I'm not much of an essayist so I've done my best to articulate my biggest issues (in <50M words). I love One Piece and the LA so much that I had to get my thoughts down. These critiques come from the perspective of a longtime fan, and from a writer.
Problem 1: References, and setup vs. payoff
At times, the LA includes references that are surface-level, rather than integrated into the story. For a longtime One Piece fan, these references are recognizable, but they function like callbacks rather than meaningful character or plot elements. It creates the impression that the adaption knows WHAT happens, but not why it matters.
Zoro says this when he first sees Tashigi in Logue Town.
In the animanga this is deeply traumatic for him, but in the LA Zoro just says it, and the narrative moves on. We never enter his thought process or are shown how that trauma affects him.
How could we make this moment a true character element, rather than just a reference?
The show has already done it with Mihawk PTSD-haunting his ass. Why not do it again with Kuina?
Imagine this:
Zoro keeps turning and thinking he sees Kuina when he looks at Tashigi. Even replace her actor for brief moments and have him visually flinch before seeing her correctly (especially when she says he's 'dropping his elbow'). Then at Whiskey Peak, he starts to hallucinate Kuina. Finally, as he starts to get frustrated, Mihawk joins in to bounce off of her. Mihawk goading him worked so well — this addition would have tied his two most traumatic moments together, turning Kuina from a reference into a recurring character beat.
Example 2: Sanji falling off the mountain.
In the animanga, Sanji falls and gets hurt making sure that Luffy (carrying Nami, crucially) doesn't fall instead. It was clear that it was vital for him to come along, because he fights the Lapin (cut for time from the LA, which is understandable but sad) so that Nami doesn't have to endure Luffy fighting. Sanji constantly reminds Luffy: YOU can endure this, but you're carrying Nami, and SHE can't. I don't think the LA seeds it well enough to justify Sanji risking his own life when he doesn't actually help. And, having him fall by pure accident takes out an early opportunity to seed his self-sacrificing personality. He is willing to die for his crew because he cares about them, and also because he values his life so little. These early moments add weight to later moments, like Thriller Bark. Thriller Bark hits hard partly because of these early character beats.
How could this scene be turned from reference into a strong character moment?
Solution: All you need is to have Luffy slip instead, and have Sanji catch him and use his leverage to propel Luffy up to a hand-hold, sacrificing his own stable footing in the process. A bit of dialogue could seal it:
Luffy, screaming over the wind and in terror as Sanji starts to fall: Sanji no! I can take it!
Sanji, his footholds crumbling: She can't!
Or, "I'm made of rubber!"/"She's not!"
The rest can play out. Same end result, but now the scene functions as part of a strong foundation for later events.
Problem 2: Pacing and emotional moments.
Some emotional moments aren't given the time they need to build and land, which makes their intended impact feel unearned. Musical cues alone are not enough to create that emotional weight. These moments may have been the climax of an individual anime episode, but suffer from the condensed pacing of the LA.
Example: Igaram gets blown up.
This scene does not earn its emotional climax, because we have not spent enough time with the characters meant to earn our grief. But, this scene needs to happen here, so how could we fix this? If Vivi hasn't had time to build our emotional connection, then the scene needs to borrow it from somewhere else.
Solution: make it Nami's scene.
Filter this entire scene through Nami's perspective, interleaved with memories of Bellemere. The scene would earn its emotional weight, and make that hug feel more organic. It would also tie in with the theme of 'remembering where they came from'. A little shot of the rest of the crew watching her, too, would be enough to imply: they remember what Nami went through. Nami needed their help, and now someone else needs their help too.
Problem 3: Crew dynamics.
Key moments underutilize the crew, to the point where they feel sidelined or absent.
Example: Nami gets sick.
We basically only see Sanji taking care of her — nobody else comes into her room. In the animanga, the story uses this moment to show how much the entire crew cares about her, having her wake up and see that everyone has fallen asleep in her room. It's also the part of the story where she and Vivi spend a lot of time together. That time helps us get to know Vivi and drive home how caring she is. Imagine if Vivi had spent more time with Nami here; it would have added weight to her decision to put Nami's wellbeing over getting to Alabasta faster. What if we had had other characters trying to do Nami's job of navigating, being overwhelmed by the strange weather patterns, trying to read maps, and needing to ask her for help? The moments with Sanji were really nice, and I especially like that they had him talk about his mother this early. But for some of the scenes, it almost felt like the rest of the crew was forgotten.
Imagine this: Vivi is already in the room when Sanji arrives. She doesn't have to say much. Instead of Sanji walking out of the room, use another character bursting in looking for navigation help as a way to transition the scene. Nami tries to help, but Sanji urges her to go back to sleep and promises that they'll figure it out. Those small changes would add no runtime, but have huge impact.
Problem 4: Show don't tell & Dialogue
I could pick lots of examples across the show where lines feel forced.
Example: The woman with the gun on Drum
Dalton exposits why the woman fired, and takes the gun from her. (Taking the gun itself is a weird thing to do: she visibly regrets it, and does not want to shoot the Straw Hats again.)
The problem with this moment is that Dalton explains information that the viewer should instead experience.
Imagine this: why not have Dalton escort the crew through the village so that we can see shots of villagers watching warily? But when the villagers see Dalton is leading, they stand down and relax. This would allow the scene to do double-duty: the people are wary of outsiders, but they trust Dalton more than their fear. Dalton could bring them to a house (the show doesn't clarify whose house they're in), and he can add context there. "You can stay in my house. Excuse us for being so on-edge. Nobody will bother you here, I promise." Crucially, have him deliver any information WHILE DOING something else.
You could even have someone deliver medical supplies for Vivi, like the woman who shot her.
I would have liked a little more interaction with the people there to show that they're well-meaning, but traumatized and on-edge.
Problem 5: Party Table Kick Course
Sanji… why did you bust that shit out for one guy? That move was not meant to be used against one dude, and it looked goofy as hell.
I will watch the season again, and I'm sure that I will have more to say about it. I enjoyed it, and I'm excited for Season 3. Thanks for reading! I hope you found them interesting, even if you think differently.
