Official Dressrosa Thread

[jazzflower92]

@sabinis:

Seems like most logical way to go.

You reminded me of haki thing on Skypiea - I wrote before about Enel and his priests that it seems we were not introduced to CoA back then on Skypiea because Enel barely knew it himself(same as Oda heh). Enel was master in CoA and even as I expect haki to be package of 2(CoA and CoO) he didnt needed it at all at place where he lived so he also couldnt properly teach his priests using it and they were all very good only in Color of Observation haki.

@Jazzflower92 - good move of sharing thoughts on Mingo

I think this arc the villain is the character people are more invested in knowing about than the good guys that the protagonists are fighting with. With the exception of probably Kyros, I say people are more hooked on the Donquixote family. For some reason I felt it was more like their story than the the Riku's family story. We do have a flashback about the Rikus but in my opinion I was more engrossed by the Donquixote families' side of thing. One of the things about this arc is that its one of the few ones where the villain had already won a long time ago and is living large because of it. Yeah, it shows that Doflamingo is an irredeemable monster but the other hand one can just be astonished at how much he accomplished this feat in just one night that Crocodile failed at doing in six years.

Its no wonder that Doffy wanted a team up with Crocodile because those two think so much alike that the world would be in trouble if they ever did form an alliance. I actually heard from one commentator from another site that Doflamingo would have laughed when he heard the news about what Crocodile tried to pull off and would have chuckled that it has already been done before by him.

Not to mention at how Doflamingo can really pull off looking like a guy who is from the Miami beach scene and at the same time be so menacing. Add to the fact that one can say he is the personification of real men wear pink because it comes off being so manly while wearing that bodacious feather boa. I think when this arc is done that Crocodile will have some competition from fans on who is the better or cooler villain.

[BingBang]

The secret behind Trebol is that he is a D. Trebol is the symbol of good luck thats why i think that. Dofla survived all thus time brcause of the good luck that trebol generates. And also i have the theory that in all the great pirate crews they have a D to give them luck.

[Gizmo]

So are Mansherry's abilities are pretty much guaranteed to be used to heal Franky and Robin, right?

Something I thought of yesterday, normally when the crew does actually fight a major boss and has a lot of damage they normally have down time after the arc to heal, or in Zoro's case, the damage that was received earlier comes back into play in the next arc (Mihawk's wounds in Arlong Park, Kuma's wounds in Sabaody).

Given the likelihood that the next major event will be happening almost immediately after Dressrosa occurs (at least by the very next day), whatever that may be, the way I see it, either Franky/Robin could be incapacitated/recovering during the next major arc, or the more likely option, Mansherry heals them and they're better. Only reason why I'm saying Mansherry might not heal them is that the injuries might give Oda an excuse to have Franky/Robin out of the action.

[maxterdexter]

@Gizmo:

So are Mansherry's abilities are pretty much guaranteed to be used to heal Franky and Robin, right?

Something I thought of yesterday, normally when the crew does actually fight a major boss and has a lot of damage they normally have down time after the arc to heal, or in Zoro's case, the damage that was received earlier comes back into play in the next arc (Mihawk's wounds in Arlong Park, Kuma's wounds in Sabaody).

Given the likelihood that the next major event will be happening almost immediately after Dressrosa occurs (at least by the very next day), whatever that may be, the way I see it, either Franky/Robin could be incapacitated/recovering during the next major arc, or the more likely option, Mansherry heals them and they're better. Only reason why I'm saying Mansherry might not heal them is that the injuries might give Oda an excuse to have Franky/Robin out of the action.

They got some action this arc, and if robin is going to go support all the time, she doesn't need to be at 100%.

Who I'd like to sit the next arc out is Mr. Roronoa "I always get a fight every arc" Zoro.

[Halfmetal-lich]

So it seems that the feelings towards this mark are starting to turn from enjoyment to frustration. I wonder why. I do think this is very much a Skypeia thing, where people will enjoy it more on a full read through, rather then week to week.

Or maybe Naruto left a rage void and we are finally turning on One piece.

Probably the top one.

[Gizmo]

@maxterdexter:

Who I'd like to sit the next arc out is Mr. Roronoa "I always get a fight every arc" Zoro.

