@kljs:
I did read it…...but I wasn't convinced about it...since the more seriousness started post Ao-Kiji........ it was after that the Mugiwara got a bit more serious than usual.....
I will admit that pre-Aokiji vs post-Aokiji, you can feel the differences...once you get to Water 7, the tone totally change completely......and the whole Enies Lobby was one whole big battle way different than the Alabasta one......not the fighting, the mood that is....
Exactly what weren't you convinced about? Everything post-Aokiji is all part of the same arc/saga, so you can't really base any general statements off of it. This isn't a trend, it's a single anomaly.
I thought that your idea was that the Strawhats wouldn't be able to act so carefree after all of this Enies Lobby mess, since they'd be World Government enemy #1. But then I said they should be fine, since the future islands they land on won't necessarily be under significant influence of the WG. Besides, if they are powerful enough to trounce upon the WG's doorstep and live, I think most places would do one of two things. Either they will ask them to leave and prevent them from docking, or they will do nothing, and just let the Strawhats do what they want and try not to anger them. The first option is hard to do, unless they have total control over all docking ares, so probably they would choose option 2. The only time anyone would try capturing or attacking the Strawhats is if they had lots of backup from their army (if they have one), the Marines, or the World Government. Even if they do call for help from the Marines, the Strawhats will be free to have fun until they see Marine ships on the horizon, and then they'll just take off.
Again, all this can only happen if they actually land on a heavily populated island that is a part of the WG. The only ones we've seen so far that fit into this category are Alabasta, Water 7, and Enies Lobby; with Drum formerly being a part of it, but no longer when the Strawhats arrived. Then you need to recall that Enies Lobby isn't on their original log path. They deliberately went there, so it doesn't really count. So just for review, the islands the Strawhats have visited in the Grand Line are: Whisky Peak, Little Garden, Drum, Alabasta, Jaya, Skypeia, Long Ring Long Land, and Water 7 (excluding Enies Lobby). That's 8 islands, and if 2 of them are a part of the WG, then that's a 25% chance of landing on a WG island just based off their past travels. But, you can even take away Water 7 as a WG island, since they willingly assist pirates with their ship repairs (as long as they pay). So really only 12.5% chance they land on an island where they run into the situation illustrated above, and even then, it's difficult to say whether anything would happen to change the Strawhats' carefree attitudes.