Highlights
- The Wano Country arc had many memorable moments, including Luffy’s battle with Kaido and the awakening of his Gear 5th power-up.
- The arc featured great storytelling, with revealing flashbacks about Oden and other legendary characters.
- The animation quality was phenomenal, with impactful frames and fluid animation style, making the Wano Country arc a great success.
The Wano Country has finally ended in the anime, and a new adventure is about to begin. The next arc will be the first in the Final Saga, and it is set on Egghead Island. The Straw Hats will move to another island for the first time since 2019. The Wano Country arc was quite memorable, and it had its highs and lows.
As the arc was still ongoing, it was not easy to review it properly. But now that the curtains have been brought down on the final act of Wano, it is much simpler to do so.
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The Highs
The Wano Country arc had many big moments that made it worth watching again and again. The biggest moment in the arc was Luffy’s battle with Kaido. The two fought each other many times, but it was their final fight that stood out the most. Kaido went all out to ensure that he remained the dominant force in Wano, while Luffy fought to protect his friends. To beat Kaido, Luffy had to awaken his Devil Fruit, and it happened in the most odd way possible after a CP0 member distracted him and allowed Kaido to knock him out. Luffy awakened with Gear 5th, a brand-new power-up that gave him more freedom than ever. With Gear 5th, Luffy was able to put an end to Kaido’s domination in Wano. Aside from Luffy and Kaido’s battle, Sanji vs. Queen, Zoro vs. King, and Law, Kid vs. Big Mom were also outstanding fights. They had high-quality animation that ensured the audience was glued to their screens.
Apart from the fights, the Wano Country arc featured many great storytelling moments, Oden’s flashback being one of them. In the flashback, many new details about Oden and other legendary characters, such as Roger and Whitebeard, were revealed. The arc also disclosed that Luffy’s Devil Fruit is actually named the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, and that it is a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit. It allows the young pirate to turn into the ancient Sun God. This bit of information adds further credence to the fact that Luffy will be the one to take down the World Government.
Another highlight of the Wano arc was how Oda managed to give almost every character a special moment. From Luffy all the way down to O-Tama, everyone was given an opportunity where they shone the brightest. This ensured that no one in the audience would feel disappointed that their favorite character didn’t get the chance to make a mark.
Last but not least, the animation quality throughout the arc was phenomenal. Toei Animation put all the big names on the arc, and they breathed life into it. The pace of each episode, the impact frames, the fluid animation style, and the music all made the Wano Country arc a great success.
The Lows
The Wano Country arc was mostly exceptional, but it had a few flaws. One of the big complaints was how Big Mom was nerfed. When she came to the country, she fought against Kaido without any problems. They were on equal footing, so it is safe to say that she had almost the same level of physical abilities and Haki control. So it didn’t make sense for her to lose Law and Kid, who didn’t even use Advanced Conqueror’s Haki. Big Mom would have annihilated them with Haki, and Oda’s decision not to let her use it was clearly for the sake of the plot.
Another problem in the arc was Kaido’s lackluster backstory. He had been hyped to be a dangerous villain for years. Kaido proved his strength in the arc, but most details about his past were kept hidden. Given the fact that worse villains had a more fleshed-out backstory, Kaido’s overall reputation was tainted. Oda doesn’t like to kill off characters, which is a very well-known fact. His writing is splendid, so most of the time he doesn’t need to. However, it would have elevated Kaido’s malevolence if the Yonko had actually killed one or two important characters.
A big drawback of having so many characters is that Oda couldn’t fit all of them in the arc properly. Some of the Straw Hats were given limited screen time in the raid, which was a letdown for fans. In particular, Nami and Usopp were just passengers during the raid and were hardly involved in any important event. Even O-Tama was more crucial during the raid.
Verdict
Overall, the Wano Country arc was phenomenal. Almost everything has been so well done that it would be unfair not to call it the best arc in One Piece so far. The positives outnumber the negatives, leaving fans with very little to complain about. It is safe to say that it will be very difficult for the subsequent arcs to supplant Wano and its plan as the best One Piece arc.
Wano Arc Rating: 4.75 out of 5.
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