For a special called episode of Sabo, there really wasn't enough Sabo. Like, the majority of the special is the Dressrosa arc in hyper-speed or something, and most of it just feels like padding. Counting all the new material this probably wouldn't have even been 15 minutes long...
As I just mentioned, the pacing is way too fast, and full of stuff that's really irrelevant to what most of us want. Like the Law, Fuji, and Doffy bits felt so slapped in there.
Again, another issue with the pacing is some stuff felt really... not so impactful. Luffy's reunion with Sabo, Sabo's fight in the Colosseum, Luffy and Chinjao etc. The anime did all of those scenes much better.
The animation and art is... not as good as I'd hoped. I wouldn't say it was bad, but some parts were clearly better done than others. Some Toei art quirks are in here too.
Too much of it was recycled content. I know there's obviously not much canonical material to pull from and all but still.
Overall, and this is probably gonna be an unpopular opinion, but this really felt like a cash in on Sabo's crazy popularity right now. I didn't hate the special or anything, I love Sabo too and seeing more of him was definitely a treat. It's just I really don't feel like what Toei did here was necessary at all. If you don't care for Sabo, don't bother. If you're a diehard Sabo fan, give it a watch because the sliver of new content was definitely enjoyable.
