One Piece, anime wackiness meets Pirates of the Caribbean

Which chapter are you talking about? I don't remember that part.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm up to 436, thanks to a French group. =D

Possible spoilers for those not up to 432:

Spoiler:

I don't remember much about that specific chapter actually, but for a while I've been meaning to say that Water 7 / Enies Lobby is, by far, my favourite arc so far. Everything, from the first encounter with Ao Kiji to the final escape from Enies Lobby, has been enthralling.

The crew's bonds have gotten a hell of a lot stronger since faced with the possible loss of one of them. Now Robin's backstory is fully known, and her loyalty to the Straw Hats is beyond doubt. Getting her back took the most epic of all One Piece battles so far, the battle against CP9, where every single member of the crew had to put their life at stake and surpass superhuman opponents.

The crew have also gotten past the point of no return with their declaration of war on the World Government. After Arabasta, they were only wanted for being pirates, and the Government even owed them for taking down Crocodile - now they have proven themselves to be a deadly threat. More importantly, the tides have turned: before then we though the Government were more or less the good guys, they just didn't know that the Straw Hats were a "good" pirate crew; now the Government has been portrayed as an evil organisation, whose true ways were exposed in the Ohara incident. We also know that with powers like Ao Kiji's, they aren't to be underestimated.

On top of that, a new character was introduced: Franky. It is beyond doubt at this point that he will join the crew, filling the position of shipwright as well as that of musician. A strong guy with dirty ways and comic relief potential, I say YES.

The one thing I didn't like in this arc (if I really had to mention one) is the amount of Devil Fruit users with animal transformation abilities. The giraffe/wolf fights looked ridiculous, far-fetched and out of style even. Maybe it's just me, but I don't like it. I hope it's not the beginning of a trend, I like "human" bad guys much better. But still, a fantastic arc.

As for what's coming up next... I'll just say it looks very exciting, and I can hardly hold my breath.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

434

Spoiler:

Still not sure what Shanks is afraid of, though. Why does he not want Ace to fight Blackbeard? Is he afraid that Ace might die? But then, why would he care? Enlighten me!

EDIT: also, I couldn't get my hands on any Jinchuuriki releases, but I came across another French group who are up to 440. =D

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.