YMMV / One Piece – Arlong Arc

• Growing the Beard: Agreed to be when the series truly starts to come into its own. Among other things, it includes a much darker and emotional tone, the series's first truly great and threatening villain in Arlong, and is the first arc to really push forwards the themes of Family of Choice and True Companions that become crucial to the series.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Arlong's murder of Bellemere is already a Tear Jerker, but after the Fishman Island arc and learning about his backstory with his ex-captain Tiger, it becomes a lot sadder. Not only did Arlong rob Nami of her mother, he also broke his promise to Tiger, who was adamant that his crew must not kill humans.
  • The iconic tattoo of the Sun Pirates, which Arlong himself bears, is revealed in the Fishman Island arc to have originally been created to hide the tattoo marking Tiger and other members as escaped slaves. Arlong's decision to tattoo Nami with his symbol seem even more like a slave mark, especially given she too had a second tattoo done over the first to erase it.
• Signature Scene: The Straw Hats' walk to Arlong Park after Nami finally asks Luffy for help is quite a defining moment of the series. If anything, it's this moment that truly cemented the Straw Hats as True Companions who will fight against anyone who hurts one of their own. The walk to Franky House in the Water 7 arc is also a reference to this.