One Piece

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I feel like it's already a mess. I don't mind so much that there is a lot going on, but the arc really lacks structure. The Marineford arc also had a lot happening at one time, but Oda still gave it a clear structure and directive, so it never got boring. Other than that, I really wish that Oda would take some cues from what made stuff like the Baroque Works, Water Seven, Enies Lobby, Thriller Bark, and even the Impel Down arc so good, and that's to keep the story focused. I get that Oda is trying to be all big and epic, but the story feels so all over the place right now that it's getting hard to follow. What made the older arcs work is that Oda started out small and gradually blew up the scope of the story and characters as each arc progressed. Here it feels like he's trying to make every arc a big affair from the get-go, which just doesn't work out from a writing standpoint when I have no reason to care about anyone other than the main characters, here, and even then they lack that sense of desperation that made them so compelling to watch in the best arcs of the series.

[LumRanmaYasha]

While I don't feel the story is "hard to follow" right now, I agree it lacks focus. Oda does a few chapters on the tournament, shifts to something else for a few chapters, shifts to another thing after that...heck, sometimes there isn't a consistent focus on a plot point in even 1 chapter! I am interested in pretty much everything going on, but the story is so all over the place that some things go on too long while some things feel underdeveloped. Somehow Oda seems to have lost the sense of pacing he had down before the time-skip. I personally am interested in several of the new characters in this arc, but Oda does need to spend some time developing them a bit more.

[LumRanmaYasha]

The latest chapter...yeah, Oda's definitely trying to cram too many things in and it's just not being executed effectively. Like, all the elements of the plot itself are awesome, but dammit Oda, pace them! This chapter felt really rushed and the first I felt was actually "hard to follow" with so much being thrown out there. I mean, I like these new developments in and of themselves. I like Bartholomew saving Bellamy. I like Bellamy still having loyalty to Doflamingo but helps Luffy escape the colosseum albeit passively. I like the fact Koala is a revolutionary and a practitioner of Fishman Karate (who would have thunk she of all people would be relevant to the story outside of Fisher Tiger's backstory?). And of course the big twist of the chapter...man. I've seen that coming since "his death" and have been wondering when/if Oda would do it. But damn it, just throwing that in without build up or really any real reason makes what should've been a really emotional moment not so. Just very disappointing to me. All of this stuff is awesome in concept, and I am far from bored or disengaged with what's going on. But in execution all this awesome stuff is falling flat, and that's what really hurts me about it. Hopefully he evens out the pacing and lets this stuff blend more naturally together into a more effective story for the remainder of the arc, but I have to concede to E-K's viewpoint on the state of the series for at least these last two chapters, which saddens me. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, Sabo's big reveal (I'm assuming it's him) should have been a big moment. Instead Oda just glosses over it to cram everything else into the chapter. I feel like he's trying too hard to wow the readers with big reveals and plot twists like this, but it's all for naught without proper build-up behind it.

[LumRanmaYasha]

He's trying to have too much going on too fast. I like what he's going for, but this stuff should have been spread out and introduced after other plot points in the arc had settled, and of course Sabo's reveal needs to have been built up more for it to be the powerful moment it should have been. That page-long reaction of Luffy got nothing out of me, whereas if there was some build up to their reunion it probably would have. For a guy who's been capable of really great emotional scenes, it's terribly disappointing. I'm just hoping he doesn't try and clutter the arc even more ,and stick to one focus per chapter for a while.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Wow. I'm not sure if Oda planned this, but dang is it a cool little detail.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Just like with DB and AnJ, here are my rankings (so far):

1. Marineford
2. Enies Lobby
3. Thriller Bark
4. Impel Down
5. Water Seven
6. Alabasta
7. Drum Island
8. Three Brothers (Post-War/flashback arc)
9. Arlong Park
10. Jaya
11. Loguetown
12. Amazon Lily
13. Romance Dawn
14. Little Garden
15. Whiskey Peak
16. Syrup Village
17. Baratie
18. Dressrossa (so far)
19. Saboady Archipelago
20. Skypiea
21. Punk Hazard
22. Orange Town
23. Long Ring Long Land
24. Fishman Island

If it seems like I'm missing something, then it's more than likely that I just happened to combine it with another arc, rather than treating it as its own individual story-line.

I know thst I've had my problems with OP over the past few years, but I still firmly believe that it has earned it's popularity and status as a classic, and this list reminds me just how much good there is. I must admit that I get a bit ticked when those more ignorant to the best parts of the series claim that it's just another stupid battle shonen. To those people I can point to any one of my top 10 choices and say: "That's why you're wrong." As for #'s 11-17, I find them to each be solid and good to varying degrees, but they don't quite reach the height of greatness, for me. Then everything down to 23 is just "meh" territory. They each have some highlights, but on the whole they don't really do anything for me. Finally, I have Fishman Island last, at 24, and it's the only OP arc thus far that Ib outright hate.

Overall, though, there is clearly way more good than bad, even taking the past few years into consideration.

