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[Nightbird]

It ain't even the best arc in DragonBall, which is the very first saga, the hunt for the Dragon balls. This is still the best. Goku Black impressed me more than Freeza too.

Right. From Robin's perspective, it makes perfect sense that she would just dip, after all she hasn't really been that comfortable around them, and throughout her life she's never had a good reason to open up to anyone. And on our parts, the viewer, why should we really care either? She was a former villain who up until that arc it's be understandable to be quite wary of her.

And yet, they cared anyways, even without the complete knowledge the readers have concerning her backstory.


This arc was like the epitome of what Fairy Tail has been striving to do with its whole friendship shtick since its inception.

Thank you for this post. For a while I felt like One Piece and FT were similar, yet vastly different, but couldn't point to why I felt this way.

Now I know!

 

[Lynx_7]

When talking about Water 7/Enies Lobby: The Water 7 half of the arc is much better than the Enies Lobby half.

As a whole, I think I agree. OP shines the most when it's focusing on its characters and plot, while Ennies Lobby is more of a battle arc, which is usually one of the weakest aspects of the manga imo. EL shines in its individual moments, though. Those "I want to live" and Going Merry scenes are top tier stuff.

 

[Toxi]

Luffy vs Usopp might be my single favorite moment in the whole series. So much emotion.

Luffy vs Usopp is fantastic because it's virtually the only time we've seen actual conflict within the crew.

As a whole, I think I agree. OP shines the most when it's focusing on its characters and plot, while Ennies Lobby is more of a battle arc, which is usually one of the weakest aspects of the manga imo. EL shines in its individual moments, though. Those "I want to live" and Going Merry scenes are top tier stuff.

Yeah, the battles just aren't that good. The art isn't great, the fights don't have interesting formulas. And there's a sense of repetition as the Strawhats go through every member of CP9.

The best fight One Piece has done IMO is the Strawhat crew vs Oars.

...

Actually, scratch that. The best fight One Piece has done is Luffy vs Bellamy.

 

[BIGWORM]

"He has a...FUKIN...SORD!"

lol. Good breakdown of the Frieza Saga.

 

[broncobuster]

I'm feeling like the odd man out about Hunter x Hunter's best arc. For me it's Yorkshin/Yorknew, followed by Chimera. Granted, there's some nostalgia to it being the peak of the 1999 series.

And YYH's Dark Tournament is by far the best tournament arc.

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Here in Brazil we got DB first, but it wasn't all that popular at first. Saint Seiya kinda stole its thunder early on, I guess. It wasn't until they skipped straight to Z that the series really exploded in popularity. Classic DB was later broadcasted in its entirety, but Z was definitely the one that made it possible. From most accounts, it seems like a lot of countries followed this same pattern. Cool to know Mexico actually got everything right from beginning to end, though.

DBZ also signal boost DB in mexico for sure. DB was never as popular as DBZ during its peak but we definitely got the entirety of DB broadcasted here first before the premiere of DBZ. After that reruns of DB kept going because, as I said, many went back after discovering DBZ..

 

[Loris146]

I'm feeling like the odd man out about Hunter x Hunter's best arc. For me it's Yorkshin/Yorknew, followed by Chimera. Granted, there's some nostalgia to it being the peak of the 1999 series.

And YYH's Dark Tournament is by far the best tournament arc.

High five. Yorkshin City is really amazing.

 

[Vic_Viper]

the opening of dragon ball z?

lol I knew it was familar

 

[RareFantasy64]

I'm feeling like the odd man out about Hunter x Hunter's best arc. For me it's Yorkshin/Yorknew, followed by Chimera. Granted, there's some nostalgia to it being the peak of the 1999 series.

And YYH's Dark Tournament is by far the best tournament arc.

Yorkshin gets a lot of love but once the CA arc finished a few years back and got the anime adaptation it became the more prominent favorite HXH arc

 

[zulux21]

And YYH's Dark Tournament is by far the best tournament arc.

second best for me. but I don't think most people have watched yakitate japan let alone would watch scenes like this or like this in the middle of a bread baking tournament and think it is great

that being said I think DT is the best traditional battle tournament lol.

