Dang, the Egghead Arc Was Insane!

One Piece: Egghead Arc Review

It’s felt like an eternity thanks to all the breaks, but the Egghead Arc is finally over. And what an arc it turned out to be!

When it first started, the Egghead Arc was coming fresh off the heels of One Piece’s longest and most insane arc to date. Considering everything that happened in Wano, I thought that we would be in a little breather. Getting to meet Dr. Vegapunk was a big deal given his impact on world events, but it paled in comparison to the realization of where the Straw Hats would go next. After years of build-up and flashbacks, readers were finally going to get to see Elbaf! Next to Laugh Tale itself, no other location was as anticipated by fans, and it felt like we were finally closing in on it. All we had to was wait for the Straw Hats to make their inevitable escape!

I’m not sure if I can speak for anyone else, but I’m not ashamed to admit that Oda pulled the wool over my eyes.

With One Piece reportedly entering the beginning of its final saga, the series had to get a lot of things ready. And with so many characters and events taking place at once, it makes sense why Oda would want to get started ASAP. Things that he had been foreshadowing for years, even decades, had to be revealed. And most importantly, the series had to let us know just how high the stakes were. So much happened that I had to go back and review the entire arc and everything that happened in greater detail.

I’m RJ Writing Ink, and this is my look back at the triumphs and shortcomings of the Egghead Arc! Most of them will be triumphs, though!

Oda Worked Overtime to Get Everyone in Position, and it Shows

Even though the arc was officially focused on the events at Egghead Island, a significant chunk of it was spent looking at events taking place in the larger world. Koby’s capture and rescue from Beehive Island led to Garp taking his place. Two of the pirate crews that took part in events at Wano were beaten by Blackbeard and Shanks. And we saw first-hand the truth behind King Cobra’s assassination at the hands of Im and the Five Elders. And that’s just a handful of the things that happened abroad.

Its not out of the ordinary for Oda to spend chapters catching readers up on the world of One Piece at large. That’s part of what makes him so good at world-building. But with the series entering its final saga, Oda had to start getting everyone into position for what’s to come. That meant he had to cram as much as possible when he could while he could, making the arc feel a bit bloated as a whole.

There’s also another issue that affected pacing: the breaks. In recent years, Oda has gone on more and more breaks between chapters for his own health. Which is good. The last thing I want is for him to work himself into an early grave. However, it also means that an arc that could’ve been finished a long time ago got dragged out several extra months. I dont mind it, but I know other fans do. Between these two factors, it feels like the arc played out longer than anyone thought.

The Legacy of Ohara Lives On!

In hindsight, I think learning about what happened to Robin’s homeland of Ohara was a real turning point in the series. Thanks to that, we learned just how far the World Government would go to keep people from discovering the truth about the Void Century. But while everyone besides Robin seemingly died with Ohara, this arc revealed that the WG failed to destroy the real threat: the knowledge the country collected.

Thanks to the sacrifice of the scholars of Ohara, they managed to save most of their research and books for future generations. The Giants then retrieved everything and brought it back to Elbaf where the Five Elders couldn’t get to it, and later gave Vegapunk the chance to read everything for himself so he could pick up where they left off. In addition, we learned two important things: this event inspired Dragon to create the Revolutionary Army, and that Jaguar D. Saul was alive.

Hearing that everything that Ohara did had not been in vain brought tears of joy to my eyes. Not only did the knowledge of Robin’s homeland still exist, but her first and oldest friend was alive. And now both of them are waiting for her in Elbaf. As if we didn’t need any more reasons to look forward to Elbaf, now we can expect a happy reunion between Robin and Saul!