Chapter 896: The Last Request

[Count Mario]

@No:

I know I'm in the extremely small minority here, but I personally wouldn't mind super long fights as a way to keep characters engaged in something during these large arcs with tons of different things happening at once (which seems to be the norm nowadays) as opposed to just having them running around. We could still see the important parts (discovering enemy weaknesses, stating reasons they have to win, reacting to major events, finishing blows, etc.), keeping the skipped parts to "they hit each other for 3 hours without either side making progress". Doesn't Zoro fighting King the Calamity for 5 hours while all the events leading up to the climax of Wano simultaneously take place sound better than Zoro chasing King as the latter shifts through all the stone on the island, causing Zoro to run around like a headless chicken for half the arc before cornering King (plot twist: he was a swordsman all along) and beating him in two hits?

The problem is that whenever this happens, like with Zoro vs Pica and Luffy vs Katakuri, the story drifts away from the fight so much that by the time it gets focus, people aren't that emotional invested in wanting to see the fight anymore. There were so many comments I read when Luffy went back to the Mirror World to fight Katakuri about how the fight felt like it was being dragged, and Zoro vs. Pica was a whole other scale of nightmares. Add in how it becomes harder to remember what happened earlier in the fight and how the plot feels like it has to stop whenever the fight gets focus again, and it's just messy all around. Not completely unbearable, but following a fight straight from beginning to finish like in Alabasta is much preferable.

Zoro stalemating King for five hours while Zoro chases king for five hours are practically the same thing. That fight's problem was how it was separated in-between other events to begin with, not that Zoro playing hide-and-seek with Pica was actually bad (although it could've been much better).

Man, I still can't get erase that memory about Pica using a sword. That was sooooooo unnecessary. Zoro does not ALWAYS have to fight a swordsman. There are other ways to test swordsmanship besides always slapping the island's local swordsman's face with your glove to demand satisfaction.

[Sereques]

@Kaido:

Not to you maybe but it's considerate to not ping people multiple times.

Anyways, a lot of your argument seems to rest in your perception that Luffy has been constantly being beaten up, and getting up only to be slaughtered again. But was that really the case? Here's an exchange from earlier on in the battle -

! https://i.imgur.com/Ay3JEjB.png?1

Luffy has been working to dodge Katakuri's attacks and hasn't constantly been barraged by them. When Katakuri pulled out Mogura, Luffy dodged those strikes until Flampe interfered. We see another exchange like this in Chapter 891:

! https://i.imgur.com/mOgy07V.jpg

So with this in mind, how does the fight go?

Luffy and Katakuri trade initial blows. Katakuri demonstrates that he can do anything that Luffy can but better and gets hits in.
Luffy gets assaulted by Katakuri as he gets distracted helping his crewmates. Katakuri attempts to attack him with Mogura but the hits don't land, and although difficult, Luffy manages to dodge a fair number of attacks once he gets his head in the game.
Katakuri buries Luffy in mochi for merienda. Luffy breaks Katakuri's concentration after catching him in his gluttony, allowing Luffy to go Gear Fourth and hit Katakuri with at least two Kong Guns and a Rhino Schneider - this should not be understated.
Katakuri regains the advantage and hits Luffy with Power Mochi, but it's uncertain how much damage this causes considering Gear Fourth causes a lot of attacks to bounce off of Luffy.
Luffy escapes the Mirro-World while Gear Fourth recharges, giving both fighters a bit of a rest break.
The battle resumes, and although Luffy works on using his Haki to dodge Katakuri's attacks, Katakuri's more advanced Haki allows him to get hits in each time they tango like this.
Flampe interferes, allowing Katakuri to pierce Luffy and then barrage him with attacks he is now unable to dodge. After finding out about her interference, Katakuri pierces himself to remove his unfair advantage.
Luffy's Haki reaches Katakuri's level, allowing him to both dodge Katakuri's hits with greater frequency and hit the Sweet Commander who hasn't been hit in years before this day. The two fight on an even playing field until their final clash, which Luffy emerges from triumphant.

