Anyone who skips Skypeia can't be a real fan, in my opinion. That arc is actually one of my favorites for its sense of adventure. I also really love portions of the story where we have nothing but Strawhat interactions, not to mention it has excellent world-building.
As for my favorite pre-skip arcs, it's tough to decide, but I'd go with:
1. Water Seven --> Enies Lobby ( I know this is two, but it transitions so well)
2. Sabaody
3. Amazon Lily
4. Marineford (I'm not super crazy about fights, I love the story, though)
5. Arlong Park (what got me really hooked to One Piece. Seeing Nami suffer tore me apart)
Sorry, I had to give you a long reply back.
Exactly! Skypeia had the best sense of adventure and it really does have such excellent world building, new haracters and character moments! Skypeia has so much insane creativity too, it really feels like peak Oda/One Piece in that regard! Whole Cake gave me similar vibes funnily enough and I really wish Wano was more like these! Although I love the koi carp waterfall aspect of Wano and it's crazy currents! Especially it's unique art style too! (Sumi-e as in what Okami, Muramasa: The Demon Blade and other games and such use too!)
Enel vs Luffy was so good imo, Enel was a really great villain that i really enjoyed and he gets way too much hate, slander and downplaying imo. The way he shut down everyone and even cheated death (as somewhat BS as that was, I think it was his awakening too and that he is awakening but that's a whole other topic). Wiper vs Enel was very raw too and we got one of the best Sanji moments in the series with Enel too!
The SH interactions are some of the best parts of hte series and I'm missing that post TS so much. It's what made me love them so much and really enjoy the story too. The interactions between them at Skypeia was so great and also, that arc gave us Robin's first and only "real fight" until Wano/Onigashima now too! Like 18 years or something insane like that?!
Yeah, the transition from W7 to EL is really good!
Ah thats some very interesting and great choices there ofc!
Honestly, Nami's writing in Arlong Park is fantastic along with the rest of the crew regarding her especially too. I really broke down for her and her situation and seeing her crying and begging for help, especially knowing what Arlong did to her and her family too. Arlong is one of the most sadistic villains in the series and it was SO SATISFYING to see him get taken down!
I saw a great analysis a while ago on how Luffy bringing his foot down through Arlong Tower to beat Arlong was symbolic too, Oda loves his symbolic defeats for his villains, which I really love too. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the analysis actually said (i almost said analysus lmfao) but even so, seeing Arlong get wrecked like that was such a catharthic moment!
The anime really did that arc wonderfully, especially the use of Overtaken for the Walk to Arlong Park!
Also on that note, I just remembered this meme, LMFAO:
No worries about the long reply and thank you!
:cheers: