Finally finished my One Piece readthrough. Took a bit over a year with a pretty long break around Skypiea, but it was fun revisiting everything, especially the New World arcs that I hadn't read since the weekly releases. Was fun to see what improved in volume format… and what didn't. Thought I'd write down my opinion of the Wano arc as when it started I was burned out on One Piece and didn't pay attention until the Onigashima raid started.
And well? It's way better on re-read. More so than Dressrosa or Fishman Island was. I don't think it can beat out WCI as my favourite of the New World arcs, but I'll probably put it as my second. Overall solid. The biggest improvement was Hyogoro. Went from someone I barely remembered to one of the most memorable Wano characters. Kaido also felt a bit better, hopefully the suspected flashback with Yamato will put in the final touches to make him truly memorable. I think my favourite moment from the whole arc so far has to be Yasu's execution, and the Onigashima battle is one of the most exciting conflicts in years. And the villain cast! Both Big Mom's children and Kaido's lackeys are sucha breath of fresh air after the disappointment of Doflamingo's family. For the Onigashima raid Chopper curing Queen's virus was a definitive highlight, it was an awesome moment from him and something he's needed for years. After the 5 supernovas vs Kaido and Big Mom, the big fight happening with Queen in the middle of the skull is the one I'm most excited about.
On the other end - ignoring the usual complaints about cast size and lack of character building since at this point they're criticism of the entire New World saga - I feel the story lacks a proper emotional weight. Every other arc there's always someone who links the Strawhats and the readers to the story, such as Vivi, but that's sorely lacking here. Momonosuke was three arcs of wasted potential, Kin'emon and the scabbards feel like they're playing a separate story complete with their own villain and the one character to connect (Tama) keeps being overshadowed by them. It's one of the reasons I love Yamato so much, as he feels like someone who finally connects the Beast Pirates, Oden's Story and the Strawhats together without being cast into the shadows. Another thing is what I call the Wano Wank (and related to that, the Oden Wank). There's a couple moments in the story where characters are shown to be deeply emotional over something and I can't connect to what they're feeling. It feels forced. But it's hard to know if there's a fault in the story, or if I'm just not connecting with the story - which is fine, it happens, but it saddens me as it's the first time I've felt that way in One Piece, even including arcs like Fishman Island and Dressrosa.
As for the current happenings, the musical chairs routine gets tiring even when read in one go.
But I don't want to focus on the bad too much. The arc does a lot of things well. In particular it handles the amount of characters pretty well (even if I'd personally prefer over half be cut out or combined with other characters). I miss having a character I bond with, but I appreciate how solid this arc feels. Oda's putting a lot of care into it, it's a delight to see. Oh, and I love that the emperors feel like these great frightening beings instead of some cold, emotionless blank-faced god being who appears out of nowhere. For characters that had yers of hype behind them, Kaido and Big Mom delivered and even surpassed my expectations. That's such a good feeling.