I am going to be frank, WCI is still one of my most favorite arcs and probably will stay that forever. I was never a fan of Dressrosa because Doflamingo was one of the most boring villains ever, his backstory didn't really fazed me and the pacing was total bullshit. Also half the characters were needless or painfully annoying like Rebecca. In WCI i nearly loved every character, even the side ones like Diesel or Randolph which was something i hadn't had in an arc since Fishman Island(yes i was a big Hody and Vander Decken fan just like general fishman lover). Katakuri and Brulee are two highlights of this arc, their relationship made me love this arc even more, and even while some think Katakuri has a boring personality or his backstory is lame, i have to give my veto against it, up to this date i wished for him to join the Strawhats but that hasn't really something to do with this thread...
LinLin was another reason i loved this arc, i liked her personality, her character traits, the childish yet dangerous woman that never really grew up, chasing behind a motherly figure that couldn't care less about her. All this made me love her. I also greatly enjoyed Streusen, the Headchef who turned out to be the mothertruckin co-founder of the BMP and silent power behind Lin. Of course there are things that i utterly hated Oda for what he did with WCI, one reason was the shameful portrayal of Compote, Smoothie and so many other of the children. They weren't even able to show anything of their strenght(Smoothie not even that much but what had poor Compote? She got degraded as background prop and was shifted around like not even Oda knew what to do with her...)
Honestly if people say Katakuri is boring what do they think about Oven and Daifuku? They were more bland than Katakuri combined, yet they became all the attention mainly because they were the triplets of Kata, Oven was a hotheaded oaf and Daifuku the crew's answer to the look you have when you got constipation...dont even get me started on his treatment of Puddin.
I know Oda sucks in his portrayal of woman but in WCI it was especially prominent. Then Pudding turning good was another thing i utterly hated and even cursed Oda for it. She was so good in being evil, it fitted so much, but then the whole SanjixPudding mush made her like all the other damsel in distresses, a useless love tool.
The biggest thing what made me scratch my head was after the Tea Party, after the Chateau had fallen to bits...it seemed like Oda had overthrown his whole plan he had in the beginning for Whole Cake, for whatever reason, it felt like a totally different arc from after Tea Party on...maybe it was the fault of one of his editors(i think Naito was it back then?)who made him change so much, but after that more things started to bug me.
Sanji i will ignore completely because if you believe it or not, i never really liked him but after Whole Cake? This dislike just turned stronger and stronger up to the point where i literally despise him now...he is one of the worst characters Oda ever created and honest to god, at this point i would have wished that Sanji traded places with Jinbei...
Talking about my boi Jinbei...BOY was i mad as he stayed back, yet again...i could have slapped Oda left and right for shafting him again, i wanted to see him so badly traveling with the Strawhats already but nooo, he had to postpone it again, after the great speech and Luffy taking in his crew...it could have been so beautiful.
Anyway, overall i can say i would give WCI a 9 out of 10.
Things i really hated though were:
-Jinbei left behind
-Germa 66
-The whole Sanji backstory
-Pudding turning good
-The treatment of Compote
-Brulee being treated as Plot Device
-Chiffon(i really don't like her, nor did i felt anything as LinLin beated her, she just was there for me but i could have lifed without her *shrug*