While the Egghead Arc takes a break, One Piece's Fishman Island remaster has been proven to be quite divisive, and the complaints about the remake may be valid.

Though a huge improvement on the original in of the visuals and animation, One Piece's Fishman Island remake has been poorly received among fans for the most part. This is greatly due to the remake's rather awkward direction and rushed pacing which many viewers have been unable to move past. As such, while the presence of new weekly content is appreciated in the absence of the Egghead Arc, the Fishman Island remake feels unnecessary, failing to be a good adaptation overall.

One Piece's Fishman Island Remaster Had the Potential to Be Revolutionary

The New Remaster Perfectly Showcases Toei's Strides in Animation

One thing that the remake most definitely has going for it is its animation, which none can deny is a huge improvement on the original. As one of the oldest animation studios in Japan, Toei Animation has come a long way and no other series better lays out their growth over the last two and a half decades than One Piece.

While the original series no doubt has its own nostalgic charm, One Piece has been in need of a remaster for quite some time, and with WIT Studio working on a remake of One Piece's earlier arcs, the post-time skip arcs such as the Fishman Island Arc were the perfect choice for a remaster, especially since the Wano Arc proved what Toei were capable of producing.

Had only the direction and the overall execution been better, the Fishman Island remaster could have redeemed one of the series' most disliked arcs while proving that Toei Animation is still capable of competing with up-and-coming studios like MAPPA and WIT Studio.

The Fishman Island Remake Gets the Visuals Right, But Not Much Else

The Remake Sadly Falls Short Despite Being Visually Stunning

One Piece's animation saw a huge leap in quality since the Wano Arc, with one of the most dramatic shifts in art styles owing to Tatsuya Nagamine being appointed the new series director and Midori Matsuda taking over the character designs. As such, the series understandably stuck to its guns, bringing Wano's art style as well as Tatsuya Nagamine to direct the new Fishman Island remaster.

Subtle as they may be, changes such as thicker line work, a richer color palette, dynamic lighting, and deeper shadows make a huge difference when put together, adding depth to the characters as well as the surroundings in the new remaster. In this sense, the Fishman Island remaster is just as pleasing to behold as the Wano Arc with side-by-side comparisons proving just how much of an improvement the remake is on the original.

However, the remaster sadly falls short in other aspects, particularly the direction and pacing, the latter of which has been a huge point of contention. Most ironically, the remaster only worsened the pacing issues that it originally set out to fix, compressing 57 episodes of the original arc into 21 episodes instead.

As a result, many filler scenes had to be cut, many of which included establishing shots and transition shots. Unnecessary as they may have seemed in the past, removing these scenes altogether has made the cuts between scenes feel choppy and rushed. These awkward cuts and the rushed pacing take away the build-up and tension, making even the Fishman Island arc's best moments feel lackluster.

While there is no point in making a scene-for-scene remake, there is no doubt that the Fishman Island remaster would have greatly benefitted from a longer episode count, which would have allowed the story to breathe when needed and make for a much more impactful adaptation overall.

Other One Piece Arcs Were More Deserving of a Remake

The Dressrosa Arc Needed the Animation Overhaul More

One of the biggest hopes when the Fishman Island remaster was first announced was that Toei would continue to remake the rest of the arcs that follow. More importantly, in of animation and pacing, there was one arc that arguably needed an overhaul much more than the Fishman Island Arc — the Dressrosa Arc.

Spanning about 108 chapters in the manga and a whopping 118 episodes in the anime, the Dressrosa Arc infamously suffers from drawn-out pacing and inconsistencies in animation. ittedly, a remaster of the Dressrosa Arc would only work if the series was given a much longer release window. Still, the arc remains one of the most exciting post-time skip arcs in One Piece with many thrilling moments and fights that would hit even harder with Toei's new and improved animation.

One Piece is available on Netflix and Crunchyroll.