One Piece Summit War Saga (385-515)

For those new to my posts, I am not doing this as a review of One Piece, I am just offering my thoughts on the series as I'm watching it for the first time. The first couple I looked at as reviews, but at this point, you'll know if you want to watch One Piece regardless. That out of the way, there will be spoilers relating to this arc, so be warned if you have not watched it yet.

So I'll avoid re-treading the ground I covered in my Aspect Analysis article, One Piece is Bullshit but it's Fair Bullshit, and instead make two observations at the start. Amazon Lily, the first arc of Summit War Saga, highlights something I didn't realize. And that is Luffy isn't that interesting on his own. Amazon Lily was one of the least interesting One Piece arcs because of this. Romance Dawn to start the series off was fine because it was simply introducing Luffy before he began to form his pirate crew. That said, once Amazon finishes up I also learn that it doesn't have to be the Strawhats, so long as Luffy has interesting characters to bounce off of he is great. Impel down was awesome from the intro where Boa helps break him into the Prison and all the way through where he is fighting side by side with former enemies like Buggy and Baroque works.

Another thing I noted is that the show isn't nearly as interesting when Luffy himself isn't heavily involved. I'm not talking when the Strawhats break up into separate fights, but during Marineford when the focus is entirely off of Luffy and just on White-Beard vs the Navy, things aren't that engaging. It's a lot of time setting up many different players, which was important and all, and I was very impressed with the visuals, but it wasn't until Luffy finally touched down and entered the fray I started to care about what was going on. As much as I love the other Strawhats, and I love their individual stories, One Piece as a show does seem to revolve around Luffy. Honestly more so than most other Shonen I can think of. This isn't a bad thing, mind you, just an interesting thing to note.

What I love most about Summit War is that it is a long arc, but it doesn't something a lot of other shows would never even think to do to this degree. It ends in the absolute, and complete failure of Luffy's crusade. People were sacrificed to get him this far, years were shaved off his life to overcome the poison and continue to fight on, he enlisted the help of some of the world's strongest known fighters, every level of plot convinced was granted to Luffy, and still, he came up short.

Yes, passion matters. The desire to succeed, the bonds you form, all of that stuff in the world of One Piece matters, it's what carried Luffy this far. But that alone isn't enough, and Summit War is what drove that point home. Luffy was forced to face this reality here, which become the impetus for the two-year training the Strawhats underwent to gain the strength needed to advance into the most dangerous sea the world has ever known.

Once she was on Luffy's side I loved Boa Hancock, and I do like White-beard, the show knows how to build its characters and world. Yeah, Amazon Lily was a bit of a dull arc, but overall I loved Summit War. It'll be a while before I jump back to One Piece, but I look forward to when I finally do.