Given he didn't even get scratched…

@Halfmetal-lich:

So it seems that the feelings towards this mark are starting to turn from enjoyment to frustration. I wonder why. I do think this is very much a Skypeia thing, where people will enjoy it more on a full read through, rather then week to week.

Or maybe Naruto left a rage void and we are finally turning on One piece.

Probably the top one.

I'm due for a reread actually. I don't think I've reread any of Dressrosa for fun since it began.

[cloudrivera]

@Gizmo:

So are Mansherry's abilities are pretty much guaranteed to be used to heal Franky and Robin, right?

Something I thought of yesterday, normally when the crew does actually fight a major boss and has a lot of damage they normally have down time after the arc to heal, or in Zoro's case, the damage that was received earlier comes back into play in the next arc (Mihawk's wounds in Arlong Park, Kuma's wounds in Sabaody).

Given the likelihood that the next major event will be happening almost immediately after Dressrosa occurs (at least by the very next day), whatever that may be, the way I see it, either Franky/Robin could be incapacitated/recovering during the next major arc, or the more likely option, Mansherry heals them and they're better. Only reason why I'm saying Mansherry might not heal them is that the injuries might give Oda an excuse to have Franky/Robin out of the action.

no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no…....I am really getting tired of the Strawhats being taken out of action. I read this manga to see them. Half of them are already gone. I am going to be extremely disappointed if every arc from here on out we see this happening.

[MasterKingJC]

@Halfmetal-lich:

So it seems that the feelings towards this mark are starting to turn from enjoyment to frustration. I wonder why. I do think this is very much a Skypeia thing, where people will enjoy it more on a full read through, rather then week to week.

Or maybe Naruto left a rage void and we are finally turning on One piece.

Probably the top one.

I'm not seeing frustration. It's mostly arc fatigue.
Over two years in the same spot, along with frequent hiatuses, can take their toll on any serialized work.

[crocodile_chan]

hmmm I've got a general meta post about the dressrosa arc and it's sort of "themes" and Doflamingo and the Doflamingo family.

I think there's a heavy theme of 'corruption' and almost biblical 'fall from grace' themes in this arc that I think are really interesting. I'm putting it under a cut because it's kind of long
but I'd love responses or added comments?

! ok so would people agree that one of the themes of this one piece arc is like… corruption? (like in a corruption of the ‘soul’ or individual rather than like systematic corruption i mean)
! I feel like it’s really significant that even though Doflamingo could have had anyone in his crew in the flashbacks you see that he has a kind of inordinate number of literal children that he’s allowed into his inner circle.
! this arc more than most others we’ve gotten a lot of backstory for the villains (like senor pink and baby 5 in addition to doflamingo)
doflamingo took law who’s just a sickly, weak, kid with no special powers, into his crew and promised to groom him to be his right hand man in 10 years for no other reason than because he had a look in his eye of someone filled with hatred of the world who’d experienced deep suffering.
! and that’s true of doflamingo too. doflamingo was raised in extreme privilege and thinking he was a god and could hurt other people but I think his main drive is from the suffering he experienced not from the privilege of his early life? (i’m not sure about this tbh) that made him hateful and ruthless
! but I think part of the take away message from law’s whole flashback is that doflamingo, law, and corazon all have had great tragedy in their early childhood but they all grew up to be very different people. Doflamingo and Corazon had the same things happen to them but Corazon unlike Doflamingo is deeply compassionate and has a strong sense of justice.
! and Law is somewhere inbetween. Doflamingo brought him into his crew because he thought Law could grow up to be like himself. But Corazon saved him in part because he wanted to save Law from that corruption. So Law grew up to be from the reader’s perspective a protagonist, on the same side as the heroes, but he’s also a person whose motivation is revenge.
! and then i feel like baby 5 is also an interesting person to look at to understand the context of doflamingo and how he chooses his crew? She has a very strong devil fruit power but she was also just a little girl who as we see in flashbacks had to be saved by doflamingo in fights because she couldn’t control her power well enough. but she’s also traumatized and has abandonment issues- so is part of why she is an appealing member to doflamingo because he can rely on loyalty from her because of that?
! It’s really hard to tell how much if at all Doflamingo genuinely cares about his crew and how much he’s just manipulating them to serve his own purposes
! I also think this arc is about ‘falls from grace’. Flevance was a white city that seemed blessed and then great tragedy ravaged it. I think Doflamingo becomes focused on it and Law (we see him falling asleep with a book about Flevance on his face and he also scolds his associate for not knowing that it’s not contagious which he knows even though most doctors don’t seem to know it) is because he subconsciously or consciously realizes that the city mirrors his own fall from grace to being a child who is a ‘god’ and then having everything turned on him. Doflamingo out of all the one piece villains has the most sort of Paradise Lost lucifer quality to him- he’s literally a ‘descendant of god’ that’s been forced out of heaven and is now trying to rule ‘hell’.