So yeah, I don't really see how Katakuri has been massacring Luffy here. Yes, Luffy has taken the brunt of the damage, but it cannot go unstated how he has managed to avoid the brunt of Katakuri's attacks most of the time and how he was able to lay in several Gear Fourth hits early on. So in addition to your standards for how long someone should be able to last being entirely your own invention, your perception of this fight being just Luffy constantly getting kicked around without a break into the end has colored this fight in a way it really shouldn't be.

Stop making sense, butt hurt Katakuri fans will not accept whatever you have to say and everything is plot. Luffy should have died in Arlong Park, it's stupid Oda and his plot that brought Luffy this far.

[PirateHunter]

I experienced most of the pre-timeskip content first through the anime, so the pacing issues were characteristically different. What's the significant difference between Luffy vs. Lucci and Luffy vs. Katakuri (focusing on narrative structure/pacing and not, for example, the difference between Lucci and Katakuri as characters, or the vastly superior setup of Enies Lobby)? Does it just feel more clunky because this wasn't the conclusion of a sequence of battles?

[Dranza]

@Count:

My shedded+melted mochi limbs idea is a replacement for Katakuri shapeshifting the Mirror World and transforming the environment itself into mochi. So that his Awakening has conditions for being activated and a more intuitive origin than "I can transform whatever the environment is into mochi/strings/whatever".

Knew I wasn't following the line of thought properly lol, it's an intuitive idea.

[Count Mario]

This post is deleted!

[Count Mario]

@PirateHunter:

I experienced most of the pre-timeskip content first through the anime, so the pacing issues were characteristically different. What's the significant difference between Luffy vs. Lucci and Luffy vs. Katakuri (focusing on narrative structure/pacing and not, for example, the difference between Lucci and Katakuri as characters, or the vastly superior setup of Enies Lobby)? Does it just feel more clunky because this wasn't the conclusion of a sequence of battles?

Luffy vs. Lucci, despite technically starting before some of the other fights if I remember correctly, saved most of its actual plot beat content for the end. It didn't switch to Zoro and Sanji's fights right after Luffy used Gear Third on Lucci. When the fight REALLY starts right after Zoro faces Kaku, Franky leaves Luffy to fight Lucci on his own and the only two plot threads being focused on are Luffy vs. Lucci and the Straw Hats rescuing Robin/surviving the Buster Call. That balance was simple and they even intersect when Marine soldiers recount Lucci's backstory and Usopp cheers on Luffy. And each chapter during the fight usually showcases both plot threads simultaneously, and they take place around the same area to boot.

In contrast Luffy vs. Katakuri has Luffy uses Gear Fourth and escape from the Mirror World only to switch to Big Mom chase/cake baking shenanigans with focus that lasts for whole chapters at a time. Whole weeks going by without seeing the Luffy vs Katakuri fight. And that is only one example of this fight's pacing being interrupted. This fight is also being juggled with two other plot threads, the Big Mom chase at sea and Sanji's solo antics. It's messy overall.

@Dranza:

Knew I wasn't following the line of thought properly lol, it's an intuitive idea.

Thanks. I'm just glad somebody read that idea so typing all of that wasn't pointless lol.

[Shobu Yoruichi]

@AvocadoInTheRain:

?

Are you saying that what Luffy did to Croc was more strenuous than him trying to break something the size of a mountain?

Yep.

Oh, i forgot to include the poison.

[Sick_Fool]

This Luffy vs Katakuri fight really showed that a lot of One Piece fans severely underestimate Luffy.

@AvocadoInTheRain:

?

Are you saying that what Luffy did to Croc was more strenuous than him trying to break something the size of a mountain?

LOL, stop trying to knock some sense into a "genius" brick wall.

[badwolf1234]

Where the hell are the germa?

[maxterdexter]

Did Luffy know Katakuri's name?

[RamistaR]

@maxterdexter:

Did Luffy know Katakuri's name?

