A title Oda doesn't give a fuck about. He does love his golden boi Shanksu though
Not really, Shanks is popular, so he baits readers with his presence,
(Done on phone, quite hard doing that touchscreen circle)
Shanks does not even know how to wield said sword, of course, that’s Oda’s fault, but what does that say, if the mangaka didn’t even bother to do some studies in order to better characterize said character? Even now, he has GB pull out instead of fighting Shanks, because he doesn’t know how to draw Shanks fighting outside of three panels of him clashing (and those swords shouldn’t even be used for that, but I digress).
Mihawk has an actual sword, I’m not talking about it being a black blade, that’s just a color, I’m referring on how he has a mildly curved (haha, like a katana get it, fuck off Oda) scottish 2handed blade, and at least knows how to use it.
Couldn’t care less about Zoro until he leaves his shitty captain and stops being a subordinate, and maybe even drop that retarded sword in his mouth, so never, but It is undeniable that more attention went to Mihawk than Shanks. Oda can fool around as much as we wants, he’ll never have proper fights like past arc villains/important supportive characters.
All the haki shit is just coping, if Shanks knows a next level haki, why Mihawk, Kaidou, WB and BM didn’t? Three of them are much older than him and have a solidified grasp as a top pirate for decades, then this god fruit-less cabin boy comes around and show a new level of haki, unknown to them, lmao right.
Shanks being stronger than Mihawk only has a basis if, said sword is special, infused with a devil fruit that allows him to have a completely different fighting style, giving Shanks fanboys an excuse on why he fights like an amateur. Until that moment, Mihawk bests him.