As the Egghead Arc takes a break, One piece has apparently found the perfect way to fill the void with an unexpected remaster of the Fishman Island Arc, but whether that remake was even necessary is still up for debate. Although it initially looked quite promising, One pieceThe Fishman Island remaster has proven to be quite controversial, and complaints about the remake may be valid.
While it is a vast improvement over the original in terms of visuals and animation, One pieceThe Fishman Island remake was poorly received among fans for the most part. This is largely due to the fact that the remake is quite strange direction and rushed pace that many viewers couldn't get over. 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 advancements in animation
One thing the remake definitely has going for it is its animation, which no one can deny is a huge improvement over the original. As one of Japan's oldest animation studios, Toei Animation has come a long way, and no other series better describes its growth over the past two and a half decades than One piece.
While the original series undoubtedly has its own nostalgic charm, One piece has been in need of a remaster for some time, and with WIT Studio working on a remake of One pieceIn previous arcs, post-time jump arcs like the Fishman Island Arc were the perfect choice for a remaster, especially since the Wano Arc proved what Toei was capable of producing.
If only the direction and overall execution had been better, the Fishman Island remaster could have salvaged one of the series' most hated arcs, while also proving that Toei Animation is still capable of competing with emerging studios like MAPPA and WIT Studio.
Fishman Island remake gets the visuals right, but not much else
The remake unfortunately falls short despite being visually stunning
One pieceWano's animation has seen a huge leap in quality since the Wano Arc, with one of the most dramatic changes in art styles due to Tatsuya Nagamine being named the series' new director and Midori Matsuda taking over character design. As such, the series has understandably stuck to its guns, bringing in Wano's artistic style as well as Tatsuya Nagamine to direct the new Fishman Island remaster.
However subtle they may be, changes like thicker lines, richer color palette, dynamic lighting and deeper shadows they make a big difference when put together, adding depth to the characters and also to the environment in the new remaster. In that sense, the Fishman Island remaster is just as enjoyable to look at as the Wano Arc, with side-by-side comparisons proving just how much of an improvement the remake is over the original.
However, the remaster unfortunately falls short in other aspects, particularly direction and pacing, the latter of which has been a major point of contention. Ironically, the remaster only worsened the pacing issues it was originally intended to fix, compressing 57 episodes of the original arc into 21 episodes.
As a result, many filler scenes had to be cut, many of which included establishing shots and transitional shots. As unnecessary as they seemed in the past, removing these scenes completely made the cuts between scenes feel choppy and rushed. These awkward cuts and fast pacing eliminate build-up and tension, making even the best moments of the Fishman Island arc feel lackluster.
While it doesn't make sense to do a scene-for-scene remake, there's no doubt that the Fishman Island remaster would have greatly benefited from a longer episode count, which would have allowed the story to breathe when necessary and provided a much more impactful overall adaptation.
Other One Piece arcs deserved more of a remake
The Dressrosa arc needed more of an animation overhaul
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. Most importantly, in terms of animation and pacing, there was one arc that probably needed an overhaul much more than the Fishman Island Arc – the Dressrosa Arc.
Spanning around 108 chapters in the manga and a whopping 118 episodes in the anime, the Dressrosa Arc infamously suffers from prolonged pacing and animation inconsistencies. Admittedly, a remaster of the Dressrosa Arc would only work if the series had a much longer release window. Still, the arc remains one of the most exciting post-time jump arcs in One piece with many exciting moments and fights that would be even stronger with Toei's new and improved animation.
One piece is available on Netflix and Crunchyroll.