It's a mystery command chain.

I kinda hate them, to be honest.
The events themselves feel mostly disconnected from the main story and they also feel somewhat abridged (Kidd getting one-shotted is the biggest offender, but also: the Blackbeards' powers get introduced a bit too quickly -some are not even shown in action-, Marco becomes friendly with Bakkin very suddenly...).
Then I can't help but feel like Elbaf and Fullalead are places we should have explored for the first time alongside the Straw Hats.

Last but not least, I mostly enjoy One Piece for its moment-to-moment storytelling: the gags, the twists, the weird things the crew meets in a new island, the character interactions... The main plot in One Piece has mostly served to hold all that stuff together in my opinion, so these quick barrages of hype moments don't actually do a lot for me.
Plus I'm loving the Egghead arc and I'd like for the story to stay there.

I might very well change my opinion if all this stuff gets to come together, and also, trying new things after 1000 chapters is of course okay... It's just that as of now I'm not really a fan.

Even if the scene didn't have any major consequences, showing the non-powerhouse members of the crew fighting one of the Big Bads and having the situation under control, while reassuring the readers that the WG hasn't forgotten about Robin and also adding a little bit to Saturn's characterization (he acts all high and mighty but he's under a lot of stress) is a pretty decent use of 6 pages I'd say.

I have quite a few gripes with Egghead but that scene isn't one of them.

God forbid we're shown the weaker Straw Hats (who were all otherwise completely irrelevant to the Egghead plot) overwhelm a semi-major villain with their smarts for once.
Wouldn't you prefer 10 pages of Nika's eyes popping out?

Finished the series. Overall I've really enjoyed it. The characters are on point, both visually and in terms of characterization, the sets are amazing, the story works and most of the changes are very inspired. Also loooved the soundtrack, I don't watch much of the anime but I wouldn't replace the sea shanties for anything else. Also liked how most characters had their own music style, jazzy Baratie, hip hop Arlong, and my favorite one is that distorted MEEEEOOOOOW that accompanies Kuro's scenes, ahah.
I liked Garp having a more expanded role. He's more down to earth than his manga version but I think he works. Him sending Mihawk after Luffy makes sense, he wanted to teach his grandson a lesson (or at the very least, test his will as is revealed in the last episode). Same for Koby, seeing him gradually grow into the heroic Marine he becomes later in the story is cool. I said that Arlong looked too scrawny in the trailers, but in the actual series he worked really well. He feels very intimidating, and I also liked how he's more in line with his characterization during the Fishman Island flashback than with his money-obsessed East Blue version. It just makes his character more grounded. Buggy is also very different from the manga, he's still a fun character but I'm not fully on board yet. But, he works.
Also, the action scenes just worked. I'm not fully convinced by Luffy's fights yet, but daaamn Zoro and Sanji's fights are spectacular. Really well-coreographed, and very readable. Buggy's powers also worked way better than I thought it would.

My biggest criticism would be that they changed or streamlined some of the character beats too much. As a seasoned OP fan I didn't mind it that much, but my girlfriend, in her first exposure to the series, failed to connect with most of the crew with the exception of Nami. In particular:
-Luffy finding Zoro on the cross after, like, one hour he's been there reeeeally doesn't have the same impact as Luffy finding Zoro on the cross after he's been there for a week and is literally dying of starvation like in the manga. The rice ball scene with the little girl was also way stronger in the manga. It just feels kinda devoid of context in this version. Also, Morgan doesn't really come off as a villain at all here. It's not too much of a big deal, that section of the story still works as a quick introduction to the main characters, but the emotional beats kinda aren't there.
-They skipped way too much stuff about Usopp. You don't really get why he wants to become a brave warrior of the seas here, since he's never shown to be much of a coward. Without the Usopp Crew, his fascination with pirates is also barely conveyed. And without Django, he pretty much loses the moment where he's most useful to the crew. Also, with Merry dead, you don't even much get why he up and decides to leave Kaya all alone. Don't get me wrong, I think the actor did a very good job and Usopp very much feels like Usopp, I just feel like he lost most of what made him memorable in the early days of the series.
They also simplified Sanji's introduction arc but I think it worked a little better there.
Aside fom that, Episode 4 felt a little like it was dragging on sometimes, the Luffy fight scenes are for sure going to be better in future seasons, and some camera angles were weird.
That's pretty much it as far as my criticism goes. It's easier to talk about what you don't like as opposed to what you like, I want to stress that I've really enjoyed the series a lot.

