- Just Who Do You Think I am?
- Zoro cuts Mistah One
- X Marks Friendship
- That's Kaido
- SHC at EL
- Justice will prevail
For the first match-up, Crocodile's presence and utter defeat of Luffy really makes that panel. Luffy hasn't really struggled too much yet in the series. Don krieg was tricky and Arlong persistant, but we've never had him lose. Seeing Crocodile not only defeat Luffy but treat him as Straw Hat would Buggy really builds up the tension for the Alabasta Arc. Now something like that is almost expected, but back then? First time reading the series? It's wild. Luffy goes from a winning streak to surviving thanks to the charity of his opponents. The darker shading and minimalistic background really helps for this page too. Sets everything up nicely for this bleak, defeatist tone that sells how much of a loss this is.
The second match-up is real close. I think the lack of context kills Ace's panel, though. We don't get his backstory until after the events of Marineford and we don't get the full idea of what's going on by the time we hit it. Maybe on rereads you feel better about this, but for me it's just a little lacking. Zoro cuts Mistah One is arguably Zoro's best page
(certainly his best fight), with the quasi-transformation he seems to go through and then the final, Seventh Samurai esque show down Oda has in the final panel.
X-Marks friendship is easily the winner. The good vibes from an entire Saga summed up as we say goodbye to Vivi and the SH's spending time together? It's classic. Whereas the Teach panel I don't think I'd of ever assumed as one of Oda's best, tbh. Good, sure, but nothing stellar.
For the fourth match-up I picked Kaido despite the Friends Panel being likely superior. I just find Kaido's full Zoan reveal to be one of the most memorable moments of Post-Time-Skip and certainly of Wano. It's something you'll think back to when we're on the final arc and still be somewhat excited about, like Whitebeard's arrival at Marineford.
I really wanted to vote for Imu-sama for the 5th match-up, but the Straw Hats assembled are just. . Exactly what we need, currently in the story. Seeing them all together to rescue Robin in defiance of the World Government is probably the main motivator to reread Ennis Lobby and Water 7 for me. More so than the fights or Robin's backstory.
The final match-up was easy. Doflamingo's speech amidst the chaos of Marineford, accented by the shots to punks and then rich kids is great. You see a lot of detail in the larger panel of the pandemonium during the fighting, where it's really difficult to tell what's going on and Doflamingo's commentary makes it seem like the end of the world. Really helps set up the tone for Marineford and what's at stake more than most other characters that appear in that arc. That Ace's fate has more backlash than Luffy or Whitebeard's feelings.
what's wrong with You guys ?
