YMMV / One Piece – Water Seven Arc

• Harsher in Hindsight: Usopp's harmless, joking arguments with Luffy after first joining the crew about Usopp taking over as captain if Luffy slacks off or can't handle it, which were Played for Laughs at the time, don't seem so funny here when Usopp pretty much calls Luffy a bad captain and challenges him to a duel over captaincy (since the captain gets to keep the ship), where they both fight each other seriously and actually do hurt each other.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Rob Lucci is the leader of Cipher Pol's CP9 division. A brilliant fighter who infiltrated a hostage situation and killed every hostage to remove the pirates' leverage before killing the pirates themselves as a teenager, Lucci later goes undercover in Water 7 with his disguised team to recover the blueprints of Pluton. Fooling all there by faking their deaths, Lucci later surmises the real location of the blueprints after being told the ones in Mayor Iceburg's possession were fake and later delivers a brutal beating to Luffy and escapes with Nico Robin in tow, later giving Luffy one of the most gruelling fights he has had to that point. Nursed back to health in St. Poplar, Lucci and CP9 express their gratitude by defending the city from pirates before successfully evading the Marine troops sent by Spandam to punish them, Lucci ominously informing Spandam that they shall meet again.
  • Kaku is a master swordsman and the most friendly member of CP9. Infiltrating Galley-La as a shipwright in order to obtain the blueprints to the superweapon Pluton, upon finding out the blueprints are fake, Kaku measures Iceburg's pulse to confirm that Franky holds the real blueprints, later using the Franky Family to discover his location. Upon gaining his Giraffe Devil Fruit, Kaku quickly adapts to every setback he makes, giving Zoro a fight that pushes the latter to his limits. After being defeated, Kaku takes it in good humor and willingly gives Zoro the key to Robin's shackles.
• Signature Series Arc: Not so much the Water Seven arc overall, but Usopp's character arc within it is quite iconic as some of the best drama in the series. Especially since it's a rare case of inner turmoil amongst the Straw Hats where Usopp departs from the crew over differences regarding the need to move on from the Going Merry. It also provides the memorable Luffy vs. Usopp fight.