"The answer is Marineford" — declare One Piece fans as they go to war with Naruto community once again

One Piece and Naruto fans recently debated which is the best war arc in shonen, leading to a lot of discussions between the former's Marineford arc and the latter's Fourth Great Shinobi War. This has also led to significant debates regarding each arc's relevance to their respective series and how they have aged after so many years, particularly in the manga.

Some Naruto fans have argued that the Fourth Great Shinobi War, once heralded as the lowest point of the series, has aged better than most people want to give it credit for. On the other hand, One Piece fans claimed that Marifenord is still the best arc in the series and one of the peaks of shonen manga.

As it tends to happen, this is entirely subjective and the best war arc in shonen is always in the eye of the beholder, but this discussion leads to some interesting insights as well.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for both series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and the people quoted and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

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One Piece and Naruto fans discuss the best war arc in shonen

Fans of both these series have been debating over the years for several topics, and recently, a user on X claimed that the Great Fourth Shinobi War is the best war arc in shonen, thus leading to a lot of debates. This was further emphasized by some people who claim that Marineford is the best war arc in Shonen for several reasons, including the scale and legendary moments in the series such as the deaths of Whitebeard and Ace.

On the other hand, the Great Fourth Shinobi War faced criticism when it was running in the manga, which often led to claims that it was the lowest point of Masashi Kishimoto's work. However, some have argued that it has some truly compelling moments, such as Madara's arrival at the war, Might Guy's last stand, and a few more.

"I'm a hard 4GNW defender but nah, This arc exists," (shows a Gif of the Marineford arc), someone said.

"I don’t know. Marineford still hits a full decade later. It shifted OP into a new era..," someone else said.

"is that even a doubt," another fan commented.

Ace's death was instrumental in the Marineford arc (Image via Toei Animation)

It is also worth pointing out that both arcs have very different roles in their respective series. The Fourth Great Shinobi War arc served as a way to conclude Kishimoto's manga while Marineford set up a lot of subplots for Eiichiro Oda's story.

"One piece isn't finished yet. But yes," a fan commented.

"War arc is literally the reason I can’t give Naruto a 10/10," another person said.

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More reactions online

The truth is that the Fourth Great Shinobi War had some really strong moments, but it also had some weak points, such as the flawed resolution of Obito Uchiha's redemption or how Madara Uchiha was taken out rather infamously by Black Zetsu. Moreover, the revelation of Kaguya Otsutsuki probably happened too late in the story.

On the other hand, Marineford served to raise the stakes in Oda's series and also cemented several characters, such as Akainu and Whitebeard. It also gave Luffy his first major defeat in the series as he lost his brother Ace after going through so much to save him in the One Piece series.

"Yes but kaguya," a fan said.

"We still haven’t seen the official OP one so we shall come back to this when that happens," another person commented.

"Literally Narutos worst arc," another argument.

Regardless of personal opinions, these two series were monumental for Oda and Kishimoto's careers, respectively, and anime fans can still enjoy them, even if opinions may vary throughout the years.

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