Lol. Have to get back to this and I really want to watch it (LotGH). Watching it in a group here and having this same crew until the last episode while discussing it would be great. Hope we can do this still.
I've just been to some rough times lately. Things that I've read and that doesn't require too much are my way to kill idle time until I get back to "normality". I'm everything but normal these days, these weeks.
I've finished Thriller Bark. I dunno why, but whenever I plan to reread OP I want to start from Thriller Bark for some reason (and I've never gotten past the middle of it until now haha). I think the mystery vibe this arc gives with its jokes and the funny moments being OP at its prime in it can affect my decision.
It's a entertaining arc for sure. I liked the way Brook was introduced and the introduction to Florian Triangle. Them setting anchor at the island with its gates closing was also a nice moment... There we got a really view of what seemed to be a spook territory, but that fit really well with the adventures theme of OP.
All the connections between Moria's powers, Absalom and Hogback was also a nice catch. While Hogback is pretty forgettable, the genius who mysteriously disappeared being revealed to be working to a Shichibukai was nice.
And it featured a thing that many arcs lack... The crew working as a whole, as a team to best Oars. It wasn't merely limited to 'Zoro picks this, Sanji this one and Luffy the boss'. They had to work themselves together and that was nice. It gave somewhat of an unpredictability tune to all of it.
Zoro's scenes can't go without being noted... A good moment, although better handled in the anime with some added up lines and the soundtrack. And there we saw how in Luffy's crew Sanji and Zoro standed out as defending its foundation. Both being equally prepared to die if needed to. It was a very nice way to end the arc and while you could say that Kuma choosing to let them escape and not even finish killing Zoro was cheap and too convenient, it was made clear he was there moreso to test the crew and see if Luffy had good companions.
Plot armouring is definitely one of its downsides though. If the crew will get up no matter how hard they be hit, it damages a little the suspense and stakes the story is supposed to show in a fight of such caliber. It seems the "they will get up no matter what, so what's the point of beating them up" is pretty relatable. Moria was also a downside of the arc. While someone could say such is an up as it's a change from the habitual strong in h2h big fishes, I feel it was still a disappointment nonetheless. It could be more engaging when exploring such a "coward" vibe from him if he had at least a more engaging personality and more engaging speeches at the advantage of it. The way it was handled, he was just given as a lazy and careless, heated fool that caved his own grave.
As a minor note, it was nice seeing Zoro and Sanji deflecting big shots from Oars, showing they aren't a joke compared to Luffy and can kinda oppose him.
Still, better than anything we've gotten from post Time-Skip.
