Skypiea and Thriller Bark

[ahill1]

These arcs aren't that well favored by criticism and are among the less popular ones prior to the time-skip, but how do you view them?

I like the fair amount of adventurous feel each one carried out and it featured good and impactful moments, the Skypiea one featuring Wiper's resolve and loyalty to his land and Thriller Bark featuring Zoro's arguably most badass moment.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

I'd consider Skypiea below average/bad and Thriller Bark more or less average. Both had similar issues when it came to plot armour with Enel seemingly not killing one person (which makes his prediction on the survival rate make him look extremely incompetent ) and Luffy only beating Enel because Oda has little understanding of science (rubber resisting electricity doesn't matter when the heat of lightning, especially lightning capable of destroying an island completely, can burn through it), whereas Thriller Bark had the Straw Hats having such ridiculous durability and stamina that background characters even call it out and even Usopp and Nami being able to endure so much makes it difficult to take the climactic fight seriously despite such good elements as the teamwork involved. As for issues specific to each one, Enel's top soldiers prove themselves to be pretty incompetent to the extent the whole survival rate of their trials becomes pointless immediately and Satori's brothers could be beaten just by Nami cluelessly trying out an Impact Dial ( ), with Thriller Bark's specific issues relating to its henchmen villains in how poorly handled they were (Hogback's heel turn lacks any impact when his design and attitude scream villain from the start, Cindry unlocking her memories and free will through the Straw Hats cheering her on was a terrible cliche). Thriller Bark at least has more positives to balance things out though such as Brook's backstory, Moria being a unique villain and Zoro's "nothing happened", whereas Skypiea's only redeeming qualities beyond the aesthetic was setting up future events rather than handling the events within its own arc well.

 

[ahill1]

Yeah I can definitely agree with the point about everyone surviving Enel's onslaught in the end feeling very forced. In the end even Conis' father survived a fucking El Thor from Enel lmao. And yeah, I also liked the concept of the crew fighting together against Luffy's shadow but their plot armor should be handled better. Them getting up as if nothing happened no matter how fucked up they got is... boring.

I'd say that in regards to the rubber completely nullifying the electricity, the traits of a certain material gets haxed up a lot when dealing with Akuma no Mis. Realistically Luffy shouldn't be that durable to physical attacks as rubber has a limit in its durability to strength hits, yet we see him tanking attacks from things like Alvida's club.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

If we're to bring up the hyperbole within DF abilities, the same should apply to the heat of Enel's lightning though, especially when it can completely vaporise large objects. At least with something like Mr. 3 enduring Magellan's poison, it works in line with how the poison has been shown to be utilised, whereas Luffy should have by all intents and purposes been affected by the lightning's heat without Enel having to amplify it with his golden ball.

 

[ahill1]

I think Enel should be able to increase the power of his attacks when training the AnM and infusing himself with Haki. But yeah, I concede the point that the rubber's durability being stretched to that seems forced.

Did you find Enel an engaging vilain? Many find disappointment in Moria but as you noticed he seemed to deviate from the common vilains we had.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Did you find Enel an engaging vilain?

Not really. There's nothing unique about his take on the God complex villain archetype and the incompetence he showed really drags him down. Beyond having cool powers, a decent design and ties to the future of OP, there's not really much he has going for him when it comes to actual characterisation.

 

[Warmmedown]

Skypeia has one of the most analogous to reality stories (right of people living in a land to keep it vs those with a religious dogma that makes them claim the land and the nature of religion in general), one of the most emotive backstories of any arc (Calgara and Norlan), because haki wasn't a known thing yet it was one of the most mysterious arcs in Shounen, it had some of the funniest parts of all of One Piece when searching the island, it has probably the strongest sense of adventure pre-skip, with the characters all being in an unfamiliar environment surrounded by cultures that are totally alien to them in a land they can't easily escape from, dials were also introduced, a poneglyph is shown and we learn a bit about the world's history, Enel uses his electrical powers in broader ways than most characters probably would in other series and the arc had good pacing with action throughout.