Completely agree! SHs declaring war on the WG by burning their flag and going to war vs CP0, Enies Lobby and thus the Marines was SO ICONIC! Then Luffy busting into Impel Down, causing the biggest breakout ever and then immediately assaulting Marineford itself to rescue Ace with the help of former and future Warlords and Revolutionary Army commanders too!
Fuck man, Pre TS One Piece was SO GOOD and we truly had no idea how truly good it was until now, we had no idea how truly good we had it back then!
I did enjoy WCI despite some heavy flaws with it and I hated the fakeout of the SHs being bombed in it at the end but I loved the tone, the presentation of the arc and its finale. It was very unique and absolutely perfect cartoon/Disney gone wrong type horror. A Saccharine Nightmare or w/e.
Luffy ringing the bell really made me emotional, both the Skypeia one and the one he rang out at Marineford too. I always feel the "real One Piece" died just before the timeskip itself, maybe the "real SHs died" at Sabaody and thus the "fake SHs" we saw at Post TS Sabaody were an ironic reflection of that hahahaha!
The Enies Lobby to Marineford saga and Roof Piece really did feel like era defining moments. Who else is also known for making 2 Yonkos teamup and also trying to tank their combined attack too in Zoro's case ofc?!
I still can't believe these were unplanned!
Also imagine if this ends up being true too btw?!: