@Kaze:
How can you not see it as an introduction to a new character. One who will have a big role in taking down one of the Emperors, most likely Big mom.
The SH are just now getting into the new world; they're technically not even at there first "real" island. And, Luffy basically takes it easy the whole time, which tells me that this is nothing for him and his crew to get out of by themselves, so he took a back seat and the crew decided to save ((well mostly Nami instigated it)) the kids, which is very SH like. In the end Luffy still took down the main baddy, which was a logia. yeah he took down one before, but this was the first time he did with out having to find the logia's weakness. That's freaking cool. that means that for the most part the crew is basically protected and no longer in danger from powerful DF users.
We were Introduced to Law, a VERY mysterious character with an agenda of his own. he's cool, cold, and straight to the point. And, on top of that, he was shown to be powerful, yet still vulnerable. Law decided that Luffy would make the best partner to help him in his agenda and that panel still gets me pumped for whats ahead. But lets go back to this arc, while fun, crazy, and creative, much like the Skypia arc, in this arc we had part of the main story line still there and carefully blended in with other minor plots.
All in all I say this was a great arc, not the best, but it was enjoyable.
Like I said this is only the beginning. If Luffy honestly gave it his all pulled ever trick he had, every new technique, we as the reader would be satisfied, but then what about the next villain? is he suppose to get yet ANOTHER power up? Didn't he just train for 2 years? Why show all that you've got when you don't actually have to.
I agree that he is cold and cool but apart from that there is not much to him at all.
Its not about his role or job but more about his lack of depth or character that makes me despise his character and the way everyone overfangasm over him is ridiculous. He doesn't have to cry to be interesting, a little speech or thought is more than enough (Mihawk's speech, Smoker's view on the imperfection of human society) and so far he has not really done any of that. As red letter media, Law makes me think of a small man who has no qualities (his lack of depth) and compensates by bying a cool car (superpower and looks). His character also feels shallow because its doesn't feel that he has things to overcome or character arcs but everything feels too easy for him.
In other words, there must be a consistence (more like a balance, a bad moment must lead to a good one) between his character and his feats. Law just does awesome feats and nothing more. For instance, Solid Snake would have never been my favourite character of all time if he was just a badass shooting people ( yet he never cries). Moments when he doubts himself, speech about life, when he helps other people overcoming their own difficulties, when he shows compassion, regrets and empathy make me love him so much because any of us went at least once through these kind of events. In consequence, anything Snake does is beyond epic (bungee jumping, being sneaky, kicking ass, god even when he moves his eye a little) because the guy earns them. His depth and character are consistent with his epic feats. Once again, mystery is not equal to depth.
That's why I am royally pissed at the way Tashigi was handled. Her list of "feats" is minimal whereas the cons are abundant (I am sad that fans only remember her regarding sexism). Another shitty moment of this arc is when Tashigi and Smoker up and forget her embarrasing performance against Law. I would have been of if Oda drew 2 panels where Smoker scolds her for being so careless and not following his order and Tashigi apologizing. Some fans suggested the idea that 2 years of training ( and me waiting almsot a decade for this crappy arc) is not enough and this is the NW. However, it never happens, Smoker and Tashigi act as if this incident never occured. What's worse is that Tashigi repeats the exact same mistake (fans mocked her) which insults her character in part 1 because she was all about learning from her mistakes and changing just like any of us (which is why I love her).
Tbh, I found Luffy to be very shallow in this arc. Defeating CC felt underwhelming. I honestly found that Luffy's desire to become FI's hero for Jinbe's sake was far more engaging and its really satisfying when Jinbe saves Luffy with his blood cause the whole racism issue went full circle whic pretty much compensated for Hody being a shallow villain. Moreover, I absolutely loved the moment when Jinbe was really emotional when Nami did not hold a grudge.