#arlong park put the main character in grave danger and gave the straw hats powerful and diverse opponents to fight before arlong himself

[deadboyswalking]

I know One Piece fandom gets called a cult and the show/manga is constantly called overrated by people who haven't seen it (including me in the past)... but it is genuinely that good. I'm so glad I gave it a shot.

#the only thing i don't like is how fights get stretched out over way too many episodes #i lose interest in them pretty quickly if they're just repeating the same beats over and over (like the fight at Baratie) #the arlong park fight was better because it had enough character vs character variety and dynamic changes to keep things interesting #arlong park put the main character in grave danger and gave the straw hats powerful and diverse opponents to fight before arlong himself #i think the fight against captain kuro was good but only because he's such a threatening and deadly presence on his own #his crew was completely forgettable and low-level whereas the fish men were all formidable opponents #and had personalities and unique fighting styles that actually challenged the straw hats #i just got through the whisky peak arc and thought it was incredibly well done as well with tight pacing and efficient fight time #the baroque works characters either gave zoro a genuine challenge or were quickly cut down and time wasn't wasted on them #plus the structured yet mysterious organization kept things interesting as various agents moved in and out of the fight #one piece