Well, allow me to retort. Strap in, and prepare for a wall of text.
Pacing of story: Average arc length is 26 episodes (and that is counting arcs such as the laboon arc (5 eps) and Return to Saboady Archipeligo arc (5) etc.), and Punk Hazard stands currently at 29. Wow, you know, you just blew my mind Punk Hazard is waaay too long. In your defense you did say that it has quote “no end in sight”. Okay, maybe you think PH can’t be wrapped up in any less than 15-20 more chapters, understandable, even if I do not agree, and that would make this arc on the long side. But then again a few sentences earlier you said PH should have ended “like 5-10 chapters ago” so you must believe it is close to ending. Unless you believe that Oda is “stretching chapters” to such an extent that the content of the 29 chapters this arc could be compressed into 14, I am going to have to call bullshit on you. At the same time that you say Punk Hazard feels like it should have ended 10 episodes (if it were not for Oda dragging his feet), you don’t think it will end for about at least another 15 episodes. These two thoughts are completely contradictory (of course I am assuming that you are not a person who thinks abrupt/jarring arc endings equals good writing) and you are just listing complaints about the manga regardless of validity in order to give your argument the appearance of being stronger than it is. Stop it.
Oh, oh, and its been 1 year and 11 months since the time skip, or it has been 3 arcs (return to SA), so, so, yeah! (I am sorry for that, it was unnecessary, nitpicky, and unprofessional. But you know what they say, a low blow is still a blow. They say that right? No? Well alrighty then, I’ll just continue).
Mini rant of semantics aside, the pacing on Fishman Island was paaaiinful. It is easily my least favorite arc in One Piece, and it really isn’t a competition. A lot of it could be the buildup it received in over 500 chapters (since Arlong), but it really felt like not a whole lot happened for such a long arc etc. etc. However, I completely disagree with you about Punk Hazard. Shit has been happening on Punk Hazard, and I would only say that maybe the last few chapters it has been dragging its feet a bit, but definitely not the entire arc. Things have been going on. Imma go out on a limb here and say that it is shaping up to be one of my favorite arcs. There! I said it! Then again I really feel that it isn’t fair for either of us to be judging the entirety of the arc when it hasn’t been completed. F**k, for all we know PH could shape up to be my least favorite arc and your favorite arc. So we should reserve our overall praises or condemnations.
Character Interaction: You only said “weird over powered douches” to try and further your point when in fact your entire paragraph contradicts this statement. If you said “weird over powered caricatures/shells of their former selves/etc.” that would be fine and it would be line up with your argument. However, you said douches, even tho you only list Sanji a douche explicitly, (and maybe say that Robin is shallow, but not really a douche). In fact you state that Luffy is a great guy who is stupid and that Chopper has come into his own as a character, neither of which are douches. So, you are either saying douches to tick people off (kinda well done I suppose lol) or to give your argument further unsubstantial support. Stop it.
Now I have to agree with you when you say that some of the character interactions between crew members is becoming less and less, but that is the price we pay for having new straw hats, . The more we add the less they will be able to interact with each other consistently, which is something I don’t want. On the other hand I am a greedy bastard who wants more crew members, gimmie more Oda!! So obviously there will not be as many interactions as there may have been before, but I do not agree with you as to the extent of the problem. But I still think the crew interacts with each other in a meaningful way. Chopper and perv Sanji throughout FI was solid interaction imo (even if you hate Sanji), I liked Brook hanging with the boys in a cage on FI as well. Those are a couple examples (I could give more if you want, I suppose… sigh (I’m a lazy sack of shit)) and I'll admit the quality is certainly not on par FrankyxRobin in Ennies Lobby, for example. As for characters interacting with new folk, I think that was pretty well done in the last two arcs, or at least it isn’t nonexistent like you seemed to imply (or that I think you implied, all you say is that it is getting worse and worse but don’t explain how or in what way). Luffy vs Jinbe was a great example. I also liked Luffy and Shirahoshi. As for Punk Hazard, there has been Kinemon. Kinemon has had some great interactions with Sanji and Brook and to a lesser extent others in the crew. Hell I would say he is a much better companion character than anyone you listed (not counting Vivi since she was around forever, even tho I think he is better personally). And then there is still the interactions the crew has had with Law, Smoker, Brownbeard etc.
Character Development: Ahh, character development, dats a tricky one. I will agree that characters development has slowed for a number of characters. Luffy seems like a fairly simple fellow and let’s be honest, Zoro’s actions post timeskip consist primarily of cool one liners and getting lost as far as I am concerned. Robin is still playing her time with the revs. close to the chest, but she doesn’t talk much anyway so its hard to say how she may not have changed. Sanji developed! Into being even more sexist and one dimensional… sigh, your killing me Oda. Seriously tho, Chopper has developed nicely as you said, and I would also argue that Usopp has as well. You are confusing being scared with being cowardly, he still gets scared, but rather than pissing his pants all the time he has been stepping up. Franky has not changed much but then again he is fairly new, and same with Brook. I would say that Brook has a greater sense of confidence in both himself and his place with the crew.
One tricky thing about character development is that it is not actually necessary. It’s a nice water cooler complaint to throw around, but what does it even mean? Do characters really have to be constantly shifting in order for a good story? Of course not. Don’t get me wrong, character development is important, but in a story like One Piece you need downtime, so to speak. If something is constantly changing, what’s the point? You wouldn’t see the fruits of that change. Luffy for example has not developed a whole lot (since the start really), and that’s okay. He is a fairly developed character by this point, 600+ chapters in. He is just a simple guy that we all understand. That being said, he has developed a bit post time skip. Namely, he takes the world more seriously etc. because of Ace and wants to protect his friends even more. Maybe not a whole lot of development, but a whole lot isn’t necessary. Actually, I would argue he is developing even further than just protecting his friends. By Luffy’s own words he doesn’t want to be a hero, (even if readers knowingly smile that he has always been a hero, even if unintentional). But by the end of FI he is stepping up to be just that by challenging Big Mom. That is character development as Luffy slowly shifts away from being a carefree kid in East Blue because of the weight of tragedy and responsibility slowly building upon his shoulders. This weight is only going to grow in the years to come and in a lot of ways One Piece has been a tale of coming of age and loss of innocence for Luffy.
There has also been some development of secondary characters, such as Law, Smoker, Tashigi, BB, a little bit DD. Maybe those examples are more fleshing out of the characters than development, but I will take it anyway…
Sanji: I have never really seen the amount of Sanji hate that you describe. In my hometown (and by that I mean the forum I frequent) he seems just as liked as anyone else, I certainly don’t see people hating on him to the degree you describe. But whatevs, I guess if you don’t look for something you’re not going to find it. Anyway…. Here we go.
You take such offense that Sanji tamely gropped Nami for far less than a second but dislike that sanji could hate the okama who chased him around an island trying to more or less rape him. If not rape, at the very least do things that sanji did to Nami to a greater degree. In sanji’s mind, full blown rape. cough double standards cough cough losing respect for you cough. Soo sexual molestation is okay if its complete strangers against a man, but if it’s a man semi gropping himself in his female body (by accident!! Unless I am looking at the wrong chapter), that’s not okay. That, is where you draw the line? I’m sorry, but I am calling bullshit. The only reason that anyone is in a flurry over this is because it was a man in a woman (pun intended). If Sanji was a female sex fiend there would not be this much of an uproar if she gropped herself. In fact, Robin already did that (albeit not in a sexual way…. or was it? No it was not. NO Frobin). That Sanji “gropped” himself is this big of an issue completely boggles my mind. Especially when you take into account that what Sanji did is actually pretty damn tame.
When I mapped out my retort for this point you made I was planning on working the “he did what a guy would do” angle a lot more. But after revisiting what happened, Sanji is a mother f**king saint! 90% percent of men would in some way, shape, or form exploit such an opportunity; whether it be admiring or something… else. I am just stating facts, Nami is supposed to be a drop dead gorgeous woman, I simply cannot believe that you are that naïve about how most men would react to this situation. And Sanji isn’t most men, he is OBSESSED with woman to a very unhealthy degree, and he just went through a 2 year span of not seeing a single one while at the same time facing sexual harassment/molestation at every turn. That he really did not do a whole lot to exploit this opportunity other than looking and unintended groping is a testament to the man’s will power, respect for Nami, fear of Nami, and the shit storm of what was going on around him on PH. And mainly because Oda isn’t writing hentai, but a little bit that other stuff too. A tiny bit.