[LumRanmaYasha]

For me, it'd be:

1. Marineford
2. Alabasta
3. Thriller Bark
4. Impel Down
5. Water 7
6. Enies Lobby
7. Arlong Park
8. Drum Island
9. Three Brothers
10. Skypiea
11. Baratie
12. Syrup Village
13. Punk Hazard
14. Sabody Archipelago
15. Whiskey Peak
16. Jaya
17. Little Garden
18. Orange Town
19. Dressrosa (so far)
20. Amazon Lilly
21. Logue Town
22. Romance Dawn
23. Long Ring Long Land
24. Fishman Island

I think 1-9 are great, 10-18 are good, and 19-23 are okay.  Fishman Island is the only arc I really dislike, but even then, I'm more meh about it more than I really hate it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Looks like we both agree on the absolute best and absolute worst arcs when it comes to One Piece.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I like all of the Straw Hat Pirates, but if I were to rank them from favorite to least favorite:

1. Nico Robin
2. Zoro
3. Luffy
4. Ussop
5. Chopper
6. Brook
7. Nami
8. Franky
9. Sanji

Nothing against Sanji, I just prefer the other characters. For ranking I take into consideration stuff like personality, backstory, bearing on the plot, how interesting their fights are, and how interested I am in seeing them achieve their goal. As someone who's goal is directly linked to discovering more about the world, history, and basically stuff that is super important to the main plot of One Piece, plus having my favorite backstory of any of the Straw Hat pirates along with a refreshing personality, you can see why Robin is my personal favorite, despite her missuse in the current arc.

[LumRanmaYasha]

For me, it's:

1. Ussop
2. Zoro
3. Luffy
4. Nami
5. Chopper
6. Robin
7. Franky
8. Sanji
9. Brook

Even though he had a real OOC moment in this arc that pissed me off, Ussop is still firmly my favorite character in the series and a lot of my favorite moments in it involve him and his development through the course the series. Funny enough, Luffy used to be my least favorite Straw Hat before Sabody happened, and it was only when he was the only Straw Hat being focused on that I finally grew on his character and appreciated him more. As for Brook, he was great in Thriller Bark and has a fantastic backstory, but he hasn't really done anything since joining the crew and the small parts he does get just feel extraneous to me a lot of the time. I'm really hoping this will finally be improved in the next arc, and before the crew gets another member.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Favorite OP fights:

10. Luffy, Sanji, and Ussop vs. Satori
9. Nami vs. Ms. Doublefinger
8. Ussop and Chopper vs. Mr. 4, Ms. Merry Christmas, and Lassoo
7. Ussop vs. Perona
6. Luffy vs. Arlong
5. Zoro vs. the Whiskey Peak Bounty Hunters
4. Luffy vs. Crocodile (all fights)
3. The Straw Hats vs. Oz and Gekko Moria
2. Luffy vs. Ussop
1. Luffy vs. Lucci

I've explained the top 3 before in my favorite anime/manga fights post I did a long time back, but they should be pretty self-explanatory for anyone who has read the series. I liked each clash between Luffy and Crocodile, and how Luffy's two loses made his ultimate victory against him feel like the most rewarding and satisfying victory in the entire series (and still the second most after the fight with Lucci). Zoro's fight with the Whiskey Peak Bounty Hunters is still one of my all time favorite moments in the series. Luffy's fight with Arlong was the first truly great fight in the series and remains one of the most emotionally charged. Ussop's fights with Mr.4 & MMC and Perona are two of his finest moments in terms of his character development. I've always loved Nami's fight with Mrs. Double-Finger as it's the first time she is able to fight a strong opponent alongside the rest of the crew, and is just a great character moment for her. And the fight with Satori is one of the most creative team-based fights in the series, with an awesome ending (which is also one of Sanji's coolest moments in the series), and easily one of the biggest highlights in the entire Skypeia arc.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Awesome list! Those are all awesome fights. I'd have to think about what would make my list, though even though it'd be cheating, the entire battle at Marineford is my favorite overall battle in the series. It's just not a traditional-style fight, which is why it'd probably feel out of place ranking it with the rest.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Alright, here are mine:

10. Luffy vs. Ussop
9. Ussop vs. Perona
8. Ussop/Chopper vs. Mr. 4/Ms. Merry Christmas/Lassoo
7. Ace vs. Blackbeard
6. Luffy vs. Arlong
5. Zoro vs. Mr. 1
4. Zoro/Ussop vs. Kaku
3. Straw Hat Pirates vs. Oz (Best non-Luffy involved fight)
2. Luffy vs. Sir Crocodile
1. Luffy vs. Rob Lucci

Honorable Mention: Whitebeard vs. Akainu and Whitebeard vs. Blackbeard

Actual #1. The Battle of Marineford

[LumRanmaYasha]

Great list! Ace vs. Blackbeard is easily the best fight not involving any of the Straw Hats, and both those Zoro fights are really strong (the Mr. 1 fight narrowly missed the cut in my own list).

I actually considered listing the entire battle at Marineford, but decided against it since there was so many different fights going on in that conflict and it would also be like basically listing the entire arc. But, if I were to rank it, then it would easily be my favorite as well.