User blog comment:WhitzellBlood/What Do You Think, True One Piece Fans?/@comment-3242083-20110701142745

It is too early to judge, but so far the current arc is mediocre.

Not because of the lack of fights, but Oda seems to recycle a lot recently. Best example are the recently revealed abilities of the New Fishman Pirates and Brook:

Brook can leave his body as a soul/ghost (Hi Perona)

Muhi's spears suck the opponent dry (Hi Crocodile)

Zeo is able to camouflage, to the point of being invisible (Hi Absalom)

Daruma's shredder ability (Hi Arlong)

Dosun's monstrous strength (Hi every second character in One Piece).

I had higher expectations and I really hope Oda drops an unexpected "awesome bomb" soon. Sure, One Piece is still better than the average Shonen, but compared to past arcs this one is really lacking so far.

The fact that this arc is already 2 chapters longer than Saobody Archipelago worries me.