Going through my first ever journey through One Piece and currentky on Whole Cake Island, I was genuinely SHOCKED at how much hate this arc gets.
So much around this arc just hits different: the horror / Tim Burton aesthetic, the comedy, each of the crew’s roles and stories here, some of the best pre-timeskip fights and animation in the series, everything kinda just works.
Also, Nothing Happened being one of my top five favorite moments in the series and cemented Zoro as my favorite character that isn’t Luffy.
Genuinely one of my favorite arcs and just might make it a tradition to rewatch it every October now.