 

[NeonZ]

I would like to see this, do you have a link?

Here's it.

 

[Daingurse]

And YYH's Dark Tournament is by far the best tournament arc.

Nothing really comes close for me. I like that arc more than Chapter Black overall. Which isn't saying too much, because I love Chapter Black lol.

Here's it.

Wow. So, Vegeta was the strongest fighter in the universe at the time of his inception!

 

[Zolo]

Here's it.

I love Toriyama's honesty and self-depreciation humor.

 

[broncobuster]

second best for me. but I don't think most people have watched yakitate japan let alone would watch scenes like this or like this in the middle of a bread baking tournament and think it is great

that being said I think DT is the best traditional battle tournament lol.

Actually as I typed that, Yakitate and other unconventional tournaments came to mind (from Hikaru no Go to Major). But man Yusuke removing his spirit cuffs is so so so good.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

I finally made time to binge watch Rurouni Kenshin the other day. Shishio Arc was cool, but the other arcs you mention are a lot better imo

RK is one of those rare manga that saved the best for last and ended with proper closure.

 

[Bounceounce]

Baratie is incredible and Arlong Park is peak shone.
Definitely one of multiple arcs from One Piece I'm taking over Chimera Ant.

 

[theCalamity]

People don't understand why the Chimera Ant arc is getting praise? It's because

Spoiler

Togashi makes you cry for a monster that killed and ate a child, threatened to take over the world, and wanted to enslave humanity.

It is an arc that is rife with themes about the nature of humanity. It also ends in a fantastic way that subverts your expectations. It's great.

The Chimera Ant arc is also amazing in that

Spoiler

besides Death Note, this is the only shounen where the main shounen threatens to kill an innocent's life and would have gone through with it without hesitation.

 

[Jigorath]

It's either Yorknew City or the Chimera Ant Arc. Everyone else is just fighting for third.

 

[Rumblebones]

This video lost me quite early when the guy says Naruto is an example of how not to do timeskip because the tone and motivations of the characters hadn't changed whereas in One Piece that wasn't the case because the characters look different and are more motivated to achieve the same goals than before.

What?

Overall quality of the series aside, Naruto's timeskip denoted a much more definitive change than One Piece, and the motivations clearly changed because Naruto went from prioritising becoming Hokage to retrieving Sasuke. The themes of the series also changed quite dramatically by essentially becoming an anti-war piece.

 

[LotusHD]

Thank you for this post. For a while I felt like One Piece and FT were similar, yet vastly different, but couldn't point to why I felt this way.

Now I know!

Yea, with FT, friendship is basically its everything. It gets you through virtually any situation, even when it is completely nonsensical, like facing an opponent that takes away all five of her senses. They just beat you with a hammer with it, repeatedly telling you how much friendship is the best thing ever, that they will beat their enemies due to said friendship, etc. etc.

While One Piece is a bit similar at times, it's usually more about showing rather than telling, which goes a long way from making it not come off as corny, but even badass at times. An easy example of this is would be this memorable scene from the Arlong arc:

And most importantly, it actually acknowledges that sometimes wanting to do right by your friends just ain't enough. That sometimes, you're just gonna fail, and there's nothing you can do to stop it unless you get strong enough to change that.

Luffy vs Usopp is fantastic because it's virtually the only time we've seen actual conflict within the crew.

This is no longer true, albeit, nothing was as ever as awkward as the fight between those two.

People don't understand why the Chimera Ant arc is getting praise? It's because

Spoiler

Togashi makes you cry for a monster that killed and ate a child, threatened to take over the world, and wanted to enslave humanity.

It is an arc that is rife with themes about the nature of humanity. It also ends in a fantastic way that subverts your expectations. It's great.

The Chimera Ant arc is also amazing in that

Spoiler

besides Death Note, this is the only shounen where the main shounen threatens to kill an innocent's life and would have gone through with it without hesitation.

Yea, it's easily the best HxH arc for me.

 

[NoctisVsStar]

This video lost me quite early when the guy says Naruto is an example of how not to do timeskip because the tone and motivations of the characters changed whereas in One Piece that wasn't the case because the characters look different and are more motivated to achieve the same goals than before.