[jazzflower92]

We have been in Dressarosa for so long I am surprised no one has made a Spanish Inquisition joke.

[Rogue257]

Long arc is long.

But in all seriousness, it started off very slow but its turned out incredibly good. We've seen a lot of interesting new characters, some of which I know we probably won't see again but I know we'll see at least a couple of them in a future arc. Plus it's been good to finally find out stuff about Law and Doflamingo. I just wish it would move at a faster pace, but then again that's One Piece in general.

[jazzflower92]

I have to say this has been an interesting, quirky arc and it really also has been a dramatic roller-coaster for everyone. I think this arc is probably the one with the most emotional baggage yet. I mean the amount of sad back stories is off the charts.

Not to mention that Doflamingo has set the chart high for evil villain standards. I would like to see how Kaido or Big Mom is going to top him.

[G8trH8tr]

@Rogue257:

Long arc is long.

But in all seriousness, it started off very slow but its turned out incredibly good. We've seen a lot of interesting new characters, some of which I know we probably won't see again but I know we'll see at least a couple of them in a future arc. Plus it's been good to finally find out stuff about Law and Doflamingo. I just wish it would move at a faster pace, but then again that's One Piece in general.

Agreed. And this is supposed to be read in a serial manner. I think history will be much much kinder on Dressrosa. Might be my favorite arc yet honestly.

[Darth]

You know, I could never get people saying this the best arc, or that's overall amazing and incredibly good. I can concede that parts of it are, but the whole arc…?

[RobZilla]

@Darth:

You know, I could never get people saying this the best arc, or that's overall amazing and incredibly good. I can concede that parts of it are, but the whole arc…?

Well it'll certainly read better when it's not on a week to week basis.

[KageKageKing]

I still wonder how people endured the Sea Train part in Water 7.

[Darth]

@RobZilla:

Well it'll certainly read better when it's not on a week to week basis.

It might improve a pace of it, yes, but the overall problems that I myself face? The lack of tension, characterisation problems, and themes that frankly are internaly inconsistent? I can't see how it could possibly improve by reading it as a whole.

Then again, subjectivity of art and all that.

[garonne]

@Darth:

It might improve a pace of it, yes, but the overall problems that I myself face? The lack of tension, characterisation problems, and themes that frankly are internaly inconsistent? I can't see how it could possibly improve by reading it as a whole.

Then again, subjectivity of art and all that.

so if you know this, why ask?

[Darth]

@garonne:

so if you know this, why ask?

C

Curiosity.

I'm well aware people like different things, and that the opinions are subjective. It's a truism.

What I'm interested with is why. Why would you consider this arc above all others or indeed of great quality at all.

[cloudrivera]

This arc is already out of the running for best arc for me for the simple fact that Chopper has been written off. Anytime that happens, I cry inside lol. Yes that means Marineford and Impel Down are not my favorites either

[garonne]

@Darth:

C

Curiosity.

I'm well aware people like different things, and that the opinions are subjective. It's a truism.

What I'm interested with is why. Why would you consider this arc above all others or indeed of great quality at all.

i'm sure you know… with all the people arguing with you over the last 50+ chapters, put it together and poof magic (deductive reasoning).
What you are being is arrogant, thinking your way of viewing things are better/superior.

[Darth]

@garonne:

i'm sure you know… with all the people arguing with you over the last 50+ chapters, put it together and poof magic (deductive reasoning).

Actually, people rarely speak in detail why the scenes are actually good. They seem content simply trying to dismiss my critisisms.

@garonne:

What you are being is arrogant, thinking your way of viewing things are better/superior.

Of course it is, people are, in the end, subjective. You also think your way of viewing is superior, otherwise you would have simply acknowledge that we have different opinions, not create ad hominem by assigning a random flaw of the week to me.

