Well...I'm done with the Dressarosa Saga. As in keeping with my review of Fishman Island from early January, I've decided to review the arcs of One Piece together to get the complete story before coming to conclusions. After several much shorter sagas, Dressarosa returns to our much longer saga length, however, with it only containing two arcs (Punk Hazard and Dressarosa), it feels like a much more drawn out story than some earlier sagas like Water 7. However, it is also worth noting that I did read this saga over a much longer period than some of the earlier ones, which likely contributed to my feeling of the extent of this section of One Piece. The two arcs of the Dressarosa saga are, respectively, one of my least favorite and one of my favorite arcs of the entire story so far. 

Punk Hazard starts out confusing and continues confusing, opening with a large set of new characters, tons of intense (and yet hard to follow) action, and a not terribly compelling villain.

Due to this long influx of characters and the body swapping subplot

, I wondered if I had missed a volume when I started reading this arc. Paired with my general plot confusion was my disinterest in the incredible number of pages devoted to action scenes. While Caesar Clown's goals ended up being intriguing, I found him to be a fairly flat villain overall who I wish we had spent less time with. 

As Punk Hazard transitions to Dressarosa, I was hit was an incredibly surprising twist followed by one of the most engaging action setups in One Piece's history. In addition to this engaging gladiatorial plot, Dressarosa quickly became one of my favorite islands in One Piece due to the deep mysteries of its environment and people,

particularly the toys

. The big fight that concludes this arc felt as grandiose as always, but I was much more engaged than usual, likely due to the previous development of the many side characters who participate.

The idea of having people need to defend Luffy for 10 minutes while he rests was good fun too

. While I loved the introduction of new characters, I was disappointed that several members of the Straw Hats effectively sat this arc out.

For the people who do participate, Usopp's incredible sniping skills, Zoro fighting out a rock giant, Law's life story, and the shocking introduction of Luffy's second brother Sabo are of particular note.

As the Dressarosa Saga ended, I was struck again by Oda's incredible capacity to make me feel for his characters. As per usual, the events of the saga are world-shattering, but even more than the lore secrets that appear, I found myself thinking about the care Oda has put into his cast. While this saga had its serious some ups and downs, I'm left feeling very positive about this story and its next steps.