Here a very quick review of the arc so far.
The setting is amazing: more vivid and detailed than ever.
There are many jaw dropping panels and a lot of really epic moments/lines.
Oda really nailed in conveying a sense of a “mastodontic” arc. This is the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning, and it is perceivable.
If Dressrosa was a tragedy and WCI a dark comedy, this arc is definitely an epic and at times it really feels as such.
The pacing is Oda’s usual one, but the contents dwarf those of every other arc, and sometimes it really shows: the arc is rich of contents but bloated, kind of messy and seeing characters constantly going up and down, left and right is giving me headache and really display how hard is for Oda to handle all of them.
Kaido is bland. Nothing else to say. He has his good amount of impactful scenes, but that’s it. The only interesting aspect so far is his longing fo death, and this aspect is barely deepened.
The very worst thing about the arc in my opinion is how Oda handled Luffy’s growth: I thought that him reaching the level of the top dogs would’ve been a real exploit, that would’ve required a lot of efforts and sacrifices, instead it seems that punching a tree and going unconscious a few times was enough. Very disappointing.
So I would say a good arc (8/10) that has the potential to be one of the best.