That's the way people are. Subjective outweights the objective.

[garonne]

@Darth:

Actually, people rarely speak in detail why the scenes are actually good. They seem content simply trying to dismiss my critisisms.

Of course it is, people are, in the end, subjective. You also think your way of viewing is superior, otherwise you would have simply acknowledge that we have different opinions, not create ad hominem by assigning a random flaw of the week to me.

That's the way people are. Subjective outweights the objective.

1.) ok, lets say they haven't, one such reason why someone could have enjoyed this arc was because of law. their favorite character in a series of many getting the majority of the attention. thats all it can take, whether you and I like it or not thats all it really takes. this is a very superficial reason but it doesnt negate the fact that that could be their reasoning.

2.)while on average true, its not so in this case. I do understand why you dont find this arc enjoyable and that is your right (i have huge problems with this arc as well) but for someone who's shown a decent level of intelligence and knows that when viewing works of art its subjective then turns around and say

I could never get people saying this the best arc, or that's overall amazing and incredibly good.

you dont see a disconnect here?

[crocodile_chan]

prediction for how dressrosa arc will end:

[The Franky Tank]

@Darth:

C

Curiosity.

I'm well aware people like different things, and that the opinions are subjective. It's a truism.

What I'm interested with is why. Why would you consider this arc above all others or indeed of great quality at all.

You know what they say in One Piece, curiosity killed the Admiral:ninja:

@Darth:

Actually, people rarely speak in detail why the scenes are actually good. They seem content simply trying to dismiss my critisisms.

Of course it is, people are, in the end, subjective. You also think your way of viewing is superior, otherwise you would have simply acknowledge that we have different opinions, not create ad hominem by assigning a random flaw of the week to me.

That's the way people are. Subjective outweights the objective.

While it's not as prevalent, I have seen this quite a bit. I've been doing some discussion on how I think certain things are connected well, along with some other posters. The problem is anything that tries to go into detail seems to get drowned out in people swarming you, and lately power level discussions.

[Jazo]

@The:

The problem is anything that tries to go into detail seems to get drowned out in people swarming you, and lately power level discussions.

People don't have the attention. What you write seems good, and it would probably end up in nice discussions if everyone read it, but it takes time to do so. And when you look at a long text, no matter who it is from, you always wonder if it is worth reading, since it may not be a topic that interests you. Or it may be a waste of time, if you already agree with what's being written.

There should be a new type of thread with a minimum of 200 characters :<

[The Franky Tank]

@Jazo:

People don't have the attention. What you write seems good, and it would probably end up in nice discussions if everyone read it, but it takes time to do so. And when you look at a long text, no matter who it is from, you always wonder if it is worth reading, since it may not be a topic that interests you. Or it may be a waste of time, if you already agree with what's being written.

There should be a new type of thread with a minimum of 200 characters :<

That is true as well. I sometimes skip long posts that don't interest me. I'll at least skim it and see if it is something that interests me. Also, long posts are hard to get in conversations about, because if you read it, you feel the need to give a reasonable amount back when commenting.

I do feel the One Piece Manga part of this forum has been treading the same ground quite a bit with the various threads. Hopefully there will be a new thread at some point that can be a bit different, where it isn't always the same discussions coming up:ninja:

[TLC]

It's easy to tear apart an arc when you're getting it in weekly bits, easier to focus on the flaws. I'm very confident this arc will be treated and remembered far more fondly once we get the whole picture and can read it in one sit through. A lot of the complaints I've been reading have mostly been on the arc's length and peoples' impatience to just get on with the final epic battle. It's happened before, remember Skypiea which intrduced a volume long flashback just before the final clash? One can only wonder how most people on this froum might have reacted to that.

[Yobiyopi]

Senor Pink, Russian and Gimlett is a better love story than Kyros, Scarlett and Rebecca could ever hope to be, and does it in a way smaller amount of pages. Senor Pink also have cool powers and outfits, where Kyros is just a bland gladiator (but his toy form was cool!). Russian is a woman without a Nami-face and i really hope Oda will do more of them.

The tragic outcome of Senor's story beats Kyros one anytime and anyways, for a "i can't even feel your body dying, you don't even know who i am", Senor changes his lifestyle forever.

