Future Events Oda will never top Impel Down - Marineford saga

[ZenZu]

Oda’s decline isn’t all that bad, he can still pull out some stops. I feel like we’re just used to his flow after 1000 chapters, general burnout and nostalgia could be heavily affecting the experience.

PH to Dressrosa has aged like fine wine, at least for me. Zou, and WCI are still pretty good. Wano was a big drop in quality, but Egghead and Elbaf has picked up from there.

The drop in Wano is because of the pacing, unrealistic power jumps, and Nika retcon out of nowhere. The worst has already passed imo… unless Oda fumbles the ending part so hard.

Lore and mystery is also a huge part of this show. There’s no way to satisfy every reader with the One Piece reveal, everybody has varying expectations of what it could be. So that’s also something to watch out for, the One Piece reveal will be much more polarizing than Wano.

It's pretty bad, and there is a way to see this objectively.

Punk Hazard, a mere setup arc was 46 chapters --> Thriller Bark a fully conclusive arc and what many considered dragged for preskip standards was 48 chapters.

Dressrosa, an arc covering the defeat of a single Warlord was 102 chapters - Summit War Saga which covered 5 arcs combined was 108 chapters.



Let's do the reverse just for good measure.

Egghead arc, what seems like a fairly short arc is 68 chapters - Skypeia the longest pre timeskip arc was 66 chapters.

So take that in what feels like a short arc for post skip One Piece standards...would literally be the single longest arc pretimeskip....Egghead was an arc which didn't even have a traditional conclusion from start to finish, it was a transition arc. This is downright pathetic.

It's Heaven and Earth, post skip One Piece is unnecessarily dragged to death. This goes beyond fatigue, or weekly reading. Oda sold out, there is way too much bloat and filler chapters in post skip One Piece.

 

[Levi]

I'd say that Water Seven was the best arc writing wise in all of One Piece. No arc has come close since.

Yea Water 7 and enies lobby are better imo.
every strawhat was at their best character wise and feats also chopper was actually more than a mascot and was terrifying.

 

[JoNdule]

The Summit War saga will never be topped. Oda does not have editors anymore, he will mess up the final war.

Sabaody - Amazon Lily - Impel Down - Marineford

Started with a 10/10 arc, ended with a 10/10 arc (post war arc was more of an epilogue to the saga imo), stakes were extremely high, the longest arc which was Marineford was only 31 chapters, none of the arcs overstayed their welcome. This was Oda at his peak.

I forgot to mention sabaody
Yeah,
The whole saga is peak from start to finish
Sabaody gave us so many iconic moments and introductions

 

[soupongo]

I forgot to mention sabaody
Yeah,
The whole saga is peak from start to finish
Sabaody gave us so many iconic moments and introductions

Do you think the most peak moment in Marineford is when Aces Mom had a 200 year long pregnancy for the retcon to work, or when half the antagonists just stand around for most of the arc so Luffy can escape....

Post automatically merged: Feb 25, 2025

Like don't get me wrong, you can enjoy what you want, but acting like pre time skip arcs had no flaws while critiquing every little thing that happens afterwards is a bit ridiculous

 

[park_min young]

It's pretty bad, and there is a way to see this objectively.

Punk Hazard, a mere setup arc was 46 chapters --> Thriller Bark a fully conclusive arc and what many considered dragged for preskip standards was 48 chapters.

Dressrosa, an arc covering the defeat of a single Warlord was 102 chapters - Summit War Saga which covered 5 arcs combined was 108 chapters.



Let's do the reverse just for good measure.

Egghead arc, what seems like a fairly short arc is 68 chapters - Skypeia the longest pre timeskip arc was 66 chapters.

So take that in what feels like a short arc for post skip One Piece standards...would literally be the single longest arc pretimeskip....Egghead was an arc which didn't even have a traditional conclusion from start to finish, it was a transition arc. This is downright pathetic.

