G8 Is Prolly One Of My Favourite Arcs Dosent Even Need To Be Cannon To Be That Good - Tumblr Posts
I'm a OP manga reader, sell me on watching G-8
Sure!
G-8 is post Skypiea filler and starts with the Strawhats landing right in the middle of a walled-in marine base after they fall from the sky island. They have to figure out how to escape this 'impenetrable fortress' with Merry without anyone getting captured or killed.
To do this, most of them go undercover and infiltrate the marines so they can buy time, regroup, and figure out a plan.
It goes about how you'd expect.
(If only Garp could see him now, lol).
The guy on the left in the above picture is this arc's amazing antagonist, Vice Admiral Jonathan.
He is so cool that he cameos in both Stampede and Film Z.
G-8 has some of the funniest jokes in the series, including this iconic scene:
The way it pairs off the Strawhats at the start leads to some great extended interactions between crew members who don't directly talk to each other too often, like Nami and Chopper + Usopp and Robin. They're all very in-character, too.
It also lets the Strawhats show off in their respective areas- Chopper ends up in the medical wing, Usopp works with the shipwright, Sanji is dragged to the kitchens...
[Spoilers in case you're not post Water-7]
It even takes time to emphasize the set-up for the Klabautermann reveal, just to make sure you remember it before the emotional gut punch that is Water-7.
[End spoilers]
It's got a really endearing and memorable cast of side characters as well, who all get roped into the Strawhats' shenanigans.
G-8 also has one of Robin's coolest outfits.
The entire arc is basically a 4D chess match between Jonathan and the Strawhats, except the entire crew is shoveling pieces into Luffy's mouth as fast as they can whenever Jonathan isn't looking.
G-8 is what I show people who want to get into OP, but don't know if they'd enjoy it. It's short (only about 11-12 episodes iirc) and it encompasses everything I really love about early One Piece. I think it's a great litmus test for if you'd like the vibes of the show as a whole. Also, it is so well-integrated into the story that most anime-onlys don't even realize it's filler unless they're told.
Honestly, I would put G-8 on the same entertainment level writing-wise as some of the better movies. It's fun to watch, the jokes are great, and the characters are all enjoyable. I really recommend giving it a go.