What's the point of saying this? That there are LOTS of super ups and downs in the whole arc. It's not something that is all good but without noticeable memorable moments or super low ones. There are so many things that are already super impressive and (probably) forever set in stone, while others are very meh and forgettable. The beginning of this post is an example of that, and to name others i can think of Usopp's final sniping on Sugar, compared to the first "defeat" of her. One is a super heaven like moment, the other a hellish bad one. It's funny how all of this ties together with the "main" theme of the arc and Doflamingo himself. He said in Marineford about how there are children that don't know peace, and others that don't know war, that live only one reality without exploring the other half of it, but Dofla Amingo himself experienced it on both ends. And not only him, Dressrosa itself is an example of it, with the coward/rich people living in ignorance and/or fear, and the rightful honest people that by going against him were turned into toys and forgot by everyone, or made compete in the colosseum for the enjoyiment of others.
Kyros as a toy with the dwarves too, experienced this "going from heaven to hell", when they discovered Doffy's fake shichibukai resignation.
But meanwhile, this has been the same for the very same Senor Pink and Kyros respective families, enjoying their good life without problems, to suddenly crush into the lowest point in their lives.

There may be some inconsistencies for some themes, but this one of "heaven and hell" is really the dominant one. I always thought that Doula Mongo's speech at marineford was just a cool one without anything behind it, but now re-reading it i know better what he meant.

[Kirk]

@TLC:

It's easy to tear apart an arc when you're getting it in weekly bits, easier to focus on the flaws.

And reading it in one go won't make the flaws disappear.

@TLC:

I'm very confident this arc will be treated and remembered far more fondly once we get the whole picture and can read it in one sit through.

I recall people saying the same thing for Fishman Island and Punk hazard.

@TLC:

A lot of the complaints I've been reading have mostly been on the arc's length and peoples' impatience to just get on with the final epic battle. It's happened before, remember Skypiea which intrduced a volume long flashback just before the final clash? One can only wonder how most people on this froum might have reacted to that.

Dressrosa's length and pacing are on a whole new level. And Skypiea was good.

You know, Dressrosa would be a great arc if it was 30 chapters shorter. Just leave all the boring and unecessary stuff such as Rebecca/Kyros/Riku, the dwarves, the endless running chapters, most of the collosseum tournament and all the endless panels showing the civilians running around or crying/screaming as well as Violet recaps moments. Just focus on the main meat and you get a great arc.

[jazzflower92]

I am thinking either the dwarves and the Riku family are not as pointless as people are making them out to be. For the Riku family they provide a reason for how he came to be in control of Dressrosa. The dwarves offer a nice callback from arcs ago and they fit within the Spain inspiration of Dressrosa mostly because they are inspired by the Spanish legendary creatures called duende.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duende_%28mythology%29

[TLC]

@Kirk:

And reading it in one go won't make the flaws disappear.

I'm not saying this arc is perfect but it does not deserve the absurd level of picking apart it gets. Which, again, is easy to do when you get it in weekly installments. The story works far better in one breezy read than little dissected chunks every week.

@Kirk:

I recall people saying the same thing for Fishman Island and Punk hazard.

It's only been two to three years, not nearly enough time for nostalgia to set in. Already I see people treating it with more respect as an arc with ups and downs but ultimately a piece of a puzzle that needs to be further expanded upon down the line. Don't recall any particular hatred for Punk Hazard. That was a well received arc over all apart from a misstep here and there (most of the complaints I remember from the arc was lots of running around, again problem due to it being in a weekly format).

@Kirk:

Dressrosa's length and pacing are on a whole new level. And Skypiea was good.

You know, Dressrosa would be a great arc if it was 30 chapters shorter. Just leave all the boring and unecessary stuff such as Rebecca/Kyros/Riku, the dwarves, the endless running chapters, most of the collosseum tournament and all the endless panels showing the civilians running around or crying/screaming as well as Violet recaps moments. Just focus on the main meat and you get a great arc.

No, it really isn't. If anything Dressrosa's pacing is more frenetic than previous arcs. It only gives the impression of taking long because there's so much stuff in it to resolve but Oda is doing his best to go through it without rushing too much and getting sloppy about it.

It's easy to say Skypiea is a flawless masterpiece when we've internalized it but there was a lot of draggy baggage at the time of release. Remember Satori and his excessively long fight? His twin siblings? Yama? Shura and what an anticlimax he was? Lots of walking around? How long the Enel conflict dragged out just to push in a flashback just before the climax (at least the Corazon flashback came before the final battle)? Hell, to this day people still call it a filler arc (when it was actually the foundation of one of the most major parts of the story) with years of opportunity to see how it fits into the main plot.

And not to knock Skypiea, I love the arc. I just think it's far easier to look through rose tinted glasses at an arc long done and internalized opposed to something that we're only getting a brushstroke of every week. That's why I'm confident once we're finally able to see the forest for the trees, the arc will get far more appreciation especially as its foundation for basically the upheaval of the status quo of the New World.

[desa]

I still find the Nordland flashback weirdly placed whenever I read it. Can't imagine how it would feel in a weekly basis. Still a fun arc overall.

[Chrior]

@TLC:

I'm not saying this arc is perfect but it does not deserve the absurd level of picking apart it gets. Which, again, is easy to do when you get it in weekly installments. The story works far better in one breezy read than little dissected chunks every week.

[…]

It's easy to say Skypiea is a flawless masterpiece when we've internalized it but there was a lot of draggy baggage at the time of release. Remember Satori and his excessively long fight? His twin siblings? Yama? Shura and what an anticlimax he was? Lots of walking around? How long the Enel conflict dragged out just to push in a flashback just before the climax (at least the Corazon flashback came before the final battle)? Hell, to this day people still call it a filler arc (when it was actually the foundation of one of the most major parts of the story) with years of opportunity to see how it fits into the main plot.

And not to knock Skypiea, I love the arc. I just think it's far easier to look through rose tinted glasses at an arc long done and internalized opposed to something that we're only getting a brushstroke of every week. That's why I'm confident once we're finally able to see the forest for the trees, the arc will get far more appreciation especially as its foundation for basically the upheaval of the status quo of the New World.

This is so so true for me. First time I watched Skypiea (yes, watched. I didn't read manga back then ) I hated it. It seemed like a neverending story set in a different world, that had no relation to the actual plot of the series, with crap villains and crap support cast (except Enel and Wiper, respectively). Then we didn't even have proper 1 v 1 fights, lots of trees everywhere, and meh. Didn't like it one bit. The flashback didn't bother me that much, actually. Only by the 3rd or 4th time I read/watched the arc did I start to see the quality and importance it holds in the overall plot, and even on its own. Today, I can't say it's one of my favourites, but I like some of its aspects.

Tension? Don't remember feeling any in Skypiea, except when Chopper was involved (also didn't like Chopper's treatment that arc, although him defeating Gedatsu pleased me; Chopper was my number 1 character back then, and it's still in my top 5!). Pacing and lenght problems? Don't need to say anything. Villains being bad at their job? One of the top guys got defeated by Chopper… Only Satori in the beginning made them feel threatening, but it soon turned around. Lack of emotional connection? Other than Enel being about to destroy the island and kill everyone, the Straw Hats didn't have much reason to be there.

In the overall scheme of things, Dressrosa is much more to my tastes than Skypiea. It's OP's Spain!! I live next to Spain, I really enjoyed the theme of the island! The Colosseum was very cool, although block D and the last fight didn't live up to the expectations built by blocks B and C. Law and Doffy's backstory? Amazing. One of the best in OP. Running chapters? Yeah, those were kind of unnecessary, but not nearly as bad as Punk Hazard. Dwarves? Loved the concept and their role until somewhere in the middle. Then it kind of... don't know. Just became secondary; the Mansherry plot was badly handled, true. The constant jumping around to give a sense of all out war and confusion hurt the storytelling. And that same lack of focus made the officers look bad, when they actually made contributions throughout the arc, but the only focus on them was their defeats... The Rikus' backstories were so so. You can see their inferiority because every time the focus switches to the Doffy and Law plot, the way it resonates with readers is way better. But, altogether, they didn't take that long and they were necessary to build a connection to the island, its people and its plight. Could have been better, but it worked for me. The resolution with Diamante vs. Kyros... Not so much, but it also suffers from the same lack of focus that other fights do.

