Ten manga story arcs
The Great Arcs
The ten stretches of manga we would reread first, from the Golden Age to Marineford.
An arc is a run of chapters inside a series, so it is never reviewed on its own. These are the ten we rank above every other, in the order of the manga Top 10 of arcs, from nine series. Each one opens the review of the series it belongs to, and those nine are graded below.
The ten arcs
Ranked, and the same ten as the manga Top 10 of arcs.
- The Golden AgeBerserkGuts and Griffith, from the Band of the Hawk's rise to the Eclipse: the tragedy the rest of Berserk answers.
- Chimera AntHunter x HunterA monster war that becomes an argument about what a person is, settled over a game of Gungi.
- Yorknew CityHunter x HunterKurapika against the Phantom Troupe, told as a heist thriller with almost no fighting in it.
- Sasaki KojiroVagabondA deaf swordsman's whole life, from the sea to the sword, told almost without words.
- Soul SocietyBleachIchigo storms the Soul Society to save Rukia, the captains revealed one by one, and Aizen's betrayal at the end.
- Return to ShiganshinaAttack on TitanThe last charge, the basement at last, and the truth that turns the whole series around.
- Coalition InvasionKingdomFive states march on Qin at once, and the war ends at Sai with the king on its walls.
- Pain's InvasionNarutoThe Leaf flattened, and Naruto's answer to Pain on what could end a cycle of hatred.
- RuhenheimMonsterOne small town, one night, and Tenma's long pursuit of Johan brought to its end.
- Sabaody and MarinefordOne PieceThe crew scattered at Sabaody, then the war at Marineford, and the loss that sends Luffy back to the start.