I can only think of this page where Luffy calls him by his name. But that might be a translation extra.
Jinbe and Pedro told Katakuri's name to Luffy several times, but it's no evidence that he remembers it

[maxterdexter]

I just remember that Lucci was always "Pidgeon Bastard", and Mingo was "Mingo" all the way until the final duel.

[SuburbanErrorist]

@RamistaR:

I can only think of this page where Luffy calls him by his name. But that might be a translation extra.
Jinbe and Pedro told Katakuri's name to Luffy several times, but it's no evidence that he remembers it

I can confirm it's not a translation extra. Just double checked it through the Jump I had.

It says 倒れろ カタクリｲ！ (Taorero KATAKURI)

[Sirxxx]

I have nothing to add to the current conversation, I just wanted to comment on how much more I appreciated this panel upon rereading:

Sanji is just so freaking EARNEST that it's adorable! I also love that the genuineness completely destroys Pudding's façade yet again. He definitely earned that kiss.

@Count:

[Holy s**t amazing reskin of the Luffy v. Katakuri fight!]

Thanks, now you've ruined this battle for me because it WASN'T as clever as your treatise >:-(

[churlyryan]

I hope next chapter is a Big Mom focus.

Enough about Oven and Co. waiting and saying the same lines waiting for Luffy to come out the mirror.

I think something is going to happen regarding Pekoms making Luffy escape. Like perhaps it is Pekoms that comes out of the mirror instead of Luffy, surprising Oven and Co. Straw Hat is nowhere to be found. He is hiding inside Pekoms's Turle Shell. Actually, that could be what Pekoms is in now, his Animal-Mink version of his Tortoise Devil Fruit.

Pekoms was the one who took them safely into Totto Land. He will be the ones to ensure they safely escape Totto Land.

Meanwhile, as Oven is dumbfounded where Straw Hat went, something awful will happen to Big Mom, and most of her children besides Peros, Smoothie and Co, and maybe Daifuku are nowhere around.

I mean, Compote is apparently still on Whole Cake Island. When is she going to become more relevant? Sheesh, being Big Mom's first daughter, you'd think she would have more prominence.

[Rollin]

Luffy strength and damage are top notch and more than katakuri…period...its just the attack not connected...katakuri getting hit when losing coo during tea break and what you see now luffy attack made contact first and thus owned katakuri...
..as luffy explain its not his fruit underpowered just his godly coo... Dont compare the fight with doflamingo...his taking hit in gear 4 but he heal himself also with his fruit

[Takto]

Oh gosh, i totally missed it to read the chapter after the disgrace that was the spoiler. Unfortunately the chapter didnt make it better. That Katakuri lost because of a few hits, and i want to add that he managed to block these 'hits', is beyond me. Maybe if i write about it, it gets more acceptable or makes more sense.

There are people out there whom fight for days. And Luffy and Katakuri should be on that level. Thats why Flampe was there. To shorten the fight down to hours. I want to believe that this was the sole reason why she appeared. To have them both wounded equally.
And i also get that it is no childsplay for Katakuri to spam strong attacks for hours. Its probably more exhausting than tanking attacks or dodging them. I also buy that Katakuri is not as tanky as Luffy. No Problem here.
But why would Katakuri suddenly get hit by King Cobra? Seconds before he managed to dodge Black Mamba. I assume that he saw himself got hit in the future by King Cobra. So why didnt he just dodge or why didnt he just mochify his body or atleast harden his body like he always did? I do assume that his CoO wasnt depleted, since he managed Snakeman fairly well.
And i have to say that they werent equal. In my book Katakuri overwhelmed Snakeman. Katakuris CoO still was better, Katakuris Block Mochi was still harder than even G4, plus he still had awakening which allows him to have access to a whole new world of possibilities which he can spam fairly easy. Katakuri has also an invincible state, i dont get why but he has.
I dont underestimate Luffy i guess, i just feel that Oda nerfed Katakuri and that really disappointed me. Because i was really interested in how Luffy will beat an opponent whom managed G4 fairly well. Odas answer was just 'we have to nerf that man like crazy'. By nerfing i dont mean the Flampe stuff. Like i wrote before, it was just to reduce the duration of the fight. No, Oda took his abilities and threw them away. And i am not disappointed in Katakuri, no i am disappointed in Oda. Thats why i dont bother to continue the series…maybe just for a while. We will see.