Don't want to make this post much longer, since I have more stuff to do, so overall, Dressrosa is cool for me. Probably had one of the top 3 setups in the series, alongside Water 7 and the war saga, but the middle portion and resolution were more average for One Piece. Still enjoy it weekly and the final fight is looking good so far. Just hope the atmosphere in the manga section of this forum improves a bit. It's been almost unbearable for me lately.

[Kirk]

^ hall of shame please.

[Darth]

You know, I wonder how much is the arc actually better in one read, and how much of it is not quality, but peer pressure and rationalisation.

I expect a lot.

See, I don't consider any arc of One Piece flawless. At the same time, however, most of the time positives outweight the negatives for me.

That is not the case here. And I sincerely doubt reading it in one go will change that.

[jazzflower92]

It would be cool if one of the Tontatta joined with the crew in order to follow Usoland. I think it would be either Leo or Wicca who would be most likely to join. I kind of like how Oda-sama made the dwarves so different from how they are usually portrayed in other media. Its not surprising because they are more closer to the Spanish concept of the duende. Most dwarves in popular media are usually based on the Tolkien kind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duende_%28mythology%29

[Kaimon]

I think the first half of this arc is pretty great, but the middle part is where it started getting dragged, messy, and just not much fun to read. Everything after Law getting out of his cuffs has been better, though

[FrankyFan]

@TLC:

It's easy to say Skypiea is a flawless masterpiece when we've internalized it but there was a lot of draggy baggage at the time of release. Remember Satori and his excessively long fight? His twin siblings? Yama? Shura and what an anticlimax he was? Lots of walking around? How long the Enel conflict dragged out just to push in a flashback just before the climax (at least the Corazon flashback came before the final battle)? Hell, to this day people still call it a filler arc (when it was actually the foundation of one of the most major parts of the story) with years of opportunity to see how it fits into the main plot.

And not to knock Skypiea, I love the arc. I just think it's far easier to look through rose tinted glasses at an arc long done and internalized opposed to something that we're only getting a brushstroke of every week. That's why I'm confident once we're finally able to see the forest for the trees, the arc will get far more appreciation especially as its foundation for basically the upheaval of the status quo of the New World.

Satori is in 3 chapters total with Luffy's team. And those chapters only focus on him about 2/3 the time. The rest is on Chopper and Shura.

Yama vs. Robin is 18 pages when you put the whole fight together.

Shura was quick. I agree people would have been upset reading weekly just like they were with Dellinger.

What chapters have lots of walking around? Pretty much every chapter that involves exploration had a fight going on, even if it was obscure characters like Kamakiri or Genbo a few times. People were getting knocked out left and right and it still felt like progress was being made to that "5 survivor" prediction that Enel had made.

[Razh]

I think Shura losing was a pretty good moment. I love it when I get surprised like that. It set the mood for the game where you felt nobody was really safe. Besides, Shura had showed all he can do in his previous fights. There's no reason why every fight with a lieutenant of the arc has to be stretched out.

Oda might have overdid it a little in this arc, though.

[TLC]

@FrankyFan:

Satori is in 3 chapters total with Luffy's team. And those chapters only focus on him about 2/3 the time. The rest is on Chopper and Shura.

Yama vs. Robin is 18 pages when you put the whole fight together.

Shura was quick. I agree people would have been upset reading weekly just like they were with Dellinger.

What chapters have lots of walking around? Pretty much every chapter that involves exploration had a fight going on, even if it was obscure characters like Kamakiri or Genbo a few times. People were getting knocked out left and right and it still felt like progress was being made to that "5 survivor" prediction that Enel had made.

Satori was five chapters, way more than his character deserved. Yama's introduction and defeat took like three chapters. Yeah, it's interspersed with other material but so is the Dressrosa stuff. I remember a lot of Luffy exploring and fights with random, obscure characters. Not saying the plot was stagnant, there was a clear degree of progress…just like how there was a level of progress in Dressrosa even if it was interspersed with a lot of fighting.

My point is the flaws in Skypiea we minimize because it happened years and years ago and we've internalized the arc opposed to the current arcs' flaws we blow WAY out of proportion and we still have to wait a bit for it to finish before we can let it settle in our minds. Not to crap on Skypiea, I love that arc, there's nothing wrong with it not being perfect, a series as long and intricate as One Piece is bound to have some missteps. And I love Dressrosa too because I read it with that sensible mentality in mind and I know if I love it now, I'm really going to adore it when it all comes together. A lot of people are just overly fixating on the negative though like it's something new to One Piece without having any perspective. It's hype disillusionment brought on by much higher expectations combined with them only getting the series in small chunks.

--- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Razh:

I think Shura losing was a pretty good moment. I love it when I get surprised like that. It set the mood for the game where you felt nobody was really safe. Besides, Shura had showed all he can do in his previous fights. There's no reason why every fight with a lieutenant of the arc has to be stretched out.

Oda might have overdid it a little in this arc, though.

Probably the same reasoning Oda had in mind with Dellinger

[Kirk]

@TLC:

Satori was five chapters, way more than his character deserved. Yama's introduction and defeat took like three chapters.

And Zoro vs Pica was 40 chapters.
Franky vs Senor Pink 43 chapters.
LOL! sorry, I find this hilarious.

[RamistaR]

@Kirk:

And Zoro vs Pica was 40 chapters.
Franky vs Senor Pink 43 chapters.
LOL! sorry, I find this hilarious.

LoL how did you count pal ?

[TLC]

@Kirk:

And Zoro vs Pica was 40 chapters.
Franky vs Senor Pink 43 chapters.
LOL! sorry, I find this hilarious.

Those fights were back burnered, Satori and Yama were way more prominent in their runs, we constantly switched back to them. Big difference between that and setting them up and leaving them to fight off screen until we finally got back to them. Total, Pink and Pica were like 3 chapters each.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@RamistaR:

LoL how did you count pal ?

Their first and last appearance probably.

[Razh]

I'm pretty sure he was joking.

[Zar]

To me, the biggest disappointments aren't necessarily related to the Dressrosa arc, but to the series overall. Over the course of the story, but especially since the Time Skip, several things have changed for the worse. Increasingly one dimensional characters, worse treatment of female characters, marines being mostly useless or vague, a lack of exploration and fun. Even if FI and PH did become better to some degree once it all sank in, those points remained the biggest disappointments no matter how many times I reread those arcs, and seeing it not getting better in Dressrosa isn't helping.

This arc has some good points. Law's flashback and the introductory chapters are proof of that - most people liked those and still do. But it feels like the arc is waaaaay to crowded, with far too many plot points and characters too handle, especially for a weekly series. There was a lot of amazing buildup, but the payoff has been mild at best, save for Señor Pink's fight (ignoring the bra-ripping and the vacuum cleaning lady). I was excited for every new chapter when the arc started - right now I barely even care.

Regardless, it'll most certainly be interesting to see how the arc is received 2-3 years from now.

[Kirk]

@TLC:

Those fights were back burnered

Of course, this arc had no focus at all. Always switching around because of the gazillion of (unecessary) plotlines, which is painful and annoying to read. That's one of the main flaw of Dressrosa and Oda's new storytelling.

Not to mention that Skypiea had a break and the crew partying during the night, that was pretty cool. All of the arcs now are just a race, running, more running, and the action can't take a break, story can't take a breath.

[FrankyFan]

@TLC:

Those fights were back burnered, Satori and Yama were way more prominent in their runs, we constantly switched back to them. Big difference between that and setting them up and leaving them to fight off screen until we finally got back to them. Total, Pink and Pica were like 3 chapters each.

I'd much rather have a fight that goes on for 5 chapters (although only appearing 3) than a fight that goes on for 40 and appears a dozen times throughout. Satori showed up, gave Luffy and Sanji a challenge, and then was defeated. Took a little over a month in total and we never see him again. Pica just hid from Zoro for nearly a year. I think that's much worse.

I agree that all arcs are hurt by weekly pacing. Pretty much every arc would be considered slow if you read just one chapter a week. But I've read Dressrosa and while it doesn't seem to drag, there's still a whole bunch of problems in writing that Skypiea didn't seem to have.

[maxterdexter]

@Kirk:

Of course, this arc had no focus at all. Always switching around because of the gazillion of (unecessary) plotlines, which is painful and annoying to read.

You should try to go read the threads during Skypea. This could be a quote from these times.

[Shadowgreed]

@Kirk:

And Zoro vs Pica was 40 chapters.
Franky vs Senor Pink 43 chapters.
LOL! sorry, I find this hilarious.

How do that translate on Universe time?