Favorite Arc!

[Kaiten]

I had two real problems with the arc. Hodi Jones was a terrible villain. Oda personified extremism well, but that did not make Hodi terribly interesting. The arc itself was also missing the sense of levity usually seen in even the most serious One Piece moments. It's almost as if the entire arc was frowning. Part of what made the confrontation with Big Mam so fun, was how at that moment Oda injected the humor and warmth back into the series. Much of that had been missing at Fishman Island. There still was much to like at Fishman Island. I loved the Otohime flashbacks, she and Fisher Tiger so well personified the struggles of the Fishman. Shirahoshi was a great character, Jinbe is always a welcome presence. The fighting was well scripted, and excited. The arc was flawed, no question about that. But I still think it's held in unfairly low regard. It's not a great arc, but not horrible either.

 

[M3J]

The Orohime flashback bored me. It was probably good in terms of writing/story quality, but it was basically boring. Probably because I don't find the story as interesting without Strawhats, I guess. Hodi wasn't interesting at all either, he lacked substance. Arlong was what he was because of firsthand experience, while Hodi hated humans just because he was taught to or because of arrogance. Felt as if his only purpose was to show how much stronger Luffy's gotten since fighting Arlong, considering he was still able to fight Hodi without being too uneven despite drugs.

 

[ukimix]

Life is not always subjective, reality is more than the sum of personal opinion. Denying that something is there, or not seeing it, does not make that something go away. Claiming that the only valid truth is personal is a hollow argument, devoid of any real meaning. Any who wish to debunk, disclaim, or debate must be prepared to present empirical evidence to support their argument. In absence of evidence, claiming that there is no one truth is an invalid argument, and petty. Present evidence supporting your opinion, from the source. If you can not, be content in your opinion, but cease this discussion immediately. Be content in your opinion, but lacking any evidence, do not ever again attempt to pass it off as some sort of empirical truth. And never again attempt an argument as intellectually lazy, in the face of textual evidence to the contrary. The truth is never absolute, perception must always be challenged. But that challenge may only come from valid, empirical observation. Let rigor and knowledge decide the truth, not whimsy or anything as capricious as personal opinion. No one is entitled to an opinion, and like the truth, opinion must always be subject to constant scrutiny.

Please, and with all due respect, do not ever again attempt to debunk my statement, or that of anyone else, only on the ground that the truth is a matter of interpretation. Present textual evidence as factual counter-argument. Do not twist, bend, or misquote. Let the text shape your argument, do not Gerrymander the text only to support your opinion. If escapism is what you want from One Piece, that is an entirely valid opinion. But do not ever, for any reason, again attempt to pass off your opinion as some form of truth, without presenting clear evidence to support your claim. If your truth can not be supported without contradicting the source, consider it proof your argument is not true.

First: I didn't debunk, disclaim or debate your idea about FI arc. I was only saying that I have a different perspective of it. And I even took the time to say that both ways of read are valid. That is sharing, not debating, neither debunking nor disclaiming. And of course, I'm not forced to have the perspective you have about that arc. That is one pretty esencial of the human life in democracy. As a consequence of it, I advice you to revise your concept of "denying something that is out there, or not seeing it", because to see is a conceptual function of the human brain, which means that different persons use to see different things, even when they are puting their eyes on the same objetc. That is a useful true about life also, and it's something at the base of the moral notion of tolerance.

Second: Life is not always subjective, yes, but literature and art really are. So, dont try to make of the reading of comic book something like a science. You are simple wrong about it. And claiming that what you see in FI is something that is there for everyone is just a case of absolutism. As a matter of fact, you can't provide whitin the One Piece manga a single panel to probe that Oda is giving us a message about tolerance. Simply because no character of his manga talks about our world... or show me where that happens!

Third, In my friendly previous post I share to the comunity my way to read: "I go to OP world sometimes to laugh, sometimes to escape, sometimes to know what will happen next. But I don’t see in what happens there, messages about what happens here." In your subsequent posts you skiped the parts about laugh, and about getting pleasure of reading a comic and you have been talking sistematically as I were always scaping the world in my reading of comics. I honestly don't care much about it. But since you try to teach me lessons about life, I should have to make you notice that that is rude and disrespectul towards a member of this comunity, and therefore to all members. Also is a case of partial reference that deforms what other member has been saying.

 

[Regino]

I really loved Baroque Works arcs.
They were simply funny and had no unnecessary lenghts in it and I really enjoyed Croc as the main villian, he was kinda different to the enemys from East Blue.
He had a greater idea behind all his actions and took several years to prepare his dream and additionally to this his crownies were, at least for me, more unique than the ones in the later arcs.
The later arcs were not bad, they were far away from this, but if I have to choose one, then its is this

 

[M3J]

Why does the character have to talk about our world in order for Oda to be giving a message of tolerance? That's breaking the fourth wall, which hasn't happened in the manga so far. Oda is likely using real world issues, possibly sending a message to the real world, by using the manga. Racism exists in the real world as well, whether in America, England, Japan, or India.

Either way, you should just enjoy the manga the way you want to. Methinks Oda didn't intent for it to be discussed so deeply, based on what I've read. More like, he wants people to enjoy reading the manga and not feel stressed, hence the silliness.

 

[Ninomiya]

Whilst my favourite arc is Water 7 simply due to the plot twist,
Did anybody else feel a lot of things were being conveyed during Skypeaia?

Like the whole Atheism hints that were made comical due to Chopper's reactions like when Zoro discusses his thoughts on God?

Or how you could say the Shandian's are like Native Americans,
The other race (forgot the name) are just oppressors forcing them out of their land etc.

That arc just rings in my head as extremely deep, and I do understand its likely Oda may not want us to feel so deeply about it haha.

 

[Zehahaha]

Whilst my favourite arc is Water 7 simply due to the plot twist,
Did anybody else feel a lot of things were being conveyed during Skypeaia?

Like the whole Atheism hints that were made comical due to Chopper's reactions like when Zoro discusses his thoughts on God?

Or how you could say the Shandian's are like Native Americans,
The other race (forgot the name) are just oppressors forcing them out of their land etc.

That arc just rings in my head as extremely deep, and I do understand its likely Oda may not want us to feel so deeply about it haha.

Spoiler

But seriously, I think the main idea behind Skypiea was simply adventure, it's ROMANTIC as Cricket Montblanc said, it is one of the very few arcs that displayed one of Luffy's goals : Having a fun adventure, on an unknown island and stuff

 

[31TeV]

I think the poll options are a little strange. I don't mind all the arcs in a saga, such as Whitebeard War and Alabasta, being rolled into one, but shouldn't Jaya be part of Skypiea just so it's consistent? Also, where are Syrup Village (Captain Kuro), Loguetown, Reverse Mountain and Post-War arcs?