How did Skypiea become One Piece's most underrated arc?

Many One Piece fans have dismissed the Skypiea arc as filler, but recent storylines prove that the underrated arc is more important than fans realize.

Since the debut of the Wano Country arc, One Piece's popularity has soared, propelling the series to new heights thanks to its long-term storytelling and the increased production value of its animated adaptation. Monkey D. Luffy's journey across Grand Line is finally reaching its climax after more than 25 years in syndication, and in anticipation of his coronation as King of the Pirates, many fans are reflecting on the legacy he has left behind.

While story arcs such as Enies Lobby, Marineford and the aforementioned Wano Country Arc receive high praise from One Piece fans, many other sequences are even more underrated. In particular, the Straw Hat Pirates' adventure in Skypiea Country has been the subject of significant and undeserved criticism over the years. Fortunately, over time, the unique story of the Skypiea Arc continues to age like a fine wine, giving it a legitimate claim. as the most underrated arc in the entire series.

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The first reviews of the Skypiea arc

To understand how the Skypiea Arc's reputation has changed since its debut, it's useful to start by developing a vague history of its reception by fans. The Skypiea Arc aired in Japan in 2003 and 2004, roughly coinciding with the first episodes of 4Kids' infamous localization of the anime in North America; given this overlap, the Straw Hat Pirates' journey through Skypiea was the most recent and fully completed arc when One Piecea first exploded onto international markets. Because of this timing, as well as Skypiea's status as one of Luffy's first major adventures on Grand Line, the sequence has been placed under intense scrutiny, leading to natural comparisons with the two sagas between which it is sandwiched: Alabasta and Enies Lobby. These two narrative sagas are among the best in the entire series, making them an unfair reference point for the Skypiea Arc, which has naturally led to its devaluation by some fans.

To make matters worse for the Skypiea Arc, it also debuted at a time when a particular problem was beginning to plague the shonen genre: filler episodes. The anime landscape in the mid-2000s was decorated with regularly aired shows that relied heavily on filler to give their respective manga more time to release content. This included the other two members of the Big Three of the shonen genre, Naruto and Bleach, the latter even experiencing a decade-long hiatus in part due to its overuse of non-canon material. Although the Skypiea Arc is completely canon, its setting and structure (in particular, the separation of Skypiea and her antagonist, Enel, from the rest of the Grand Line) are undeniably similar to those seen in many filler arcs, leading many anime fans to dismiss this as irrelevant to the overall narrative of One Piece . Even today, it's not uncommon to hear fans advising new viewers to skip the events of Skypiea, testifying to a long-term misconception about the arc's importance. Fortunately, Luffy's journey has slowly brought the Skypiea arc back to relevance, thanks in large part to its connection to several key themes that appear throughout the series after the ellipse.

The legacy and continuing relevance of the Skypiea arc

Despite the unfair criticism it has received, the Skypiea arc actually introduces several plot points that became increasingly relevant after One Piece.the two-year ellipse. Most importantly, the arc includes Nico Robin's discovery and subsequent translation of the Shandorian poneglyph, which confirms the existence of the ancient weapon known as Poseidon - an asset ultimately revealed to be Princess Shirahoshi during the Island of the Fishmen arc. Although Shirahoshi's ability to control the Sea Kings has yet to play a major role in the series, it is virtually guaranteed to be one of the decisive factors in the Straw Hat Pirates' inevitable war against the world government, making her mention in the Skypiea arc a vital element. piece of foreshadowing.

In addition to this information, Robin also finds a message from the Roger Pirates on the Shandorian Poneglyph which suggests that Gol D. Roger knew the true history of the Empty Century. During the events of the Sabaody Archipelago and the Wano Country Arcs, One Piece even shows the Roger Pirates' journey to Skypiea in a brief flashback.

The discovery of the Shandorian pongeglyph is undoubtedly the most important narrative development in the Skypiea arc, but there are many other instances where the sequence lays the foundations for future events. Enel's Mantra technique is explained as One Piece's first instance of Observation Haki, making him the first opponent of the Straw Hat Pirate to use Haki - the holier-than-thou antagonist also serves as a catalyst for the explanation of Logia-type Demon Fruits. The story of Skypiea, the rarest type of devil's fruit in the series, is also explained. Even the geography of Skypiea ends up playing a role in One PieceThe post-timeskip story, as it sets the stage for the introduction of Kaido shortly after his fall from another celestial island above the New World. While these connections don't excuse the Skypiea Arc from all its critics, they do establish that it's incredibly important to Monkey D. Luffy's journey and the history of Grand Line - a claim that would have been hotly contested in later years. after the arc's release.

Compared to its beginnings, the Skypiea Arc is now much more connected to the wider world of One Piece , making up for many of the criticisms it received in the mid-2000s. The Straw Hat Pirates' struggle to depose Enel is no longer indicative of the problems that once plagued the Big Three and the shonen genre, but rather a nostalgic record of their journey across the first half of the Grand Line.

While the high-stakes nature of the Wano Country arc is part of One Piece's natural progression, it has caused the series to lose some of the adventurous tone that once defined its narrative. Rather than representing the worst that One Piece has to offer, the Skypiea Arc serves instead as a fantastic reminder of how Monkey D. Luffy came to be Emperor of the Sea, bringing to life the joy he inspires wherever he and his crew travel. Given that the Skypiea Arc contains the first potential allusion to the Sun God Nika ( a figure that strongly resembles Luffy's Gear 5 transformation), it's entirely possible that the arc's legacy isn't quite finished yet.

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