What?

Overall quality of the series aside, Naruto's timeskip denoted a much more definitive change than One Piece, and the motivations clearly changed because Naruto went from prioritising becoming Hokage to retrieving Sasuke. The themes of the series also changed quite dramatically by essentially becoming an anti-war piece.

Facts

 

[Txαi]

You can tell the music by Shunsuke Kikuchi lost its somber and intricate qualities after the second saga as well.

I love Toriyama's honesty and self-depreciation humor.

Which has been one of his main quirks since Dr. Slump.

 

[LotusHD]

This video lost me quite early when the guy says Naruto is an example of how not to do timeskip because the tone and motivations of the characters changed whereas in One Piece that wasn't the case because the characters look different and are more motivated to achieve the same goals than before.

What?

Overall quality of the series aside, Naruto's timeskip denoted a much more definitive change than One Piece, and the motivations clearly changed because Naruto went from prioritising becoming Hokage to retrieving Sasuke. The themes of the series also changed quite dramatically by essentially becoming an anti-war piece.

Neither approach is inherently bad imo, it's all about the execution at the end of the day.

 

[Kyne]

Oda's ability to story tell without using words is god tier.

tears.

 

[LotusHD]

Oda's ability to story tell without using words is god tier.

tears.

I hope we one day we get another moment like that, where whatever the final crew is all gets to participate.

 

[Rumblebones]

Neither approach is inherently bad imo, it's all about the execution.

I'm not making value judgment of either, but by the dude's own logic, he's talking complete nonsense. Not that I agree with is reasoning that timeskips needs to denote significant change to be good just because that's how he prefers them.

One Piece hasn't changed much at all tonally. Oda has stayed very consistent in terms of what kind of story he wants to tell. The 2 year timeskip was necessary and well executed.

Naruto changed a whole lot. Its timeskip was necessary and, Naruto being stupidly under powered aside, was also well executed. Honestly, until the War arc, Naruto was still pretty good.

 

[LotusHD]

I'm not making value judgment of either, but by the dude's own logic, he's talking complete nonsense. Not that I agree with is reasoning that timeskips needs to denote significant change to be good just because that's how he prefers them.

One Piece hasn't changed much at all tonally. Oda has stayed very consistent in terms of what kind of story he wants to tell. The 2 year timeskip was necessary and well executed.

Naruto changed a whole lot. Its timeskip was necessary and, Naruto being stupidly under powered aside, was also well executed. Honestly, until the War arc, Naruto was still pretty good.

I wasn't saying you were, just that that is my thoughts on the matter.

 

[caliph95]

Nothing really comes close for me. I like that arc more than Chapter Black overall. Which isn't saying too much, because I love Chapter Black lol.



Wow. So, Vegeta was the strongest fighter in the universe at the time of his inception!

I love if Vegeta was supposed to be the strongest warrior especially when in the next arc at the Pl he was at the Saiyan saga in the Namek arc he wasn't any special when there are bunch of Namekians stronger than he is and freaking Pui Pui was likely stronger thn Vegeta

 

[Rumblebones]

Oda's ability to story tell without using words is god tier.

tears.

This is one of many examples of why I hold the entirety of the Alabasta Saga to be the pinnacle of One Piece.

Heart, humour, drama, adventure and spectacle all layered over a sprawling journey that captured you with amazement and never let go.

It is the most perfectly executed saga in any manga I've ever read. Pure perfection.

 

[Oblivion]

You know, I think I'd be a lot more accepting of the popularity of the Water 7/Enies Lobby arc if it wasn't for Lucci. I mean, not so much the character himself, but rather his devil fruit ability. You go from a logia user that can turn into goddamn lightning to...a leopard. Yeah, I might not get a bunch of high fives* with this opinion, but whatever. I'm sorry, you can't go from a logia user to a zoan and act like it totally makes sense.

*

Spoiler

can I still get some high fives over here?

Not really. Freeza himself doesn't even exist until they're going to Namek. Vegeta initially references himself as the strongest in the universe, and there's never any word in the Saiyan Saga about how the Saiyans are just taking over planets for someone else. They talk like the Saiyans themselves were the ones selling planets to random aliens.