It's Heaven and Earth, post skip One Piece is unnecessarily dragged to death. This goes beyond fatigue, or weekly reading. Oda sold out, there is way too much bloat and filler chapters in post skip One Piece.

Pacing’s not as crisp anymore but that’s also because we aren’t isolated with the SHs. The world has gotten so much bigger, a bit of clutter is expected for what he’s envisioning. Punk Hazard was a setup arc but it was also a fully realized arc by itself with introduced major villains and some problems solved (SAD factory).

Tons of characters and plotlines had to be introduced in Dressrosa. Sabo, grand fleet, the new admiral, updates with established organizations like BBP and revos.

Egghead flew by, a lot of the chapters within it are outside events stuff — again, this is expected if not encouraged to expand world building. The story of the arc itself didn‘t overstay its welcome until the gorosei shenanigans — btw did all of the gorosei have to be shoehorned here or was Oda forced to do a big move? lmfao.

Before that point, that was a 9/10 arc filled with great hype moments though. Kuma flashback and Saturn’s characterization was fantastic, the outside events as well. So, Oda’s ideas are still at pre-ts level if not better. The execution is the problem, specifically closing out an arc if I have to pinpoit it.

 

[kyejames316]

Oh yes he will, as soon as we get the Impel Down/Cross Guild saga

 

[BoaHancocksHusband]

I'd say that Water Seven was the best arc writing wise in all of One Piece. No arc has come close since.

def not enies lobby tho

 

[park_min young]

Do you think the most peak moment in Marineford is when Aces Mom had a 200 year long pregnancy for the retcon to work, or when half the antagonists just stand around for most of the arc so Luffy can escape....

Post automatically merged: Feb 25, 2025

Like don't get me wrong, you can enjoy what you want, but acting like pre time skip arcs had no flaws while critiquing every little thing that happens afterwards is a bit ridiculous

Marineford is definitely an illogical arc, might even be worse than Wano from a powerscaling perspective in retrospect. Peope were just overly hyped with seeing all the big names do minor clashes. That’s basically what it was, we were blinded by the big names and the mystery around these characters and orgasmed from getting a sniff of their powers. That is Oda’s MO to generate hype up until now.

 

[Nidai_Kitetsu]

It's Heaven and Earth, post skip One Piece is unnecessarily dragged to death. This goes beyond fatigue, or weekly reading. Oda sold out, there is way too much bloat and filler chapters in post skip One Piece.

I am telling you the plan was to finish at 1200 and within 4-5 years, but bro got greedy and dragged the story out like crazy. He has always been jealous of Naruto's international fame and honestly, his plan kinda worked. The Netflix series gave it that global fame. Now that he’s had a taste of international fame, he might stuff in even more manga filler to focus on the LA series.

 

[SkySanji]

He already did, it's called Wano

 

[BattalGazi]

For me water 7 enies loby arc was the best.

 

[Konstantis]

No matter how much fans delude themselves into believing that Oda will ever do something greater

The truth is that HE CAN'T
Oda is past his prime and even Elbaf which is good overall, still won't even be better than pre ts arcs

The final war and Teach's arcs are doomed to be average or fail :

• Too many characters --> post TS Oda sucks at handling lots of characters at one island
• Nika --> everything is about Nika, so expect the overblown reactions and wank
• Fake tensions --> people will barely die. Those whose deaths will be impactful won't die and he will kill others randomly
• Forced drama --> Oda nowadays just go on forcing it. He wants us to feel sorry for anyone even when it's uncessary. He will make Luffy fight or behave dumb just for some forced drama

Now that I've said it,
Go rewatch impel down and marineford for pure feelings

@RayanOO @TheAncientCenturion @Tyki_Mikk

Final arc probably could beat Marinford, but nothing else

 

[zenox]

Marineford is definitely an illogical arc, might even be worse than Wano from a powerscaling perspective in retrospect. Peope were just overly hyped with seeing all the big names do minor clashes. That’s basically what it was, we were blinded by the big names and the mystery around these characters and orgasmed from getting a sniff of their powers. That is Oda’s MO to generate hype up until now.