Nami I think is the real heart of the show here. She's the only character who gets development throughout the entire series, and is often the catalyst to bring out more character out of the rest of the cast (Luffy just like in the manga, but here Zoro and Kaya as well). Also, Arlong Park was the least streamlined arc and I think it really payed off here. For example, Arlong sending Nezumi to retrieve Nami's money is one of those things that could have easily been skipped (much like Kuro's crew assaulting the village and stuff like that), but it's the main catalyst to the "Help me" scene and keeping it really worked in making it as effective as it should be. Not every detail from the mangs is there, but I don't think it matters because you still really feel for Nami there.
Sanji's flashback was also very good.

The final scenes were also great, I loved Shanks in this. "I could beat you with one arm tied behind my b-wahahahahahahahah", and the barrel scene was perfect. The Smoker tease too!
Oh and I couldn't help but smile at the references to later stuff like Sypiea, Foxy and Punk Hazard. They were very smooth with the easter eggs!
Overall I've had a ton of fun. My girlfriend not as much, though. She only started to get more into the series from Sanji's flashback, which... makes sense. That's how it goes for most people. She even cheered on Nami during the Nezumi scene! She's still not fully convinced though. But Drum and Alabasta might do the trick a couple years from now.
Also glad that the series is finding success. It's fun, fresh and well made, I'd certainly want to see more.
That's pretty much it as far as my impressions go...

If anything, more or less grounded theorycrafting and predictions are more interesting to read than the endless and increasingly wilder Yamato coping. Even if they pan out to be wrong they can offer you a new perspective into the story you didn't think about.

Not the best action sequence in the history of One Piece, but I found the full set of Elders very cool and entertaining. I actually kinda liked how scatterbrained they felt, like their priorities were constantly changing and they had to change approach on the fly, and they had to deal with so much shit: Vegapunk spilling the beans, Bonney hijacking the Pacifistas, Nika/Joy Boy's second coming, Robin being there...
In fact, the way Saturn's encounter with the Straw Hats developed didn't bother me. He climbed the island trying to reach Punk Records, then Robin suddenly appeared in front of him and he attacked her no questions asked. Then the crew stopped him, he realized the fight would have taken too long and he resumed his primary objective.
These scenes I think worked pretty well in characterizing the Elders. Making them feel nervous and under stress is justified under these circumstances and it even humanizes them a little. They were literally seeing red any angle they turned.

What didn't work very well for me was solo Saturn. He was so one-note and ineffective. It felt like the story was asking me to take Wapol fully seriously.
Maybe it's just me... He's actually one of the very few villains who (kinda) got to kill a character in the present. But yeah I didn't really feel anything when he finally (kinda) went down. He felt incredibly passive and just kinda lame. He worked a lot better as part of an ensemble.

I'll have to reread the arc to get a better judgement...

After having been hyped for more than half of the story, I think it's only right that Vegapunk gets to be a well-developed, memorable character instead of just a glorified in-story SBS lore drop.
I also appreciate that Oda is trying to write a well-intentioned character who also has a ton of flaws. It's somewhat rare in shonen and even in One Piece itself, really, at least to this extent.

Plus the art was on fire this week, York towering over Stella with her absent-minded smile that now feels intimitading and that panel with Bonney crying are just really great.

Egghead as of now also feels to me like it's going to end in 3 chapters at most, but on the other hand Saturn has really been built up as the despiceable villain that gets taken down in a big climax. Saving him for later would remove most of the catharsis for all the Kuma/Bonney related stuff... Who knows.
There's some things that I haven't liked that much about Egghead, but at the very least it's been an unpredictable ride.

@Deicide:

I got a lot of flak a few months ago when I said Yamato's role in the story was to enable other characters' stories.

We need someone to have Oden's journal.
We need someone to protect Momonosuke.
We need someone to stall Kaido once Luffy is thrown outside.
We need someone to teach Momo how to be a dragon.
We need someone to be Momo's mentor figure while Luffy is busy.

So, someone was made to fill those blanks. How do you make people interested in such a character? Create big expectations about him.

I do see Yamato having a character arc, it's just does not seem to be the one people want. If it's meant to make him fond of Momonosuke and realise his role is as Wano's "Guardian Spirit", every choice so far makes sense. He starts in Point A ("I want to go to the sea") and ends in Point B ("I see this is my place after all"). Wants vs Needs. If not, then it's questionable while he got those roles in the first place. His character arc should have been something else.