Toriyama himself even made a little comic recently where he admits Freeza was only created because Vegeta was too popular to be killed off, so he created a separate villain to be killed in his place.

Sounds like shenanigans, sir. Do you have a link?

 

[Ray Down]

Oda's ability to story tell without using words is god tier.

tears.

A moment that was made at the last second.

 

[Lulubop]

You know, I think I'd be a lot more accepting of the popularity of the Water 7/Enies Lobby arc if it wasn't for Lucci. I mean, not so much the character himself, but rather his devil fruit ability. You go from a logia user that can turn into goddamn lightning to...a leopard. Yeah, I might not get a bunch of high fives* with this opinion, but whatever. I'm sorry, you can't go from a logia user to a zoan and act like it totally makes sense.

*

Spoiler

can I still get some high fives over here?

Sounds like shenanigans, sir. Do you have a link?

posted on this page

 

[SenjutsuSage]

You know, I think I'd be a lot more accepting of the popularity of the Water 7/Enies Lobby arc if it wasn't for Lucci. I mean, not so much the character himself, but rather his devil fruit ability. You go from a logia user that can turn into goddamn lightning to...a leopard. Yeah, I might not get a bunch of high fives* with this opinion, but whatever. I'm sorry, you can't go from a logia user to a zoan and act like it totally makes sense.

*

Spoiler

can I still get some high fives over here?

Sounds like shenanigans, sir. Do you have a link?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, when the heck was he a logia user? I remember he just mastered those special body based techniques or whatever they were called.

 

[LotusHD]

You know, I think I'd be a lot more accepting of the popularity of the Water 7/Enies Lobby arc if it wasn't for Lucci. I mean, not so much the character himself, but rather his devil fruit ability. You go from a logia user that can turn into goddamn lightning to...a leopard. Yeah, I might not get a bunch of high fives* with this opinion, but whatever. I'm sorry, you can't go from a logia user to a zoan and act like it totally makes sense.

I felt differently. Before Lucci (and later on Marco), did anyone really give a shit about Zoan users? Because I sure as hell didn't. Logias are virtually unbeatable at the time, while Paramecia users could basically have whatever powers Oda wanted to give them. Zoans on the other hand... who cares? Then turns out a Zoan user gave him one of the hardest fights he's ever had in his entire life. They just play it straight, with the animal the DF is based on augmenting his strength further. Like, what sense does it need to make exactly? If anything, it's refreshing that the next enemy he fights doesn't fit the cliche where he's stronger than the last big enemy. Luffy just got lucky as hell to face Enel.

It's just the birth of a gradual reminder that Logia users are formidable, but there are other threats out there that are just as fearsome.

 

[Lulubop]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, when the heck was he a logia user? I remember he just mastered those special body based techniques or whatever they were called.

He's talking about Enel, my favorite OP villain

 

[SenjutsuSage]

He's talking about Enel, my favorite OP villain

Ohhh. I thought he was suggesting that Lucci was somehow a lighting devil fruit user. Enel in skypia was the first thing that came to my mind, so I was surprised as hell.

 

[Kyne]

You know, I think I'd be a lot more accepting of the popularity of the Water 7/Enies Lobby arc if it wasn't for Lucci. I mean, not so much the character himself, but rather his devil fruit ability. You go from a logia user that can turn into goddamn lightning to...a leopard. Yeah, I might not get a bunch of high fives* with this opinion, but whatever. I'm sorry, you can't go from a logia user to a zoan and act like it totally makes sense.

There is a huge disparity when it comes to the final enemies of both arcs. If the main hero was literally anyone but Luffy they would have gotten destroyed and the story would have been over.

It's as if you went through a secret door that led to a secret boss while still level 5 in an RPG, and the boss isn't meant to be fought until you've reached end game status, but you just happened to find an item that had a 0.01% chance of dropping which made you invulnerable to all of the bosses main attacks.

That's what I tell myself anyway.

Plus it gave us this baby.

Spoiler

 

[HardRojo]

nah it's not, even when you cut out all the godawful filler (and there's a crap ton) it's still not great

It's basically

HYAAAAAA I'm STRONG!!

