War arcs are a common occurrence in lots of manga and when it comes to battle shonen, it's the perfect kind of arc to get every single fan excited as, more often than not, fans tend to love the action that they deliver. From Naruto's Fourth Great Ninja War, My Hero Academia's Paranormal Liberation War arc, there are several stories out there that feature major wars in stories, and while all of them certainly are great in their own ways, hardly any story can deliver a war arc as incredibly as Eiichiro Oda did with One Piece's Marineford.
The Marineford arc is considered to be one of the very best arcs in all of manga, if not the best and for most One Piece fans, the arc still stands as one of the series' most beloved, along with Enies Lobby. On paper, the war of Marineford looks like your average One Piece arc with tension rising between the pirates and the Marines, however, the scale of the war, combined with the ambitious change in narrative that Oda brings in this arc is part of what makes it the absolute best of Eiichiro Oda.
What Makes Marineford The Best War Arc
Marineford is an arc the set-up for which dates back to hundreds of chapters and this is something that fans expect from Eiichiro Oda. Given that the man had already decided the last panel of his manga before even writing it, it's no surprise to know that he sows seeds for events hundreds of chapters in advance and Marineford was no different. The groundwork for the war of Marineford, also known as the Paramount War, was laid back in the Alabasta arc when Ace met Luffy. This meeting set up two of the most important things – Luffy's eventually meet up with Ace at "the top of the age," and Ace's search for Blackbeard. While none of the fans had any idea of what this would culminate into, over 400 chapters later, the greatest war in the Great Pirate Era broke out.
Ace's search for Blackbeard concluded on Banaro Island where the two fought to the best of their abilities and unfortunately, the former lost the battle. Consequently, Ace was captured and thrown into Impel Down, with his executive in Marineford having already been decided. Being the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, there was no surprise that the Yonko made a move and called all his ally ships to grace the seas around the Marine HQ for one last time, triggering an all-out war for a single life.
Oda masterfully sets things up for this war hundreds of chapters before it even begins and with each arc, fans get closer to knowing what exactly Ace's situation is. By giving Luffy Ace's Vivre Card, Oda sets up Luffy going to the war and helping out his brother when he realizes that he is, indeed, dying a slow death. Upon reaching Marineford, Luffy finds himself out of his depth as 100,000 marine soldiers and five of the Shichibukai are faced by 1,600 mighty Whitebeard Pirates and their 43 ally ships.
For the Whitebeard Pirates, allowing the Marines to kill a crewmate without facing any repercussions is impossible but for Luffy, all that matters is that he saves his brother. The Marines, on the other hand, aim to end the line of the Pirate King once and for all and are ready to go to any lengths to achieve this. Evidently, the stakes for Marineford are immense and in the midst of it all, Luffy finds himself trying to save someone who is guarded by some of the strongest people in the entire story. Failure to save Ace means death, but even if it comes at the price of his own life, Luffy is willing to rescue him because Ace is all he has in the world. Without a shadow of a doubt, Marineford is hauntingly beautiful when it dives deep into the relationship shared by the two brothers and the strength of their bonds and that is exactly what makes the arc special as it is.
It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Marineford has the highest stakes of all the arcs in the story with palpable tension that is brought forward at the end of each chapter by Ace's imminent execution. Luffy, while clearly not up for the task, struggles to the very end and does all he can in an attempt to save his brother. The arc uses this masterfully to showcase the strength of the various mighty figures of the New World. It gives the fans an idea of what the New World is like and what levels Luffy has to reach to be able to become the Pirate King.
Sadly, while Luffy does save Ace, he ends up giving his life away in an attempt to save Luffy, which is an extremely bold move by Oda at the end of the arc and something no fan expected, especially after Ace is freed. Perhaps one of the most incredible things about this arc is Oda sets Luffy on a massive adventure without any of his crewmates and still delivers a story arc that is arguably better than any that he delivered before. From its incredible set-up to tremendously high stakes Marineford is truly a masterpiece and one that Luffy, sadly, has to face on his own.
Marineford's Massive Impact
As with every arc in One Piece, Marineford sets up great things for the future of the story, and quite easily the most important of them all is Luffy's training. After having lost his brother in a painful manner, Luffy swears to never let anyone close to him die again. Having already lost Sabo in his childhood, Luffy is, once again, reminded of why he seeks strength in the first place. Marineford perfectly sets up Luffy's struggle to grow stronger to protect his loved ones as Rayleigh offers to train him for two years, and at the same time, it also gives the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates a promise to live up to; that they would make Luffy the Pirate King.
Essentially, Marineford marks Luffy's coming-of-age arc as he is sent to the New World where the real challenge lies by all the allies that he made during the arc and then trained by Rayleigh so he achieves his dream one day. Learning the ways of Haki for two years, Luffy emerges much stronger from the time skip and is, once again, ready to go on an adventure with his friends.
Marineford's end marked the end to the first half of One Piece and it set up the biggest part of the story as Luffy sets out for the same sea that is ruled by the Yonko. The next time Luffy stops his adventure, he will have already become the Pirate King and accomplished his biggest goal.
It is no surprise that One Piece sold around 38 million copies in 2011 alone when Oda tackled the Marineford arc as it is a masterfully written story arc that few other war arcs can compare to. In Oda's mind, however, Marineford is far from being the biggest war in the story and something even bigger is on its way. For Oda to say that the last war of One Piece will make Marineford look like a small skirmish is a big statement, but with a writer as accomplished as Oda, anything is possible.