I always thought marineford is overrated

 

[BoaHancocksHusband]

I am telling you the plan was to finish at 1200 and within 4-5 years, but bro got greedy and dragged the story out like crazy. He has always been jealous of Naruto's international fame and honestly, his plan kinda worked. The Netflix series gave it that global fame. Now that he’s had a taste of international fame, he might stuff in even more manga filler to focus on the LA series.

Too bad even Rumiko Takahashi mogs him now with Ranma 1/2 one pound gospel and Inuyasha lol w/ the failure that was wano

 

[Nidai_Kitetsu]

Too bad even Rumiko Takahashi mogs him now with Ranma 1/2 one pound gospel and Inuyasha lol w/ the failure that was wano

Oda probably doesnt care about Japan anymore as he ruled the Japanese manga industry for more than a decade. Its the international fame he is after.

 

[BoaHancocksHusband]

Oda probably doesnt care about Japan anymore as he ruled the Japanese manga industry for more than a decade. Its the international fame he is after.

Which is why he tortured us for five years with a Japan centric arc off his own whims lmao

 

[Nidai_Kitetsu]

Which is why he tortured us for five years with a Japan centric arc off his own whims lmao

I think the biggest issue is Oda's obsession with being unpredictable. Wano didnt have a strong samurai, no talk about swordsmen - it was more about a bunch of failed dinosaurs than Edo Japan. It would’ve been way better if he took inspiration from Rurouni Kenshin or Gintama—we’d at least have some badass samurai. I had a theory that the shogun of Wano would be a strong samurai and would fight Zoro - which would’ve been a better idea than whatever Oda came up with

 

[ZenZu]

Marineford is definitely an illogical arc, might even be worse than Wano from a powerscaling perspective in retrospect. Peope were just overly hyped with seeing all the big names do minor clashes. That’s basically what it was, we were blinded by the big names and the mystery around these characters and orgasmed from getting a sniff of their powers. That is Oda’s MO to generate hype up until now.

I reread Marineford, that arc would be 100 chapters minimum if Oda were to write it today. It had tons of characters, but it got to the meat and bones fairly quickly. Which is why the arc is so good. More characters isn't an excuse, he's the one creating unnecessary characters to begin with.

Post skip One Piece is objectively dragged. A lot of post skip One Piece arcs would be great if the chapter count got slashed in half. Oda is milking this shit.

I forgot to mention sabaody

Yeah,

The whole saga is peak from start to finish

Sabaody gave us so many iconic moments and introductions

Saboady is my favourite arc. Amazing pace, elite character introductions and world building. The consequences of SH actions felt real for once. Peak drama too.

I always thought marineford is overrated

I used to feel the same way because I was viewing Marineford as a traditional war arc, expecting full fledged battles rather than brief clashes.

But when I viewed it as Whitebeard's arc, an exploration of his crew, his ideology, and the loyalty he inspired in his followers, it changed my perspective. It tied back to Alabasta, answering the question for why an individual like Ace would choose to be an underling to someone, and be willing to sacrifice everything for them. With more insight on Ace's character, his shortcomings, knowing his struggle with his identity and his search for belonging, it was only natural Whitebeard was the perfect fit for him, almost to a fault. The very fact that WB and the entire crew was willing to throw down their lives validates Ace's decision to serve WB, even if he does so recklessly. The entire arc was basically a justification for why Ace was in the position that he was in, and Oda absolutely nailed it.

And like I was saying 31 chapters to do it, current Oda could never.

 

[Monster Zoro's Tesla Supplier]

I always thought marineford is overrated

It isn't. But I don't believe it's the best.
I believe the best is either Alabasta or Water 7+Enies Lobby

 

[Yoho]

I always thought marineford is overrated

Agreed