Now, I do find Sanji’s lusting to be annoying and making him more and more one dimensional. Remember when he used to like food? Remember when he was a cook? Cause I don’t. (I do, but it’s an exaggeration/joke, so go with it). But at the same time, it would be completely out of character if he did not act more lustful after the timeskip with Okama island. It would also make zero sense if he switched into Nami’s body and said, “oh no. I want my body back.” like everyone else. The nosebleeds etc did serve a purpose in setting up for Luffy’s blood loss in order to better exemplify the reversal in the Fishmen. It isn’t a great excuse, but it helps to alleviate the frustration a bit. Fortunately, Sanji’s lusting has died down since the timeskip, so he won’t be as bad as he was on FI ever again (knock on wood). For the record I still found the Sanji stuff funny, but then again I went through all of the post timeskip to being caught up in a few days rather than 2 years (I started and finished One Piece in a couple months earlier this year), so Sanji pervyness had less time to seep in and bother me.
Mhmm cookies thanks!!
Overabundance of Characters:
The overabundance of characters is a natural consequence of arguably one of the most expansive mangas ever made, not only in length, but also in terms of the One Piece universe. That new characters seem to get shafted in terms of screen time is unavoidable. In FI it was much worse than it was on PH, for my moneys worth. I am definitely agreeing with you that most of FI consists of forgettable characters, the only ones I really care about one way or another are Shirahoshi, Vander Decken, and Hody. I actually kinda liked Hody as a character even if he was a wimp and crazy, and I am pretty sure I am in the minority there. As far as show Big Mom’s crew, DD’s, etc etc. I disagree. I think it is all very exciting and fun to see .
Ready… FIGHT!: That fighting is boring is something I can agree on. But the reason it was boring was because it was sooo easy on FI, which was intentional. I still think it could have been easy and not as boring, and that is one of the reasons FI is my least favorite arc. PH however has had some fantastic fights. Actually, there have only been like what, 3? And I enjoyed all of them immensely, have faith! I think you are writing too much about specifically FI and feeling jaded so you aren’t seeing the awesome of PH. Or I have too much fanboyism that is blinding me, sigh, I hope not but it is certainly possible, I mean shiit, just look at this response haha.
Fishman Island really did have no sense of danger, you are right there. And that is because it was just so damn easy. But in the arcs defense, it was supposed to be like that. FI was meant to showcase the strength of the crew by having them absolutely destroy Hody and his crew. In a way it is attempting to be reminiscent of the East Blue. The East Blue was an ocean that the SHs went through with no troubles, and this same sense of ease is trying to be reflected in FI. Notice how the start was of the Fishman Island arc is called Romance Dawn for the New World. Both this name and the volume cover have clear connections to the first volume and opening chapters of One Piece. But shit hit the fan when they entered the GL, and the same will be for the NW.
Obviously the Straw Hats are going to win in the end, they have plot immunity, and are the heroes of this story. But there has been a great deal of danger in PH. Luffy was beaten for one, half the crew has gotten wrecked as well. But at the end of the day, good guys win, bad guys lose, and as always, One Piece prevails! (you see what I did there? (Its a V for Vendetta reference…)) I will agree that I would like there to more danger and consequences in One Piece (don't get me started on people never dying when they should), but at the same time maybe we are becoming numb to such things as the characters getting beat downs and only super near death experiences are enough to satisfy our blood lust. Sigh, that sounds terrible, but it very well could be true.
Haki: I do not have much of a problem with haki. Kings haki is simply a way to identify if someone is a badass quickly, and in order to crowd clear some mooks. It doesn’t actually affect fights against relative equals. Armament haki just makes you tougher in a fight, and observation haki just helps you dodge better/have better awareness. You could easily take out Armament haki and it is just people hitting harder and training their bodies to withstand hits. Same thing happens with Tekkai and cp9, its an explanation for why a character is so badass. Its better than people just taking all these hits for no reason. Other mangas do this same exact thing all the time, with the only difference being they do not give an explanation for how what is happening is possible. It is simply written off as the character being more of a badass now, so I appreciate that Oda has given actual explanations while at the same time not making it a complete ass pull. KH was shown day 1, Observation was shown way back in Skypiea, and Armament was shown on Amazon Lily.
Crew mate predicitons: You might as well say you hate fun, because that all fan prediction are. It’s a fun thing to do, so why not? And you are forgetting some cardinal rules of One Piece fandom; any new character will be predicted to join the crew. If such a prediction does not exist, it will be made. Over analyzing every little dirty detail and saying that there are patterns, and so and so is going to do this, etc. is a great deal of fun. Hell, I wrote this mainly for the shits and giggles of it and to flex my writing abilities rather than because of any personal vendetta with you or a sense to defend One Piece blindly. I enjoyed writing this and I enjoyed responding to the many points you made and I can see the validity in most of them regardless of whether or not I actually agree.
Whew. I know what you mean about the hand cramps haha. Anyway, I liked reading your post, see ya later and thanks for sharing your opinions