Alright, so it's become clear to me that reading One Piece isn't going to be a consistent experience.
I think the big problem here is that frequently, the pacing will just completely fall off a cliff. And when it does it’s not horrible, it’s not bad enough to ruin an arc for me, but it can be exhausting.
Reverse Mountain
Reverse Mountain hits a similar spot for me as Orange Town, in the sense that it was exciting to finally leave the East Blue, the whale and it’s backstory was touching, but that was pretty much it.
Whiskey Peak
I liked this one for what it was, getting to see Zoro fight a bunch of Bounty Hunters and defeating them with ease was very entertaining.
It feels like we’ve finally got on track here, setting up the major conflict of this saga, as well as giving us our primary destination, the Alabasta Kingdom. We’re informed about the Baroque Works and their leader, Mr. Zero, as well as their plan to take over Alabasta.
I’m just gonna say it, the big twist here is that Ms. Wednesday is actually Princess Vivi of the Alabasta Kingdom. It was pretty clear that this twist was just made up on the spot, but I’m not going to be too nit-picky about it though, it’s fine.
At the end we’re introduced to Ms. All Sunday and let’s be real here, you know it, I know it, but this is Nico Robin. Right now she’s just your typical femme fatale character, but since this came out in 1999, she’s wearing a very of-the-time cowgirl hat and I love it.
My only thing here is that I wish the fight between Luffy and Zoro felt a little more substantive. We get to see them take each other on due to a misunderstanding, but of course they sort it all out, like it was all just a joke. I feel like this could have been a good character moment, showing us that Luffy still has a lot of growing up to do if he wants to be the Pirate King.
Little Garden
I want to start off by saying just how much I love the giants! The concept of giants has always been something that I’ve liked, in theory, but never in practice because they’re usually portrayed as bumbling oafs, but here they’re powerful and cool. Vikings and Barbarians has always been something that I’ve been into and it makes me feel like a kid again.
Remember when I talked about “true beginnings” during Lougetown? It’s here where it feels like the true beginning for Usopp, giving him some much needed character development. He admires the giants and wants to be like them! There’s this big thing here about fighting with honour, but also dying with honour, so that worries me a little bit.
I also find it interesting how compatible he is with Nami, they have this natural friendship going on, like they’re able to just relax and be open with one another. They’re also the two weaker characters at the moment, so they get to share this running gag where they get really scared.
The big problem here is that the pacing comes to a screeching halt the moment Mr. 3 is introduced. I find that I don’t like anybody from the Baroque Works outside of Ms. All Sunday and Mr. Zero, which is an issue.
I will say that Sanji does get to have a cool moment and we do get to see his rivalry with Zoro again, perhaps to mirror the giants in some way.
Drum Island
Alright, so a recurring complaint that I’ve been having about One Piece is that the villains suck shit, albeit with some exceptions. A lot of the villains in One Piece could be summed up as “I’m the bad guy” and in a generically evil, cartoony way. And don’t get me wrong, One Piece is very cartoon-ish, but most of them have still been extremely lame thus far.
The big draw here is getting to see Tony Tony Chopper join the crew. His big, dramatic backstory is a sad tale about him and his adoptive father. It was dark, dramatic and hopeful in all of the best ways possible.
I don’t have too much to say, but I did like this arc a lot.
Alabasta
Okay, so are you all excited about One Piece finally getting started? 155 chapters in? Well, I am!
The actual Alabasta arc is a bit tricky for me because when it’s good, it’s very good, but when it’s boring, it is boring. I think there’s just a lot of downtime during this arc, or a lot of setting up to do within a saga that already feels like it had a lot of set-up.
It really takes it’s time to set up detailed locations, characters, and complex social situations. When previously on an island, we really only visited a single town, but here we visit several locations and that’s really neat. And as a result of building all of this, however, Alabasta can feel quite slow.
I do feel like, however, that this arc places too much focus on side and background characters, most of whom I ultimately did not end up caring about at all. Take Koza for example, a super serious looking dude who gets a flashback with Vivi and himself as children.
Sir Crocodile was a great villain, however, the best since Arlong. And unlike Captain Kuro back in Syrup Village, his plan seemed very well thought out. He's got drip, it's giving mafia boss. He even defeats Luffy a couple of times, so that means he means business.
I also liked the introduction of Luffy’s cool and sexy older brother, Ace. This shows that there’s way more to Luffy’s past than what was previously shown all the way back in Romance Dawn.
Smoker and Tashigi do return, which is exciting, though it is disappointing that he doesn't actually participate in the war. Mr. 3 also returns, but he also doesn't do anything of any particular importance.
The straw hats versus the Baroque Works have an iconic moment in every single fight, and they each get a nice chunk of development amidst all of this chaos. I love how Luffy had to push himself to his absolute limits, making Sir Crocodile's defeat glorious.
I said all the way back during Arlong Park that I really wanted to see Nami learn how to fight, so the introduction of the Clima-Tact was one of my favourite things. I would say that it’s here where Nami gets her “true beginning”. She essentially becomes a Blue Mage and I think that’s the coolest thing ever! I love it!
The ending was perfect and bittersweet, as we say goodbye to Vivi. At this point I had really grown attached to her, so having to say goodbye was as painful as it was beautiful.
Overall, when the Alabasta Arc is good, it’s really good. We get some incredible fights, interesting world-building, and compelling character moments. I do think it is messier than some folks give it credit for, but the good parts make it all worth it in my opinion.
The Alabasta Saga
Overall, subjectively, I felt that this saga was better than the East Blue, albeit without the same feeling that you as a reader are making progress. Every arc had it’s high points, but it still felt difficult to finish. The general momentum and feeling of progression has been slowed down, and certain things don't feel like they're going to be relevant until way later.
There wasn’t a whole lot to say about the East Blue, if we’re being honest, it was just a good start to the series and I guess it’s nice to look back on. The Alabasta saga, however, is a completely different beast and it invoked stronger feelings out of me.
After having digested it all, I do think the journey to Alabasta felt cathartic. I also feel like One Piece’s world-building has been paying off, as previous characters come back, fan favourites get introduced, etc.
It does feel like One Piece is only getting started, however, as it’s just at this point where One Piece is showing us a clearer idea of the kind of story that it’s trying to tell.