The Arabasta Saga is also known as the Alabasta Saga, and is one of the most vital story arcs in Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga and anime series. It comprises volumes 13 of the manga, involving five different story arcs: Reverse Mountain, Whiskey Peak, Little Garden, Drum Island, and Arabasta. The series follows the Straw Hat Pirates as they sail through the early stages of the Grand Line and become embroiled in a rather complex political conflict within the desert kingdom of Arabasta.
The main conflict of the Arabasta Saga is Princess Vivi Nefertari's attempt to save her country from civil war. It is staged by one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Shichibukai known as Crocodile, who acts as "Mr. 0" of Baroque Works, a criminal organization. His plan involved convincing people that the drought affecting the whole country was caused by the royal family in order to have them revolt.
The main antagonist of the saga is Crocodile, one of the strongest enemies who consumes the Suna Suna no Mi Devil Fruit, which allows him to turn into, control, and create sand. Having this ability, he is extremely dangerous in Arabasta's environment since it is a desert region. On a sideline, Oda's initial idea of Crocodile seemed to be from ancient Egypt because his first sketches of the aforementioned character were more 'pharaoh-esque' before finally settling on this form.
The Arabasta Arc, which comprises the climax of the saga, introduces a number of locations in the kingdom. Nanohana, a port town that will be used as the entry point for the Straw Hats to gain access to Arabasta, becomes the place where Luffy first encounters Smoker and Ace, Luffy's older brother. Alubarna, the capital city, is the final location where the last battles will occur; its architecture is heavily inspired by ancient Middle Eastern civilizations.
Throughout the saga, the Straw Hat Pirates meet various agents of Baroque Works, each having different abilities and codenames. Of them, Mr. 3 has the power of making and shaping wax with the Logia-type Doru Doru no Mi (Wax-Wax Fruit). He teams up with Miss All Sunday, otherwise known as Nico Robin, who was at that time the mysterious partner of Crocodile before joining the Straw Hats.
The Arabasta Saga serves to introduce several concepts and characters that become really central to the overall narrative of One Piece. For one, this saga is the first appearance of Ace—Luffy's brother and commander of the Whitebeard Pirates—whose presence hints at things to come for future story arcs. This saga further fleshes out Devil Fruits and a whole diversity of abilities applied in creative ways during a fight.
Hard to forget in the case of the Arabasta Arc is the final battle between Luffy and Crocodile. This was a fight that was spread over several encounters and locations, needing Luffy to adapt and surmount Crocodile's powers of the Logia-type Devil Fruit, which seemed invincible. It became possible for Luffy to finally get the victory by using his own blood to cancel out Crocodile's sand abilities, showing the creative problem-solving in the battles presented by this series.
The Arabasta Saga has further advanced the political complexity within One Piece's world. It delves into themes of loyalty, sacrifice, and responsibility from characters such as Vivi, who must decide between fulfilling a duty to her kingdom and enjoying herself while adventuring with the Straw Hats. In addition, the roles played by the World Government and the Marines within the conflict help deepen the political setup of the series.
The Arabasta Saga is important for the world-building process since it hosts the Poneglyphs, ancient stone cubes that contain the lost history of the world. This factor will turn out to be one of the core mysteries of One Piece's overarching plot, and with Nico Robin being able to read those stones, she'll become one of the principal characters.
The end of the Arabasta Saga is an enormous milestone for the Straw Hat Pirates. As they win against a Shichibukai and expose the Baroque Works, higher bounties give proof of their increased threat level in the view of the World Government. This event thus lays the foundation for future conflicts and really marks them as forceful presences within the Grand Line.