So I'm now back with an update. Since the last time I posted when the CP9 fights were about to start, I've managed to finish Enies Lobby and Thriller Bark.
I have to say, I really appreciate and like the Enies Lobby CP9 fights more. The part where Usopp snipes is very, very awesome, though I still wish he had a proper fight. In any case, I change my mind about the Kumadori fight. It's amazing. I love Chopper's decision and his will. I still don't like how Kalifa turned out, and I still find Jabra vs. Sanji very bland, but I like the CP9 fights more as whole. But, I still think it was dragged on too long, and I couldn't care less about the 10,000 goons of Enies Lobby. They went by pretty quickly in the manga compared to the horrifying anime, but it was still a little too "mid-story" drag. The Post-Enies Lobby stuff is too gold as always. I love how people reacted to Coby and Helmeppo in the respective chapter discussion thread. I also have to mention how surprising it is that people hated the fact that Luffy was related to Garp and Dragon, aptly being called "boring and filler" by some. It's funny how nothing has changed since then, hasn't it?
The Thriller Bark stuff is always my favorite when it comes to reading how people reacted to it. I love reading the chapter discussion when Brook first appeared, how people immediately wanted him to join. The whole debacle over Thriller Bark vs Thriller Barque vs Thriller Burg vs Thriller Park is always hilarious. Though what's not hilarious is Odz and Oz; I don't understand how オーズ could be be translated to Odz at all. Thriller Bark is a very interesting arc. I remember when PunK Hazard was happening and it was giving me Thriller Bark vibes, and I have to say the two arcs are very similar. Now, after rereading the whole arc…I'm still unsure about how I feel about it. The start and the end is amazing, the character interactions are top notch, and the jokes throughout the arc never fell flat. It's jut how some things turned out. Chopper vs. Hogback was surprisingly wordier than I recall it, which isn't very interesting when throughout that whole scene they pretty much just stand around. I still love Victoria Cindry though. Her story always makes me feel sad yet happy. Surprisingly...I actually liked the Oars fight. It's not as much as drag as the first few times that I read it. I love the conviction the straw hats had in defeating Oars. But despite that, I feel like it still went a little too slowly, and Luffy arriving later because of uh, something, was very annoying. I know the cliche of Luffy getting stuck in something is a groaner, but I feel like the worst of it is in Thriller Bark. He doesn't even get stuck, he gets lost, and he loses some dear amount of time from obtaining a 100 shadows from the Victims Association. Actually, that's another thing: the appearance of the Victim's Association is so poorly handled. They appear too late in the story for me to care too much for them. Lola might still be a total badass, but despite that I don't feel any sympathy for how they are shadowless. It just that they appeared out of nowhere, and their attitudes towards being shadowless seems a little off. I wished Oda showed them being more "desperate" or hopeful, cheering the Straw Hats on, and more on how sad and terrifying it is that they don't have shadows. I just feel like the whole shadow thing, aside from Brook and Lola, wasn't played up too much, which a really missed opportunity.
Sanji vs. Absalom is still one of the worst fights ever.
Oh. And Moriah still sucks balls. His character is still bland, the Eneru/Caesar/Moriah last minute power-up in a desperate attempt to not lose lose is still boring. Albeit, I like him more than beforehand, just because of better translations, but it's just disappointing how Thriller Bark ended up being "Oars: The Arc". Brook, the Victims Association, Gekko Moriah, Hogback, and a bunch of other much more interesting stuff got swept to the side for Oars. That's my whole problem with this arc really: so many interesting things to have focused on, but we get Oars instead.
Anyways, I'm now on Chapter 490, when Camie and Pappug is reintroduced. I like how people, unlike when Brook appeared, didn't want her to join, claiming she was a Vivi or a Conis (which they were correct at). I didn't even know that there were debates on Impel Down and Fishman Island, on whether or not they should save Ace. It's hilarious when all of these people celebrated that Luffy saying "Ace is gonna be alright we don't have to worry about them" completely shuts down the so-called "Impel Down Arc supporters"
@Vanessa:
Yes I'm so happy the people that were clamoring for an Impel Down arc were shut down by a simple line from Luffy.
@Ao:
Thank god for Luffy's "Ace can handle his own problems" attitude! I did not want another friggin rescue arc!
I really love how no one foresaw the timeskip at that time, or that a big war is incoming, or that we won't be seeing the other Straw Hats for a long, long, long, long, while.
tl;dr i finished enies lobby and thriller bark, now im at sabaody. yay