I follow OP since 2003 and its one of my favourite shows/works, so the disappointment hit me hard. Few weeks back i had a similar feeling when the Sunny team handled Big Mom, but in the end i accepted it because it made sense in every way. This right here, Luffy vs Katakuri, no specific this chapter, made no sense at all and Oda took the easy way out. Everything before was fire and i dont understand how he suddenly sucked so hard in this chapter. What was he thinking? Or what did i miss?
Spoiler is out in a few hours...i couldnt care less :(

[KageKageKing]

If you wanna people to care about your rant then make it at least easier to read.

And if you really have been a fan from ever since 2003 you wouldn't let trivial things like those get in the way of your enjoyment.

[Takto]

@KageKageKing:

If you wanna people to care about your rant then make it at least easier to read.

And if you really have been a fan from ever since 2003 you wouldn't let trivial things like those get in the way of your enjoyment.

I dont assume that anyone cares. This was for myself, like i wrote. But im curious what you mean by 'make it easier to read'. Surely its not my native language but i thought i wrote it correctly :/
And im not a fan since 2003. I started 2003. I was a kid back than. There was no 'Fan-Stuff' back then. I was really hard infested since W7. My interest grew at this point over pretty much everything else.

PS: Thanks, maybe its better now :/

[KageKageKing]

You know.

Paragraphs.

Like this one.

And another one.

Just press Enter two times.

[Dranza]

Come on Katakuri was always going to lose that's just how it goes, let's close this chapter. I wish he wasn't portrayed as undefeated, would make this pill easier to swallow. Now when Luffy defeats Kaido man is that going to seem like a stretch (ayyy pun intended).

[Long John Silvers Rayleigh]

@Takto:

Oh gosh, i totally missed it to read the chapter after the disgrace that was the spoiler. Unfortunately the chapter didnt make it better. That Katakuri lost because of a few hits, and i want to add that he managed to block these 'hits', is beyond me. Maybe if i write about it, it gets more acceptable or makes more sense.

There are people out there whom fight for days. And Luffy and Katakuri should be on that level. Thats why Flampe was there. To shorten the fight down to hours. I want to believe that this was the sole reason why she appeared. To have them both wounded equally.
And i also get that it is no childsplay for Katakuri to spam strong attacks for hours. Its probably more exhausting than tanking attacks or dodging them. I also buy that Katakuri is not as tanky as Luffy. No Problem here.
But why would Katakuri suddenly get hit by King Cobra? Seconds before he managed to dodge Black Mamba. I assume that he saw himself got hit in the future by King Cobra. So why didnt he just dodge or why didnt he just mochify his body or atleast harden his body like he always did? I do assume that his CoO wasnt depleted, since he managed Snakeman fairly well.
And i have to say that they werent equal. In my book Katakuri overwhelmed Snakeman. Katakuris CoO still was better, Katakuris Block Mochi was still harder than even G4, plus he still had awakening which allows him to have access to a whole new world of possibilities which he can spam fairly easy. Katakuri has also an invincible state, i dont get why but he has.
I dont underestimate Luffy i guess, i just feel that Oda nerfed Katakuri and that really disappointed me. Because i was really interested in how Luffy will beat an opponent whom managed G4 fairly well. Odas answer was just 'we have to nerf that man like crazy'. By nerfing i dont mean the Flampe stuff. Like i wrote before, it was just to reduce the duration of the fight. No, Oda took his abilities and threw them away. And i am not disappointed in Katakuri, no i am disappointed in Oda. Thats why i dont bother to continue the series…maybe just for a while. We will see.

