First and foremost, 5 stars for the doodle of baby Magellan. That alone made my day. Any time Oda includes the kid versions of some of the characters I can't help but love it.

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I can't say how much I appreciate the who's who at the beginning of each volume.

We all need to take a moment to appreciate how well developed these characters are. Take Smoker and Tashigi as an example. It took no time at all for Oda to clearly show us their personalities, and their ideals. Every time they pop into the story we know exactly what to expect, and there's no disappointment. It just blows my mind that some of these side characters are better than many main characters I've read...lol

And the way he sets up future events is just perfection.

Also...I ship Zoro and Tashigi so much. Is it likely to happen? Probably not, but it still makes me happy to pretend it will.