WRONG I AM STRONGER STILL

YOU SPOKE TOO SOON FOR I AM STRONGER!!!

So nah.

Dark Tournament Arc
Chimera Ant Arc

they both decimate Dragonball

You described Bleach, not Saiyan/Frieza arc DBZ.

 

[Ferrio]

I will never understand the love for the Chimera Ant arc, it was one of the worst anime arcs I've ever seen. Greed island is 100x better imo.

That said, Water 7/Enies takes the crown for me.

 

[caliph95]

I do like the subversion with Enel usually in anime the characters face get stronger and stronger where Enel was a New World level opponent (he even had Haki and would have a 500 million Bounty according to Oda) Where none of them can even touch him and can insta"kill" opponents and decimate islands and only lost because Luffy was rubber

 

[HardRojo]

While I like HxH (2011 anime), I don't place it among my top 10, none of the arcs stuck with me for some reason, and I actually found the Chimera Ant arc to be way too long for its own good.
Dark Tournament arc from YYH and Kyoto arc from Rurouni Kenshin, though? Those were simply sublime.

 

[Fandangox]

I'm feeling like the odd man out about Hunter x Hunter's best arc. For me it's Yorkshin/Yorknew, followed by Chimera. Granted, there's some nostalgia to it being the peak of the 1999 series.

And YYH's Dark Tournament is by far the best tournament arc.

Nah for me its also the best. I like Chimera ants a lot, but its got some stuff I'd get rid off like the Ants against the Spiders, or that weird thing with the King and Royal Guards.

Yorkshin was pretty much excellent all the way through.

 

[LotusHD]

Nah for me its also the best. I like Chimera ants a lot, but its got some stuff I'd get rid off like the Ants against the Spiders, or that weird thing with the King and Royal Guards.

Yorkshin was pretty much excellent all the way through.

Hm?

 

[Forceatowulf]

yu yu hakusho dark tournament arc tho....

It really is a close call honestly. But man, Dark Tourney was just so gooooood.

 

[Principate]

The Chimera abt are is great but these just a few naggling things that arereally annoying. Stuff like everything to do with Aluka is absolutely horrendous writing, she completely breaks the rule set of the world, is a literally walking talking deus ex machina
and adds almost nothing meaningful to the plot. The execution is just shockingly bad. I'm also not too find if final firm power ups but the depends on gon get's his powers back.

 

[Toxi]

I felt differently. Before Lucci (and later on Marco), did anyone really give a shit about Zoan users? Because I sure as hell didn't. Logias are virtually unbeatable at the time, while Paramecia users could basically have whatever powers Oda wanted to give them. Zoans on the other hand... who cares? Then turns out a Zoan user gave him one of the hardest fights he's ever had in his entire life. They just play it straight, with the animal the DF is based on augmenting his strength further. Like, what sense does it need to make exactly? If anything, it's refreshing that the next enemy he fights doesn't fit the cliche where he's stronger than the last big enemy. Luffy just got lucky as hell to face Enel.

It's just the birth of a gradual reminder that Logia users are formidable, but there are other threats out there that are just as fearsome.

I do like how Lucci's leopard form let him actually damage Luffy with his finger pokes. It was a clever example of how a small change can make a big difference.

 

[SargerusBR]

I think Cell Saga is better, but the Frieza vs Goku fight in hands down the most epic fight in anime history.

Legendary Super Saiyan vs Emperor of the Universe battling on a planet about to explode, you can't get more hype than that.

 

[Compbros]

One Piece, the only series that will make you cry over a ship. Saiyan/Frieza aren't above the top 3 OP arcs let alone best in all of manga.

That said, Saiyan saga is peak DBZ to me.

 

[Kyne]

One Piece, the only series that will make you cry over a ship. Saiyan/Frieza aren't above the top 3 OP arcs let alone best in all of manga.

That said, Saiyan saga is peak DBZ to me.

true dat.

It got me to buy this piece of art at a recent convention.

Spoiler

I'd like to think that this is what ship heaven looks like.

Spoiler

 

[Fandangox]

Hm?

You know

this part.