One Piece Is Giving Fans Its Best Arc In Elbaph — Here’s Why

One Piece’s Final Saga has entered a new stage with the Elbaph arc, which continues to get better with each passing chapter. Currently, Elbaph is in its climax, with chapter 1179 marking the descent of Nerona Imu in the Warland, and exciting battles being lined up one after another. Taking into consideration all things that Eiichiro Oda has done with this phenomenal arc so far, it is clear that Elbaph is easily among the best arcs in the entire series, with serious shouts for being the best for a multitude of reasons.

How Elbaph Brings Back The Early One Piece Adventures

Given that Elbaph is a part of the final saga of One Piece, it is no surprise to know that it has incredibly high intensity. One thing that many intense arcs miss is the pre-time skip adventure that fans are used to seeing, giving the crew moments to simply relax and enjoy the mundane things in life. It is what makes the Straw Hat Pirates as incredible as they are. Elbaph has successfully managed to give the fans just that, with early chapters like 1125, which marks the beginning of Luffy’s adventure in the diorama of Road, to chapter 1129, where Loki is introduced, all the way to chapter 1136, titled “The Country That Awaits The Sun,” where a huge banquet is held in Elbaph.

It has reinvoked the tremendous sense of adventure that One Piece is known for and has displayed vividly throughout arcs like Skypiea, Arabasta, and others early on in the series. By doing that, Elbaph has already checked one of the biggest boxes for being a great One Piece arc, but that alone doesn’t make it the best in the entire series. There is more, such as groundbreaking lore reveals to add into the mix.

Breaking Down The World-Shattering Lore Reveals Of The Arc

The lore of the One Piece world has always been incredibly rich and deep. Eiichiro Oda has crafted a story that has practically unending lore, and it has only gotten even deeper and richer in the Elbaph arc. With the introduction of the Harley as well as the Elbaph mural in chapter 1138, the lore of the One Piece world has grown deeper than ever before. If that wasn’t enough, this arc has also given insight into the Void Century through the character of Rocks D. Xebec, and introduced the likes of Davy Jones in Chapter 1164, as well as giving more information pertaining to the character of Joy Boy.

Above all, it has introduced Nerona Imu in chapter 1179, the King of the World who defeated Joy Boy in the Void Century and, through that, provided a lot more context as to what exactly happened in the world 800 years ago. Elbaph has teased the existence of Three Worlds as well as the role of the Sun God Nika as a destroyer, and in doing so it has enriched the lore of the One Piece world tremendously, perhaps far more than any other arc before it.

Why The Loki Flashback Stands As The Series’ Best So Far

Flashbacks are a core part of One Piece, and they are often what add great enjoyment to an arc. While the series features some amazing flashbacks, it doesn’t get better than the one this arc gave to the fans. Eiichiro Oda incorporated a Loki flashback, from chapter 1152 to chapter 1171, through which he painted the entire story of Rocks D. Xebec, and his friendly relationship with King Harald. At the same time, the old era of the One Piece world was given a proper look at, and events such as the God Valley Incident were greatly expanded upon.

It was through this flashback that some of the biggest secrets of the world, such as the existence of two legendary Devil Fruits, the Galleila Band, and the secret of the Davy bloodline, were revealed to the fans. It also gave iconic battles, such as the clash of Rocks D. Xebec against the duo of Garp and Roger, among many other things. Truly, the Elbaph flashback stands as one of the very best in One Piece, with even more to come through the likes of Gunko later down the line.

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Elbaph Is Delivery Cataclysmic Battles After Imu’s Full Reveal

Evidently, Elbaph has checked the vast majority of the boxes that are required to make an arc incredible, but what truly makes it the best is that it has introduced Nerona Imu for the very first time in his full glory and, consequently, delivered incredible battles, the scale of which is truly unprecedented, starting with Loki vs Imu in Chapter 1180. Nerona Imu’s arrival itself boosts the ranking of this arc significantly and arguably makes it the best arc in One Piece. Imu has demonstrated his powers and decimated the likes of the Straw Hat Pirates with bigger battles against the likes of Loki, who holds the power of the Nidhoggr Devil Fruit, to come. Furthermore, a clash with the Sun God is expected to follow soon after, and with that, this arc is already exceptional and ranks among the very best.

It revives the 800-year-old Void Century War properly and kick-starts the Great War into full effect, with even bigger things to come, such as the exploration of the Heaven Realm of the country, and a grand battle against Nerona Imu. Elbaph has a strong shout to be the best arc of One Piece, and that is what truly makes it exciting.

New chapters of the Elbaph arc are available to read on Manga Plus.

One Piece

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

Writers

Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda

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  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

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  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)