I follow OP since 2003 and its one of my favourite shows/works, so the disappointment hit me hard. Few weeks back i had a similar feeling when the Sunny team handled Big Mom, but in the end i accepted it because it made sense in every way. This right here, Luffy vs Katakuri, no specific this chapter, made no sense at all and Oda took the easy way out. Everything before was fire and i dont understand how he suddenly sucked so hard in this chapter. What was he thinking? Or what did i miss?
Spoiler is out in a few hours...i couldnt care less :(

Its odd to me that you can accept the issues others are having with the fight but katakuri not dodging the final blow was what really spoiled it. They were launching attacks up close at almost the same time, katakuri dodging means he cant really land it hit either, they were both going for the knockout blowout and thats why we got what he got.

[Takto]

@Dranza:

Come on Katakuri was always going to lose that's just how it goes, let's close this chapter. I wish he wasn't portrayed as undefeated, would make this pill easier to swallow. Now when Luffy defeats Kaido man is that going to seem like a stretch (ayyy pun intended).

Of course there was a slight possibility that Katakuri wins, and i kinda hoped for it, because it would make sense. My perception was that he was stronger than Luffy, so a win would be plausible. But that Luffy won is no problem for me. The how is the problem. It didnt convinced me at all. The fight was really interesting for me because of two things.
The outcome wasnt as clear, meaning i was not certain who will win. The second thing was, since Katakuri managed Bounceman and was able to hurt Bounceman, i was really interested in how Luffy will beat this guy, if he wins, who seemed to be beyond his level. I didnt care that much who wins the fight. I just wanted it to be a satisfying end.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Long:

Its odd to me that you can accept the issues others are having with the fight but katakuri not dodging the final blow was what really spoiled it. They were launching attacks up close at almost the same time, katakuri dodging means he cant really land it hit either, they were both going for the knockout blowout and thats why we got what he got.

Hm…this actually helped a bit. I have the feeling that the anime version can make it way more satisfying by letting Snakeman land way more clean hits on Katakuri. Or let Katakuri tank more hits in general.

Considering what Doffy tanked, it just feels underwhelming how much less damage was needed to bring Katakuri down. I mean, Doffy didnt even care for G2 attacks, he said they are fast but they only tickle. Maybe Katakuri is just a pussy. I think that this was the key. I go with that because it kinda makes me feel better about the whole situation. KATAKURI IS A PUSSY!

[Blissed]

@KageKageKing:

If you wanna people to care about your rant then make it at least easier to read.

And if you really have been a fan from ever since 2003 you wouldn't let trivial things like those get in the way of your enjoyment.

I've come to the conclusion that many just need to let it all out of their system lol

[Long John Silvers Rayleigh]

@Takto:

Of course there was a slight possibility that Katakuri wins, and i kinda hoped for it, because it would make sense. My perception was that he was stronger than Luffy, so a win would be plausible. But that Luffy won is no problem for me. The how is the problem. It didnt convinced me at all. The fight was really interesting for me because of two things.
The outcome wasnt as clear, meaning i was not certain who will win. The second thing was, since Katakuri managed Bounceman and was able to hurt Bounceman, i was really interested in how Luffy will beat this guy, if he wins, who seemed to be beyond his level. I didnt care that much who wins the fight. I just wanted it to be a satisfying end.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

Hm...this actually helped a bit. I have the feeling that the anime version can make it way more satisfying by letting Snakeman land way more clean hits on Katakuri. Or let Katakuri tank more hits in general.

Considering what Doffy tanked, it just feels underwhelming how much less damage was needed to bring Katakuri down. I mean, Doffy didnt even care for G2 attacks, he said they are fast but they only tickle. Maybe Katakuri is just a pussy. I think that this was the key. I go with that because it kinda makes me feel better about the whole situation. KATAKURI IS A PUSSY!

I mean I think of it like this doffy took 3 real big G4 attacks (Kong Gun, Rhino Schneider, Leo Bazooka) and luffy's culverin and was stuck into a wall and lost conscienceness for 1-2 minutes. Katakuri got hit with a kick that probably wasnt that much weaker than culverin, then 3 real big G4 (two kong guns and a rhino schneider) and slammed his head into the ground and recovered before a G4 luffy flying at him could hit him with the Kong Organ. Now you might think snakeman's lower power shouldnt have been a problem then but this is after his self stab and many hours of him going on the offensive. Luffy's fonal move isnt a joke either as luffy's normal culverin is the size of doffy's head but here his king cobra is the size of katakuri's big-ass chest when he pulls back his fist.

