Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this thought piece. Please read with caution.

December 2, 2020 to December 8, 2020

1 Saga

2 Manga Arcs

7 Days

148 Chapters

(Chapters 654 to 801)

Hello everyone,

I finished Week #6 of reading Big Dad D. One Piece. Starting with Week #6, I’m changing the name slightly from Big Daddy One Piece to Big Dad D. One Piece to keep up with my growing “D” interest. After finishing up the Dressrosa Saga and seeing myself going into the current Four Emperors Saga so close to the beginning of December and end of 2020, I must reflect on my time with One Piece as a whole again.

I feel like many readers don’t reflect enough on what they actually read—for example, reading something and asking “what did I just read” moments happen to me way too often—but with reading massive ongoing sagas like One Piece, it’s an essential active reader technique that will prevent burnout from occurring while also allowing the reader to retain as much information as possible. Having people with similar interests to discuss reading or viewing experiences is also helpful.

Dressrosa Saga was the perfect Saga to snap me out of the “burnout” mentality that almost caught me in its grasp. Lately, I had been overwhelmed with my day job, a new paid writing opportunity, Writers’ Group, getting into a new Digimon TCG Card Game, finishing up my novel’s sixth draft by the end of the year too, and life struggles with this ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Reading Big Dad D. One Piece should’ve been the very last thing on my mind—at least, according to society—with everything else going on in my life, but to me, it was still an essential thing on my list in addition to playing Digimon TCG. The sparks of pure joy I get from reading One Piece was the only thing keeping me sane from everything else going on—why would I stop, slow down, or run away from it? In fact, knowing that life was short drove me to read the Saga faster—Ngodokja Original: Fast Reading Speed-A!

Anyway, let’s dive into what happened during the Dressrosa Saga.

One sentence summary: Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, the series follows Monkey D. Luffy traveling to the Grand Line—with his pirate crew—in search of the world’s ultimate treasure called “One Piece” in order to become the King of Pirates.

After the conclusion of the Fish-Man Island Saga, Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates finally ventured into the New World. Soon after arriving and surviving the New World’s constant weather changes though, the Straw Hat Pirates received a distress signal from an island called Punk Hazard. As a result, Luffy formed an alliance with Trafalgar D. Law to dethrone Kaido from the Four Emperors, but they had to defeat Caesar Clown and Doflamingo—the main antagonists of the “Punk Hazard Arc” and the “Dressrosa Arc” respectively—first.

The “Punk Hazard Arc” wasn’t the best One Piece arc I read. The arc was slightly better than the “Thriller Bark Arc”, but most of it did drag on even toward the end. Also, Caesar Clown wasn’t the strongest person and his role diminished from main villain to a plot device once Luffy, Law, and the Straw Hats captured him to bait Doflamingo into giving up his rule over Dressrosa. Although, the nostalgic character dynamic between Smoker the White Hunter’s Marines and the Straw Hat Pirates was a much-welcomed return; I kind-of wished they continued that dynamic going into “Dressrosa Arc”, but Smokey needed to get those kids back home.

“Punk Hazard Arc” did have a strong theme on child trafficking, and how they are used for inhumane purposes. Caesar Clown kidnapped and experimented on children to create the perfect weapons for anyone with the money to afford it. Nami and Chopper were the ones who wanted to save the children the most, which was how mostly everyone got entangled with Caesar Clown’s evil plans before the alliance officially happened.

The “save the country” plotline in the “Dressrosa Arc” centered around slavery, capitalism, family, and royal bloodlines. Doflamingo oppressed the innocent people of Dressrosa, enslaved those who opposed by turning them into toys, and the memory wipe was a cruel touch. Whoever gets turned into a toy is erased from people’s memories, so nobody would even notice that person was gone. There were many sub-stories in this arc—ranging from the story about toys, a tournament to win Ace’s devil fruit, dwarves wanting to overthrow Doflamingo, etc.—that somehow all connected by the arc’s climax.

There were strong parallels between Dressrosa Saga and Alabasta Saga as well, with the story of Rebecca and her father playing out similar to Vivi and her father. They had the same story beats to each other regarding how the father failed the country, and it became up to the daughter to save the country. However, Rebecca’s father was written stronger than Vivi’s father in my personal opinion because Rebecca’s father—Kyros—was not the king. Kyros failed the country as a godly solider, not a beloved king like Vivi’s father, is the key difference. There was a beloved king, but that was a grandfather.

The Dressrosa Saga also reintroduced Sabo, showing him inherit Ace’s devil fruit and becoming the next Fire Fist! Sabo as a child survived the attack on his boat, and was found by Monkey D. Dragon. Sabo had memory loss, so he moved on with his life and become a pirate under Dragon without knowing anything about his past. It wasn’t until Ace died that Sabo’s memory came flooding back at the worst possible time. This memory loss explained why Sabo wasn’t present at the Marineford Battle, but he vowed not to make the same mistake with his other brother Luffy.

I cried hardcore when Sabo came back, ate the fruit, and showed great mastery of the Fire Fist powers. Sabo left by the end of the arc with his team—which included Koala from the Fish-Man Island Saga’s flashback story—but he promised he’d come running whenever his brother needed him. Sabo being alive is bringing me so much joy for One Piece right now. I want Sabo to come back as soon as possible.

The Dressrosa Saga gave me a much-needed hype boost—a reminder on why I keep it reading in the first place. I’m looking forward to catching up with the rest of Big Dad D. One Piece by the end of 2020, and seeing where the story goes from there. Thanks for reading my thought piece on the Dressrosa Saga, everyone! I’m looking forward to seeing where I end up with the manga going into Week #7!

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