I don't think every story needs death to be meaningful, and I'll happily defend Moffat's 'Everybody Lives' Doctor Who run til the stars go out, because at least in Doctor Who, death isn't really the focus. It sounds silly, but this was the straw that broke this camel's back - a move that broke the One Piece illusion once and for all. So imagine how much my heart sank when it turned out the villager wasn't killed - in fact he's up and about minutes later - and any pretence of danger is immediately wiped out by the arrival of Usopp and his slingshot. I'd already noted that this was a series which was reluctant to let anyone die, be they major threat or hired goon, and to see Arlong callously destroy this innocent villager felt like an upping of the stakes in-keeping with the arcs reputation. The second I saw Arlong kill the villager for secretly hoarding a weapon, I felt a legitimate thrill. It's the same as the rest of One Piece with a different texture. Because Arlong Park isn't different - not really. But I can't say it's very good either, and if it is then I clearly don't know how to engage with it. I don't know if I can say with a straight face that one Piece as a whole is a dire series, so fans can put away the pitchforks please. Okay, I'm sorry, I did that for shock value.

I've been patiently waiting for One Piece to achieve its true potential, and after finally arriving at the fated Arlong Park, I can report with enthusiasm that One Piece is in fact. It's the warm-up, and it doesn't take much forum searching to discover that the training wheels will come off in the Arlong Park arc - an infamous sequence that greatly expands upon the tragic backstory of a particular character, and introduces us to Arlong: the first villain to graduate from the previous baddies 'school of pantomime evil' into something greater nastier. butting heads against an array of comic villains in settings that sort of gesture at mortal peril without going all-in right out of the gate. The series gets off to a slowish start, with Luffy and co. The allure of how good a series has to be in order to become the third highest-selling comic property in the world behind only Batman and Superman.

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