I dont think doffy is much more of a tank than katakuri, katakuri took some hard ass hits just as well and was fighting even longer too. Also doffy also bled while luffy wailed on him with no gears in Ch 782, doffy was laughing at G2 but then again he's like that a lot normally, if G2 didnt have the power to defeat doffy on its own of course he'd try and rile up luffy. He's mocking him because he sees everyone as beneath him, he didnt know luffy had G4 so he wanted to rub his superiority in his face.

[Sereques]

Damn! Katafans taking this badly on Youtube.

[Green-Hair 0]

I just didn't really care for the end of the Katakuri VS Luffy fight. I mean leading up to it was really cool, but the last clash seemed hella anticlimatic. From my perspective, Luffy's finishing blow looked like a normal Haki-clad punch but maybe going really fast. I feel like a beast like Katakuri could have been defeating in a much more epic and cool way. Seems kinda like a rushed ending IMO.

[Blissed]

Oda didn't want Katakuri to be crushed with some big fancy, decisive blow like past antagonists. There's a reason it ends with Luffy placing his hat on his mouth.

[AvocadoInTheRain]

@Sereques:

Damn! Katafans taking this badly on Youtube.

KoL was the saltiest I've ever seen him.

[Long John Silvers Rayleigh]

@AvocadoInTheRain:

KoL was the saltiest I've ever seen him.

InB4 he drops one piece after wano "because kaido shouldve won"

Some dudes are gonna die if katakuri losing bugged them since kaido is next

[Blissed]

@Lance113:

Hahahaha I would feel bad for the mochifanboys if it was not because it was obvious that Luffy was going to end up winning. Did anyone really think that Oda gave Katakuri the title of "Unbeaten Man" to beat the protagonist and continue to stay undefeated?

There were a good amount of people that thought that Oda was making it too obvious, what with characters like Sanji or Luffy himself talking about how he'll definitely defeat Katakuri, so somehow they convinced themselves that those obvious bits of foreshadowing was all one big red herring, that Oda would do the unexpected.

[Takto]

@Blissed:

There were a good amount of people that thought that Oda was making it too obvious, what with characters like Sanji or Luffy himself talking about how he'll definitely defeat Katakuri, so somehow they convinced themselves that those obvious bits of foreshadowing was all one big red herring, that Oda would do the unexpected.

I dont think that this is the reason. It was just underwhelming and anticlimactic. Til the end Katakuri was the one on top. Many people said, myself included, after Chapter 895 Katakuri was still dominating Luffy, in Snakeman. Suddenly, Katakuri on the ground. 895 was still a Katakuri chapter. Start of 896, Katakuri lost. And i thought the fight is going on in 896 where Luffy manages to overwhelm Katakuri, but it was really the final clash.

[Blissed]

@Takto:

I dont think that this is the reason.

For you, sure. I'm just answering his question, as there were definitely people that were positive Luffy would lose, for the reasons I gave.

[c0nflikt]

All the katakuri fans dissecting how exactly he loss is ludicrous. Katakuri is a character in one piece and this a plot device to make luffy further shine, he was never meant to mean more or outshine his truly the future pirate king. Crymoar nerds, I still miss my dawg crocoboy

[BellisarioFaith]

Hello to all. Forgive me for being a few days late with this; been a very crazy week at work with several long days. Comparisons time, yo.

