There're going to be tons of "preaching to the choir" on this one, mainly because most people have already pointed at the most obvious stuff. Still, let's do this.
The start of the Egghead arc, mainly the hardcut to a giant shark about to eat the Sunny. This, btw, doubles as the best spread/pannel too.
The end of Wano, as a whole. As in, not everything was AWFUL per se, but it's more like the flow of events, what was shown vs. what wasn't shown, some of the writing decisions, characters being misshandled . . .too many missfires to bring closure to the biggest arc in the manga, which ultimately sour the whole experience (which was already flawed, to begin with).
The last couple Egghead chapters are also a bit weird.
- Best character of the year
Buggy.
- Worst character of the year
Aramaki. Poor guy was done in the dirtiest in the entire series.
- Best new character of the year
We all know it. It can only be one. I mean, who else can it be, right?
Vice Admiral Doll, of course.
(Ok, runner up Lilith Punk).
- Worst new character of the year
Aramaki. Poor guy was done in the dirtiest in the entire series.
I will say, Luffy vs. Kaido had tons of focus and properly cool shots all over it. And that means pre-gear 5, too. There's a moment right before Guernica's interference where Kaido chomps Luffy, lifts him up and then BLASTS the shit out of him almost all the way to the ground outside Onigashima which is gorgeous.
And then gear 5 gave it such a hard reset that I welcomed with all my heart.
Final punch is such a downer, though.
Big Mom vs. Kidd/Law was a feast for the eyes too, but I would've honestly appreciated the fight a bit more if Kidd and, specially, Law had been sweating some more bullets, specially considering Big Mom was tanking all the shit thrown at her and yet they kept acting all smug and too cool for school and blabbering shit like "bah, you're already toast, old hag". And then proceed to defeat her by what's essentialy a ring out. Big words and big attitude for such a coward end to their struggle (and a 2 vs 1 at that, too).
Yeah, I'm salty at all the dissrespect Big Mom gets. She's still the best Yonkou (she got a worthy successor in Buggy, though).
Hard not to say Aramaki vs. Momo and co, even if some visuals were ok.
- Best surprise of the year
Easy. Triple Cross Guild creation.
- Worst surprise of the year
Not the biggest Seraphim fan. Don't hate them, just. . .let's see if they add something a bit more substantial.
No idea.
- Funniest moment of the year
I gotta say, there's quite a few of em, but number one in my book is the understated Chopper "reporting for duty!" with a giant wano hat, only to be immediately propelled out of the Sunny by the wind, only for Luffy to try and grab him and be, him too, immediately propelled by the wind. It reminded me of Oda's best gags, where he uses the medium's format to his advantage (pannels basically allow him to do this hard cut like moments to create contrasts between pannel 1 and pannel 2 without the need for a transition in between. Think Tonjit's "you young's are so weak, nothing's wrong with this cheese" immediately followed up by him lying on the floor and saying "I'm dying" with no wasted space in-between).
- Best panel/spread of the year
The ones already mentioned all deserve it, mainly Surprise Shark from Underwater and Sad Kaido smashing Luffy being held up by Guernica.
As runner ups I'd add Lulusia being wiped out of existence, giant gear 5 Luffy towering over Onigashima and all the flying lanters with the wanoese's wishes on them. This one almost counts as wasted potential though, cause the setup is honestly beautiful, but then the rushed conclusion almost robs it of its full dramatic impact.
End of Luffy vs. Kaido is a huge "could've been".
Overall, not the best year for One Piece, and one that probably brought a lot of doubts into fans minds. I know post-wano seems to have united a lot of fans in praise (mostly outside of this forum) and a sort of return to form for Oda, and I'm genuinely happy to see people still enjoying the series so much, but I gotta say Egghead, while not bad at all, is a bit too disjointed and, dare I say, sloppy for me to fully enjoy. All the diversions and cut-aways are interesting and all, but they absoutely break the pace and immersion of the arc we're supposed to be 100% adventuring in. The SH's start the arc by fighting a Seraphim and it's all kind of really cool, but then they get literally glued to the ground and forced to listen to exposition and be spectators. And. . .0 Brook so far.
But well, we'll see where things go.
