Was skimming through some Act 3 chapters earlier and got to the Tobiroppo/Strawhat fights. I remember being extremely excited for these weekly, figuring that they'd be comparable to Ennies Lobby's SH matchups in terms of quality, focus, and power-ups. Obviously, that wasn't the case despite a lot of the fanbase also assuming the fights would fall into Alabasta/Ennies Lobby territory, but whatever.
Can't say I enjoy these any more than I did weekly, even now that I have the context of the full arc. Jinbe/Who's Who is fine, but the rest are serious disappointments and missed opportunities to give the weaker SHs some much needed shine. Seeing them win through such little effort despite appearing to be woefully unequipped to deal with stronger enemies just hurts the Tobiroppo as much as it does the SHs. Things like Sasaki apparently not having Haki and fighting a Haki-less Franky still bug me.
4 years later, and it still hurts that Oda couldn't restrain himself for a little and give these fights 2-3 chapters each instead of 1 just to allow them to develop properly. I can go back and reread the Alabasta/EL fights any day and feel satisfied. I can't do it with these, and I think it's a combination of the cluttered paneling and lack of narrative impact.
Does anyone feel differently? What would you have done differently to make them more impactful?
