So, the Invasion arc had begun since late December last year and it will seemingly (hopefully?) conclude sometime in November/December of this year (going by few chapters) the pace of the last, making it the longest arc World Trigger had thus far, and covering more than a quarter of the manga at that point.
I have to admit that I am impressed in how the mangaka decided to pen a year long arc for a series that is a little over 2 years old, especially in a magazine like Jump where there is little guaranty the series could make it to its 3rd year. Regardless, I think that after reading this far into this arc, I think that Daisuke Ashihara has the writing skill to back up this gambling move.
The one thing that is clear in this arc is that, without a doubt, this is a full scale foreign invasion and that the Border agents are fighting the battle of their lives trying to stop the Aftokrator forces from kidnapping anymore people. Throughout this war (and I think we can call it that at this point, given the scale of the battle and technology shown and the amount of causalities it resulted in) it is very clear why Aftokrator are considered to be the largest and strongest military nation in the Neighbors sphere. 4 black trigger users, each with an extremely powerful ability that thus far the Border agents had only managed to defeat a single one through strategic teamwork and powerful Border agents, and even the two other white trigger users are nothing to laugh at (Ranibanein is the very definition of a heavy tank, and Hyuse ability is absurdly powerful, on bar with Mira's IMO). It is very clear that with one those 6, the entirety of Border where fighting a battle on the defensive not due to them being the invading force alone, but because each one is clearly strong.
But as strong the Aftokrator Six are (and this is what I love about this arc so much and makes me forgiving for why it is taking so long) it is crystal clear that throughout this war, Border are not shown to be weak. It might have taken 10 Border agents collaborating in order to take down Ranibanein, but that was due to how ridiculously strong he was. Enedora took out Kazama, but that was due to how powerful and difficult his Borboros was to fight, the same goes for Reji and Viza's Organon. Hyrein might've been able to defeat both Izumi and Karasuma, but neither of these two actually came out looking worse out those battles (well, it will depend on what Karasuma did will end up playing positively or negatively on the outcome of both Osamu and Chika's fate. Jin's comment was vague I thought). In fact, every border agent was shown that despite their defeats to have acted in a rational and competent manner against opponents who had outmatched by their technological superiority. Yes, the Neighbors are powerful, but they are not indestructible (as Mira demonstrated
).
I also love how in addition to all that, what really gives the feeling that this is a full scale battle is that we are shown events and fights which occur concurrently with one another. Osamu is trying to get Chika safe away from the Neighbors, Hyrein is trying to locate him along with Mira while fighting Karasuma and Izumi, Jin is fighting Hyuse and trying to rattle him, Yuma is handling Viza while Replica attempts to get to Osamu to help him, Miwa is aiding in the rescue of the cubified Border agents, while Konami is trying to save the non-combatants, all the while Enedora manages to infiltrate Border HQ and kill several people there while Mira and Hyrein try and figure out what to do with him while they are still searching for Chika. Yes, it is this sort of complexity that use causes people to get confused as to where anyone is (to the point where we had a map detailing where everyone was lol) but at the same time I appreciate that there was clear thought placed into making this conflict feel like the mangaka wanted it to affect all fronts without exception.
Aside from all that, I have enjoyed how much characters like Chika, Kitora, Knoami, Karasuma and Kohei (look at all those K's) get to have their own awesome moment in this arc ... even if half of them later on get the most crushing twist sprung on them (Karasuma and Kitora in particular). Osamu gets his moments too, but its Osamu so he is bound to get those in any case.
Anyways, I can't wait to see how Miwa vs. Hyrein will end up looking like. Hyrein had ended up taking down two powerful Border agents, and with Mira by his side I don't see how anyone is supposed to defeat him in a straight forward fight, but Jin supposedly has enough fate in Miwa to even offer a recommendation for Fujin, provided he saves Osamu so who knows?