Thus far 250+ chapters in, the story arcs is very much like sitcom episodes in that everything resets in the end: every visited island are so remote and alien from one other that the events in previous arcs don't make any sort of satisfying connection with future arcs. you get a new crewmember joining each arc, but every member remains relatively stagnant and unchanged with each arc (happy-go-lucky idiot captain remains happy-go-lucky idiot, directionally-challenged swordsman..., money grubbing navigator..., casanova wanabe chef..., etc). The long-nosed sniper apparently becomes competent later on, but I'm not one to slog through another 250 chapters on the off-chance it actually becomes enjoyable. The author is really good at creating backstories for each of the crewmembers but doesn't do a good job in developing them as the story progresses, thus making each section of their journey feel insignificant and boring. Reading through One Piece also makes one realize the difference between giving character personality and depth, with giving the characters tropes (see above) for running gags.
For a shonen series, the fights are really boring and uninteresting, some of the main cast are already established to be ridiculously strong from the get-go without the readers experiencing satisfaction from their rise to power, and their battles are won through brute force and ass-pulled techniques rather than any interesting strategizing; While fights of the weaker members are mostly played for jokes, bumbling their way into victory. The most interesting fight so far is probably the one involving Luffy using moisture from his blood to fight the sand-fruit guy, but the fight itself was pretty meh outside of that concept. I also read forward to the end of the Skypiea Arc, and making Luffy immune to Enel's lightning attack because "rubber" is in my opinion anticlimactic, lazy, and stupid writing.
The artwork was something I tolerated while experiencing the story rather than something I embraced and enjoyed on its own. Given the popularity of the series, it is probably an acquired taste, not that I am able to enjoy it 250+ chapters in.
Frankly I regretted spending so much time trying to catch the hype in this series, and it for me serves as a lesson that just because something is popular, it doesn't mean that it is actually good.
