Oda should make up his goddamned mind with Rebecca. "I'm scared, I don't wanna fight anymore and SPECIALLY the monster that killed my mom, Save Me Toy Soldier!" –> "Daddy, I wanna fight together with you against the monster who killed my mom! Diamante, Imma kill you!"-->"No, Rebecca, Daddy's here, you can finally drop that sword. . .forever!" Rebecca drops her sword, she cries, disappoiting character arc is oveWAIT, she has her sword again and goes to face Doflamingo, of all people?-->"No, Rebecca, thy aunt order thee to drop thy sword and get out of here!"-->"Oh no, I didn't run out of here and now I'm about to kill my aunt! Save Me, Lucy!". Rebecca is saved, super disappointing character arc is over. Or is it?
Aside from that. . .well. Excitement is not something I'd apply to the past 4 OP chapters, but they're honestly not that bad. As Daz said, there's one too many speeches, gladiator appearances and motivational moments so it feels a bit cyclic. Oda decided to focus on the rallying of the masses cause I thought that was a sub-theme of this arc, a very subtle one, but man sometimes I wish he went the Seven Deadly Sins route, even if for a little while, and indulge himself with some mindless fighting. Sabo vs Burgess? Give yourself 10 pages and do wathever you want with "Fire Man vs. Crazy Luchador". You're a shonen author, shouldn't you love to indulge in these little sins? Hey, Viola can throw giant iron whales at her opponents and has a crazy eyesight power, why don't you give it a good 5-6 pages of cool action as she uselessly tries to beat a much superior character, instead of just one attempt at kicking Doffy? Instead of tons of people pushing, why not people using their powers to try and push the cage? It's weird, I know, but I'm sure Oda could find a way around it. Damask and Mummy man face Doffy? Well, why don't let them, I don't know, do some pyro and and some shaman stuff to him for 2 pages? Indulge in your shoneness, goddammit! Have some fun! Have you forgotten your demographic? 14 year olds that want to see "Kool Shitzzz, maaanzzz"?
Oh well.
Gatz was awesome, and I actually think Viola facing Doffy was cool. She got beaten up, still tried to kick him, that's the kind of female stand Oda needs to show more of, not them crying and asking for help every 10 chapters.
Ed: Of course showing them actually kicking their opponents faces would be that much sweeter, but I guess one step at a time.