I watched this last night and am shocked at how much this moved me on an emotional level. These regular people in the world that represent all of us that have been inspired by seeing the Straw Hats in action just hit so different than anything before. The theme that each person was One Piece of the puzzle that needed to come together worked so well.

I also need to post one of the Marineford flashback clips from the special here at some point. Seeing the war at Marineford through the eyes of a regular Marine is one of the most effective things the anime has ever done, just absolute terror. The panic of trying to survive as pacifista energy blasts reign down, getting caught in the middle of all these monsters like Mihawk and Crocodile fighting, the sheer brutality of war was not toned down here. And to have it all culminate into the Marine just getting a couple glimpses at Luffy’s unwavering spirit during the battle and having it change his entire life…I loved this special.

Really like how they portray the perspective of normal people in the One Piece world. How scary it must be to be stuck between the battle of all these powerful people.