For some time, everything seemed to indicate that Eiichiro Oda had dedicated himself entirely to surprising his fans, since the latest One Piece events showed that history holds great secrets and that the fate of its characters could change from one moment to another. However, what is a fact is that chapter 1048 has arrived with all the potential to change this positive outlook on sudden changes. But what do we mean by this? It’s pretty simple. During the expected battle between Luffy and Kaido, both characters fully unleashed the powers they hold: on the one hand, the Gum-Gum Bajrang Gun and, on the other, the Rising Dragon Flame Bagua. And while it builds tension in the Wano arc, highlighting a power struggle, this could backfire.

Apparently there is no problem with the ending of the battle, given the logic of pirate battles. But, deep down, it has a series of not so timely implications for One Piece. First of all, because a fight like this already took place in the anime and, to tell the truth, there was general discontent from the fans. Thus, Eiichiro Oda would have to rethink these scenes so as not to make the same mistakes as Toei Animation with the confrontation between Doflamingo and Luffy.

Luffy’s battle with a losing success…

This fight had a previous context that needs to be explained. During Chapter 790, titled “Heaven and Earth”As Luffy towered over Doflamingo, he inflated his arm to launch his final attack: the King Kong Gum-Gum Gun. For his part, Doflamingo, in an attempt to defend himself, used a fusion of God’s Thread and Spider’s Web, although to no avail, as Luffy went through them. And the straw hat managed to hit his enemy with the Gum-Gum King Kong Gun, in addition to taking with him the asphalt structures that were in his path. This would prove the great strength that was in the Captain’s hands, especially with this attack.

And this is where the problem starts. The essence of Luffy’s powerful nature was not properly adapted by Toei Animation.. In chapter 773, called “Atack on a Celestial – Luffy’s King Kong Gun of Anger”, the fight went on long enough to be considered forced. Mainly because for more than a minute Luffy’s fist was in action against his enemy, ending up hitting him hard. And this effect produced a too synthetic feeling in the scene that was far from the manga version.

Of course, fans were very upset that Toei Animation dragged out scenes longer than they should have. Especially since they considered that the story arc had also been filled in, starting with the manga. In this way, the community was disappointed by the excessive tension that had enveloped the environment of One Piece. On the other hand, the fact that Luffy was given a Dragon Ball Z-style power had the opposite effect. In view of his clashes in the anime, Luffy was able to defeat Doflamingo effortlessly, so the magic of the conflicts had been lost between the exaggerated scenes. And, as a chain result, it had also caused the initial impact on the fight that the manga produced to diminish considerably. For example, in the anime, Luffy makes an effort to go through the ropes to catch Doflamingo, which means that he does not have the necessary strength to give such a thrust to the Warlord, as we can see in the manga.

A history of Toei Animation

Even making a cursory analysis of the character’s logic and physics within his own world, there would be no satisfactory explanation to justify Luffy’s power. But what makes the situation worse is that the anime has already stuck to these devices on more than one occasion. An example of this is found in episode 617, in Luffy’s final attack against Caesar the clown and his respective defeat. Or the criticism towards the end of episode 733 (whose disgust caused fans to try to fix the scene with their own edits and more fluid narratives).

Undoubtedly, unnecessary scenes and failed adaptations had previously been pointed out to the company, so Doflamingo’s fight was one of the many complaints regarding the pace of Toei Animation. And right now, Eiichiro Oda might make a misstep with Luffy’s battle against Kaido, because he seems to end just like the conflict with Doflamingo. Surely these similarities will influence the course of the fight and will lead to an outcome that we have already seen: Luffy’s blow to weaken the defenses of his enemy. While we still don’t know for sure how it will play out, there are already some indications that it could. Judging by the time it takes him to beat up Kaido in chapter 1048, he started on page 7 and at the end of page 17 he still hasn’t done it. The time is uncertain, but it seems that we will have to wait a little longer. Fortunately, it is a long-awaited fight by the fan community, under a complicated context since Kaido is the strongest character in the world, so the ending could be well deserved.