• The Mangastream name for the chapter is "One Last Wish", and Jaimini's Box is similarly "The Last Request"; VIZ, however, calls it "One Last Thing".
• Both of the scanlations have the first speech bubble (about if Katakuri could lose) being asked by one person, with a second person's incredulous response; the official version, however, has both bubbles being asked by the same person, with the first bubble instead repeating back the question about Katakuri losing that someone else had clearly asked.
• In MS, Sanji is thinking to himself that they'll be doomed "if I can't get Luffy out of here" the very moment he shows up. In JB and VIZ, he says that's the case "if Luffy isn't able to lose them" (JB) / "if Luffy doesn't bolt for safety" (VIZ).
• When Sanji is telling Pudding that they'll have to go separate ways once Luffy shows up, he says that he'll have to "say goodbye" to her in MS, that they'll have to "part ways" in JB, and that "this'll be it for you and me, right here" in VIZ.
• The scanlations have Mont D'or telling Morgans to abandon/throw out his hopes of getting a scoop out of what's happening, while in the official translation, he just tells him to "forget about your scoops for a second!" Also, in the MS version, he says that they'll cut off the SHs' heads; in JB, he just says they'll execute them; in VIZ, he says they'll slit their throats.
• The scanlations have Brook say he doesn't know if Luffy knows what time he's supposed to meet them, while in the official version, he says he's not sure Luffy "understands what time it is" (which could be saying the same thing, or could be saying he's not sure Luffy knows the current time).
• Katakuri responds to Luffy's words in MS with "Guess you really can see the future", which sounds like a vote of confidence that Luffy will succeed. In JB and VIZ, though, he comments on how far Luffy can "see" into the future, more commenting on how that ability of his has developed: "You're looking quite far into the future!"
• In JB, Pekoms's fake name, Nazoms, is kept in its original Japanese form like that, with a TN explaining that "nazo" means "mysterious". Both MS and VIZ semi-translate the name so it carries over to English readers; MS uses "Mysteroms" and VIZ uses "Mystoms".

[Kaido King of the Beasts]

Something to keep in mind is that Cracker did not sustain any injuries during his fight with Luffy until he was propelled to his defeat. He effectively lost the second he cracked first and attacked Luffy himself instead of continuing his biscuit offensive.

It's much the same with Katakuri. He failed to successfully take down Luffy before Luffy could gain future sight, and that's what decided the battle. He still had a chance of beating Luffy after the fact, but it proved to be too little, too late.

[Sereques]

@Long:

InB4 he drops one piece after wano "because kaido shouldve won"

Some dudes are gonna die if katakuri losing bugged them since kaido is next

I listened to some dude that said Katakuri won because he was aware of the time and decided to let Luffy go join up with his crew out of respect.

It's getting embarrassing at this point.

[FelRes]

What are you guys snacking on for the spoiler wait? If you spend the next few hours downing some smoothies, we'll get a Smoothie chapter you know.

[DarkHamster]

@c0nflikt:

All the katakuri fans dissecting how exactly he loss is ludicrous. Katakuri is a character in one piece and this a plot device to make luffy further shine, he was never meant to mean more or outshine his truly the future pirate king. Crymoar nerds, I still miss my dawg crocoboy

don't care for katakuri, but one can make an argument that a character can be use as effective plot device that makes for a good story. this for me wasn't a good fight nor a good point in this arc.

[Sereques]

@Takto:

I dont think that this is the reason. It was just underwhelming and anticlimactic. Til the end Katakuri was the one on top. Many people said, myself included, after Chapter 895 Katakuri was still dominating Luffy, in Snakeman. Suddenly, Katakuri on the ground. 895 was still a Katakuri chapter. Start of 896, Katakuri lost. And i thought the fight is going on in 896 where Luffy manages to overwhelm Katakuri, but it was really the final clash.

You all seem to think Luffy wining means Luffy is stronger, NO. Yes, Katakuri was still on top but he was wheezing and wobbling, despite the bravado, he was also on his last legs. King Cobra was a huge fist that hit Katakuri in the abdomen, a place where he damaged himself with Mogura. You all keep making it sound like everything was fine in 895 and bam!!! 896, luffy won magically.

[Blissed]

@FelRes:

What are you guys snacking on for the spoiler wait? If you spend the next few hours downing some smoothies, we'll get a Smoothie chapter you know.

I'm grabbing a burger and fries. So if we end up on that one island with fries and what not this chapter, my bad.

[Kaworu]

@FelRes:

What are you guys snacking on for the spoiler wait? If you spend the next few hours downing some smoothies, we'll get a Smoothie chapter you know.

