@Croy:
There are two things which I think are wrong, or at least heading in the wrong direction in this arc. And one of them is what you just mentioned. I didn't say once the pacing was too slow, I said it lacked focus. I think it lacks focus because it actually is going WAY too fast for its own good. Oda isn't taking time to give people a focus to cheer for, the closest he has come to this is this chapter with Oars but because there was little to no setup for the emotional conflict, it came out forced and just as quick as it came, the focus was gone the minute the chapter ended. Thus if he took some time in a previous chapter to actually setup this potential conflict it wouldn't be a problem and we as readers would have something to cheer for or be engaged with.
The second issue is something I hinted at already in my observation. Its too chaotic, and it leaves me as a reader questioning what will happen next and not in a good way. You can have plot twists all you want, but you don't leap people into action without at least a focus. The top tiers just started fighting almost for the sake of fighting, its like they lost the reason they are there, obviously thats not exactly true but thats the way the pacing of the story comes off as. I do have faith though focus will be obtained in the next couple of chapters. I want to find out what 'role' the impel down group has in this extremely over the top war. If not that than at least another character to cheer on that actually lasts more than one chapter.
I think it is too early to have a focus on this war. If Oda focused on any fight now, then it would be difficult to see the progress of the entire war itself. Now, Oda is setting up the war by showing us all the factors that are present. He shows us the admirals, division captains, the new world pirates, and the shichibukai (and vicecaptains etc. in between). Once we have a grasp of who is actually fighting here and what they are capable of (which after this chapter I think we have reached) I hope that the war would now start to focus more on key battles with other minor struggles in the background.
So my guess is that next chapter will start to have things brought more into focus.