@MrPecans:
I think you're really under-appreciating Oda's writing here. You've stripped all of the fun out of Katakuri's line, but I don't think your criticisms really stick. Luffy has made this sort of declaration so many times without an interesting retort from his foe that this IS a fun subversion of the norm. By boiling down Katakuri's line to just "people don't like to die etc…" you're capturing only the implicent conversation between the two fighters. "I will win" from Luffy, and the "nuh-uh" from Katakuri. The way it's said IS important. It's dripping in confidence, condescension, and a sense of humor that is dry and dark. Is it insanely witty or ground breaking? No. But in the world of superhero one-liners and beat-em-up banter that this line exists within, it's quite charming.
As for the Brulee thing, I was soooo with you until that last part. I really defy the idea that any of us are having a laugh AT Oda with Brulee's insane hype-train. Like, it's a little cocky to think that Oda - the master of teasing the fighting genre while also providing the best example of one - doesn't know when he's being funny. I 100% guarantee that Oda realizes how f'n dumb "he's so tough, he won't even lay down" sounds. I mean, the only other explanation is that Oda is literally stupid and he made this great comic by mistake.
I hope none of that sounded like a personal attack. Nothin but respect for you and the other posters, I just felt strongly about this.
Katakuri still aint my fav, but he's growing on me. I love the Gomu-Gomu-no-Rifle-esque trident attacks a lot.
Nah. It was a really simple line, but one that I don't find remarkable. That's it. Perhaos the emotions you said I should be feeling would be more effective if there were things like Katakuri emoting. Using vivid wording or a unique way of speaking. Special visuals. Or like I said earlier. Something actually clever to say. I get the confidence, but… meh. Lots of villains say confident comebacks in this series, so it hardly stands out. Except they typically say it in a more clever or powerful/vivid/concise way. Not much is beating Law's "the weak don't get to choose how they die." I don't even think it's dark. It's the typical "I'm gonna kill you even if you're naive enough to think you can win." In fact, you want to know what I think was one of the best lines in this arc? That Mangastream mistranslation where Bege scared a Homie and said "Loose lips sink ships." That was SO good.
It's not even like I thought it was a bad line or anything. It just gives me an "eh, as expected."
I want to agree with you. But everything with Katakuri is played so straight that it's hard to tell what, if anything about him is supposed to be a joke we should laugh at with Oda rather than at his writing. Especially since we hear this type of intimidating hype talk ALL of the time in this series, and it is usually not ironic in how stupid it sounds. Especially since we typically get a character yelling what the ounchline is angrily, although I always didn't like how manga/anime does that. It's kooky, definitely. Ridiculous too. But I don't get a "yeah, this is way too silly to take seriously" vibe. It still looks like it is something to take seriously. Like "this is over the top, but still an awesome opponent."
Don't worry, it's cool. I am not even trying to criticize or make fun of Katakuri like I usually do. I actually liked him in this chapter. I just wasn't particularly wowed like everybody else aside from the Mirror World destruction.
I also thought it looked like Gomu Gomu no Rifle. Man, when was the last time Luffy even used that?