Gotta say it: Are you sure it was a rerun? He dies so many times it's hard to tell the difference.
Yes, it was a rerun. Unless there was ANOTHER Second Budokai Tenkaichi Tournament after which Krilin was murdered by the same Piccolo Sr.'s servant Goku had already disintegrated, and nobody informed me.
Well OP takes quite a lot of time to be really good. Before the crew enters the Grand Line, I could say its just an above average manga/anime. Suddenly a strong person from the Grand Line trashed a member of the crew and we get to see that the enemies the crew has faced all this while pales in comparison to the people in the Grand Line, which is the crew's destination. Its like a taste of things to come and personally that point was where my interest for OP skyrocketed. And I wasn't disappointed once the crew entered GL because the story keeps getting better and better.
Point is, if you don't have the patience or time to invest in a long story, then OP is not for you. But if you do and want to follow the Strawhat crew along their adventure into a big, vast and rich world Oda has created (which takes a lot of time to explore hence its long running) then hop aboard their ship and sail to the Grand Line.
You know, I have heard many OP fans telling that. That the story takes a while but once it gets going it is really good.
Also, if you think the art is "cruddy", then that's unfortunate. If you really can't enjoy the story because of the art then there's no point forcing it but personally I think you're missing out.
Er... Nate was the one did the "cruddy art" comment, not me. And I do not know if he was talking about OP or DB.
Regardless, I agree with your comment. Often I read classic manga, and I enjoy the clean, cinematic, cartoony art Tezuka, Ishinomori, Yokoyama... used, in spite of many younger fans would call it "outdated and ugly". I also think if someone refuses giving a chance a story because the art it is his/her choice but that person may be missing out something good. It being different does not mean it is bad.