians in the same manner. It's touching.
Usopp swinging under the ship and applying dials to keep it afloat was amazing! You're so cool Usopp!
I think it's a really interesting direction to end this arc with their ship floating across the grand line out of of their control right into a new one. I wasn't expecting that. |