I am snacking onnn… blackberries. Prayin' that my boi Blackbeard messes up some stuff near the end here. I find it very unlikely but there are a few of you who've mentioned it and it'd just make for an insane climax.

[Kaido King of the Beasts]

If I chug Red Bull will that summon Green Bull?

[Sads]

@FelRes:

What are you guys snacking on for the spoiler wait? If you spend the next few hours downing some smoothies, we'll get a Smoothie chapter you know.

I doubt there's an island for the stuff I eat!

[AvocadoInTheRain]

@Kaido:

If I chug Red Bull will that summon Green Bull?

yes

16161616161616161616161616161616

[kevo_koma]

@FelRes:

What are you guys snacking on for the spoiler wait? If you spend the next few hours downing some smoothies, we'll get a Smoothie chapter you know.

HAHAHA I think you're calendar is wrong mate, its not April 1st yet.

Smoothie chapter…hahahaha.

[Sirxxx]

Meanwhile I'm just over here still pondering why the Mirro-world has a basement in the first place?!

Like, what is stored down there? How many floors does Mirro-World have? Is there a 3rd floor? Is that where they keep the Christmas décor? Did Brulee build it? What is the floor made of that it can be broken through? If there's nothing beneath it, why doesn't the nothing continue forever instead of for 30 feet? What makes up the floor BENEATH the floor that unconscious Luffy was laying on? What are these devil fruits?!

[No swords style best style]

@Count:

The problem is that whenever this happens, like with Zoro vs Pica and Luffy vs Katakuri, the story drifts away from the fight so much that by the time it gets focus, people aren't that emotional invested in wanting to see the fight anymore. There were so many comments I read when Luffy went back to the Mirror World to fight Katakuri about how the fight felt like it was being dragged, and Zoro vs. Pica was a whole other scale of nightmares. Add in how it becomes harder to remember what happened earlier in the fight and how the plot feels like it has to stop whenever the fight gets focus again, and it's just messy all around. Not completely unbearable, but following a fight straight from beginning to finish like in Alabasta is much preferable. Zoro stalemating King for five hours while Zoro chases king for five hours are practically the same thing. That fight's problem was how it was separated in-between other events to begin with, not that Zoro playing hide-and-seek with Pica was actually bad (although it could've been much better).

Thinking about it more, yeah, you're absolutely right, taking any major one on one fight we've had in previous arcs and dividing it into three parts would be a nightmare. I personally didn't have much of a problem with the cuts during Luffy vs. Katakuri, but that's because it was more of a training-style fight where both parties came to respect one another, rather than a more standard "I won't let you hurt my crew/friends' country so we'll viciously fight to the almost-death." I guess what I want would be more along the lines of Zoro engages King in battle, skip several hours as we see other events play out, then cut back to Zoro and start the 'real' fight. Similar to what happened with Luffy vs Lucci, but in an arc that has more plot threads than EL.

Man, I still can't get erase that memory about Pica using a sword. That was sooooooo unnecessary. Zoro does not ALWAYS have to fight a swordsman. There are other ways to test swordsmanship besides always slapping the island's local swordsman's face with your glove to demand satisfaction.

2nd Plot Twist: Pica's sword is the one who actually ate the Stone-Stone Fruit, so it turns out Zoro was clashing swords with Pica the whole time.

[AlphaMale]

so what do you think is the last request? Do you think she wants to join SHP?

[Takto]

@Kaido:

Something to keep in mind is that Cracker did not sustain any injuries during his fight with Luffy until he was propelled to his defeat. He effectively lost the second he cracked first and attacked Luffy himself instead of continuing his biscuit offensive.

It's much the same with Katakuri. He failed to successfully take down Luffy before Luffy could gain future sight, and that's what decided the battle. He still had a chance of beating Luffy after the fact, but it proved to be too little, too late.

The thing is, Luffy had Snakeman. There would be nothing Cracker can do against Snakeman version of python. He would lose in seconds. So Luffy was stronger than Cracker anyway.