General & Others Which arc had the best story ?

[Buusatan94]

Which One Piece arc would you say is the peak of One Piece in terms of quality writing and character development and exploration ?

I'd say that Water Seven was when One Piece was at its peak with a more mature and complex writing, the Straw Hats finding themselves in a dilemna when facing the fact that the Going Merry couldn't be repaired and thus that they had to change for another ship, Luffy actually taking a mature decision by choosing to change ships, actual tensions and stakes with the dispute and fight between Luffy and Usopp over Merry and Usopp leaving after revealing that he's actually been considering leaving for a while due to his insecurities over his strength, Robin's mysterious disappearance and the assassination plot with Iceburg and the CP9 being at the time a serious and very dangerous and credible threat.

It really felt like One Piece had gone to the next level and stepped up as a story, and I honestly preferred it to Ennies Lobby.

I haven't felt any One Piece arc which raised my interest, feelings and captivated me as much as W7 did.

 

[Salah WG]

If you mean Story as in Overall Events, Actions, Characters, Settings, Reveals ... etc
Then Skypiea is Best for me

But if you mean Plot as in how those Elements are presented to us & building tension & wanting to know what's gonna happen next & Cause/Effect of everything, then yeah i agree, Water 7 is Best (And i've always preferred it over Ennies Lobby, it's Underrated imo)

 

[DenifClock]

Which One Piece arc would you say is the peak of One Piece in terms of quality writing and character development and exploration ?.

The Mini Hachinosu arc with Koby and Garp.
I really enjoyed that. Very few chapters, but it was great character moment for Koby, Garp and Kuzan

 

[gz89]

W7/Skypiea

 

[nik87]

Skypiea and Water Seven are top.

 

[Hako Sama]

Skypiea is amazing.

 

[MonsterKaido]

Ennies lobby

 

[DJOMOLO]

W7/Baratie/Some parts of WCI

 

[sanjikun]

Dressrosa, even though the pacing was bad. Doffy's reveal as a CD was great writing. I was asking myself how he was dicking around the World Government, and him being a CD was a great reveal. Then the introduction of Fujitora and him wanting to abolish the Shichibukai became a crucial point. Not to mention Sabo's reveal was massive.

That arc was a microcosm of everything that's happening in One Piece. The corruption of the CDs, Shichibukai and Yonko, the Marines being morally split, and Luffy's role in undoing everything.

 

[centurion]

Jaya + Skypiea.
And its not even close.

 

[Djordje]

Dressrosa

 

[Uncle Van]

Water 7+Enies Lobby is the total package. While Skypia has the better exploration and world building, the supporting characters are lacking. W7+EL has no lacking aspects, and does much to a great degree.

 

[Cherry Hilk]

Overall W7 + EL by a long shot: great setting, emotions, supporting cast, stake, lore…it has everything.
Actually, I think in term of execution Sabaody matches it, but is relatively less ambitious, too short and is fundamentally a transition towards MF.

 

[trav]

Alabasta and Skypiea

 

[ShinichiMugi]

Yes,Jaya-Skypea-Water Seven/Enies Lobby is probably Peak Piece! Oda was in a state of grace during that time period.
Altough i have to say that i like the different structure he gave to the Sabaody-Amazon Lily-Impel Down-Marineford arc,with Luffy in his solo journey,no population to save etc. and there were high stakes and consequences there too as we know

 

[Kung-Fu Dugong]

I agree with most of you, Water 7 is the greatest arc story-wise, closely followed by Skypiea. I'd include the whole Water 7 Saga actually, Enies Lobby has some peak story moments too, despite being more battle-focused, plus there's also one of the best short arcs (post-Enies Lobby) and a pretty good setup arc (I know that Long Ring Long Land is a controversial arc, but in the manga it's much better paced than the anime).

Jaya is probably the best short arc focused on story in the whole series, so it's impossible to dissociate it from Skypiea (I even like to consider it the same arc, even if it's officially two arcs; it's akin to Return to Sabaody + Fish-Man Island arcs, they follow the same plot points)... there are too many strong moments (Luffy following Shanks' footsteps, Blackbeard's introduction and speech, Luffy destroying Bellamy's , etc.). On the other hand, Skypiea itself is rich of lore and adventure, unlike all other arcs (Elbaf might be a second adventure arc after so much time, but it didn't start well IMO).