You know, given his background (20 years of isolation and suffering, with pretending to be another person being the only thing to keep him sane) I thought Yamato would be a little too naive, or a little too nutty, or a little too sheltered or all of the above. And he was like that in the first few chapters, but then as soon as he met Franky he was basically the most mature person in the entire Onigashima already and then he went on to become Momo's mentor. Even the Oden thing was kinda dropped.
It all felt a little artificial, I don't know how to say it

God forbid we're shown the weaker Straw Hats (who were all otherwise completely irrelevant to the Egghead plot) overwhelm a semi-major villain with their smarts for once.
Wouldn't you prefer 10 pages of Nika's eyes popping out?

Wano tried a little too hard to live up to the hype in my opinion.
My dream Elbaf arc is a classic 60-80 chapters long One Piece arc, with a focus on the Straw Hats and a main villain that's not connected to either the Marines nor the Emperors. It's more or less the last chance to have a mostly stand-alone adventure before the grand finale.
I Imagine that after Elbaf they'll go straight to Raftel, with maybe a Lode Star pit stop.

@black-leg-jex said in Season 2 (and Beyond?) Speculation Thread (Spoilers):

I'm fine with them doing Alabasta as Season 3. Will they just stick to Alabasta or will they try to squeeze Jaya in there as well, I wonder?

They could end the 3rd season with the Merry getting blasted by the Knock Up Stream.

I just can't wait to see Skypiea...

WTF no Alabasta?

Skypiea-era Oda would have had a field day with the Egghead tech. Remember how much he got out of the Dials?

Even if the scene didn't have any major consequences, showing the non-powerhouse members of the crew fighting one of the Big Bads and having the situation under control, while reassuring the readers that the WG hasn't forgotten about Robin and also adding a little bit to Saturn's characterization (he acts all high and mighty but he's under a lot of stress) is a pretty decent use of 6 pages I'd say.

I have quite a few gripes with Egghead but that scene isn't one of them.

Not the best action sequence in the history of One Piece, but I found the full set of Elders very cool and entertaining. I actually kinda liked how scatterbrained they felt, like their priorities were constantly changing and they had to change approach on the fly, and they had to deal with so much shit: Vegapunk spilling the beans, Bonney hijacking the Pacifistas, Nika/Joy Boy's second coming, Robin being there...
In fact, the way Saturn's encounter with the Straw Hats developed didn't bother me. He climbed the island trying to reach Punk Records, then Robin suddenly appeared in front of him and he attacked her no questions asked. Then the crew stopped him, he realized the fight would have taken too long and he resumed his primary objective.
These scenes I think worked pretty well in characterizing the Elders. Making them feel nervous and under stress is justified under these circumstances and it even humanizes them a little. They were literally seeing red any angle they turned.

What didn't work very well for me was solo Saturn. He was so one-note and ineffective. It felt like the story was asking me to take Wapol fully seriously.
Maybe it's just me... He's actually one of the very few villains who (kinda) got to kill a character in the present. But yeah I didn't really feel anything when he finally (kinda) went down. He felt incredibly passive and just kinda lame. He worked a lot better as part of an ensemble.

I'll have to reread the arc to get a better judgement...

What if Vegapunk actually explained how the One Piece connects to the fate of the world during the part of the broadcast that got skipped over, when he was taking about the D?
In this case, the D would be the key to the One Piece.

@Lemony said in Chapter 1116: Inner Conflict:

I feel like this is kind of a argument that ends up boiling down to how much do you want to put Oda on the hook for that. Yeah, it isn't perfectly thought out. It's a 1100-chapter series being published for over 25 years, big deal. It happens. But at the same time, you can handwave it, as people have been doing, and it's not that much effort to do so. If you are already pissed off at the series for other reasons, it's just another thing piling up for you to complain. If you're not it's just something you can make up a good enough reason and it's fine. I doubt "why weren't the roger pirates hunted down" and the quality of the answer to this question is what's making or breaking the plot, honestly.

It's honestly this.
Even then, there might be a story reason involving the rat... I mean, Shanks.
Though it's weird that if Shanks is somehow protecting the Roger pirates, he let all the stuff that happened to Ace happen. But it's also true that the WG didn't really chase after Ace either (except for the whole newborn hunt thing...), they basically got him handed to them by Blackbeard.

But all in all, it is a story.
The newborn hunt thing served to justify Rouge's 20 months (!) pregnancy, making Ace's age compatible with Roger's lifespan. We know he wasn't originally planned to be Roger's son.
The infamous line a Marine uttered to Koby all the way back in chapter 6 was also mostly there to service Koby's character development too, forcing him to make a stand against Luffy.
And Robin's entire character is about having been on the run all her life and finally finding a family with the Straw Hats.

It's hard to make every little detail like these collime in the span of 30 years of story.
As for me personally, the one time I really rolled my eyes was the Elders going "in over 800 years we never associated the rubber fruit with the rubber god lol!"

So apparently