Alright, I know that toon force is basically demoralising for any opponent’s fans Luffy will have to face from now on, people have theorised that Blackbeard can counter that by nullifying his DF, and it’d be miraculous if Imu has any role in this outside of being the mandatory princess in distress every arc post-TS must have, or being Dragon’s opponent, since both of them are featless buffoons , hell I wouldn’t even be surprised after this whole gomu gomu no mi fiasco the Marines have a military takeover so that we can finally get rid of the cartoonishly evil and incompetent Celestial Dragons. Sabo can play the role of Princess Peach, just like the worthless Ace clone he was always meant to be, only this time Luffy succeeds, so Oda gets to copypaste plotlines painlessly.
But, Akainu bros, I hear you saying, “how the fuck is Akainu able to fight Luffy equally, even though we know Akainu would neg diff Big Meme, how the hell can he compete with this reality warping bs?” And yes, if we were to apply normal logic, Luffy should be able to neg diff the entire cast simultaneously, but here’s the catch, look at Luffy’s DF, you should not approach this with common sense, rather with plot convenience. Akainu can counter this DF with his own Conviction!
I do not mean his haki, mind you, though only someone delusional would think the Head Honcho of the Marines who went toe to toe with the only meaningful pre-TS Yonkou (shoutout to my homie Whitebeard, who still has characters including Kaido sucking his cock after hundreds of chapters he died) does not have CoC and all the advanced forms of haki, like hello, in your efforts to rewrite WCI as a good arc and not the trash it was, you forgot that Katakuri, a joke living in his mother’s shadow (Big Meme no less) has Coc and AcoO, and what about Yamato? Look at a character with identity crisis having all that good shit, you seriously think Oda won’t give out all that stuff like candies? But I digress, no, conviction=/=haki.
What do I mean by conviction? Let’s take a few steps back, edgelord (lit: character or concept I don’t like) is a term most used by underage people, and I believe that, said concept, once we make it more cristalline and not vague as it is, that is, holds the key to Luffy’s counter.
When you think about someone holding power over souls, you think “shit, that’s the most broken ass shit ever” right? And look at where that went, not only performance wise, mind you, we all know Big Meme is a joke, but there is also another thing to consider, her Soul Pocus ability has been countered already, even by, and may God forgive me for uttering these words: people weaker than her, Jinbei, Kidd, Law, individually all have less haki than her, but were unaffected by her ability. Why? Because their soul weren’t scared of them, could you blame ‘em? The same concept will apply with Akainu.
Now, Kaidou may look like a serious character, but is he really? With all the crying, comedic battle styles, self-deprecation and flip flopping with how he wants to die? Not really. Hell, Luffy made him laugh when he was drinking, pretty much Kaidou sealed his fate right there in that moment.
But Akainu, this may be the one and only major antagonist without a gag, and Oda will continue to make it that way, because he’s the perfect counter for Nika. It’s a rite of passage, every japanese author, be it manga, videogame etc, always has to have the Order vs Chaos shit, mildly preferring chaos, and Luffy is freedom, so chaos, while Akainu is the perfect embodiment of order, because it’s not some self-serving shit like Imu.
So, Oda, who can only draw fights where Luffy is disadvantaged, will have him struggle against Akainu, until he’s gifted his final power up or whatever because it’s a shonen, but the fight is gonna be Masterclass to bookend Marineford
Tldr: characters with extreme seriousness and conviction in what they do, are immune to toon warping, and Akainu fits the bill, only way Nika is gonna make him laugh, is if he goes into a bodybag.
But, Akainu bros, I hear you saying, “how the fuck is Akainu able to fight Luffy equally, even though we know Akainu would neg diff Big Meme, how the hell can he compete with this reality warping bs?” And yes, if we were to apply normal logic, Luffy should be able to neg diff the entire cast simultaneously, but here’s the catch, look at Luffy’s DF, you should not approach this with common sense, rather with plot convenience. Akainu can counter this DF with his own Conviction!
I do not mean his haki, mind you, though only someone delusional would think the Head Honcho of the Marines who went toe to toe with the only meaningful pre-TS Yonkou (shoutout to my homie Whitebeard, who still has characters including Kaido sucking his cock after hundreds of chapters he died) does not have CoC and all the advanced forms of haki, like hello, in your efforts to rewrite WCI as a good arc and not the trash it was, you forgot that Katakuri, a joke living in his mother’s shadow (Big Meme no less) has Coc and AcoO, and what about Yamato? Look at a character with identity crisis having all that good shit, you seriously think Oda won’t give out all that stuff like candies? But I digress, no, conviction=/=haki.
What do I mean by conviction? Let’s take a few steps back, edgelord (lit: character or concept I don’t like) is a term most used by underage people, and I believe that, said concept, once we make it more cristalline and not vague as it is, that is, holds the key to Luffy’s counter.
When you think about someone holding power over souls, you think “shit, that’s the most broken ass shit ever” right? And look at where that went, not only performance wise, mind you, we all know Big Meme is a joke, but there is also another thing to consider, her Soul Pocus ability has been countered already, even by, and may God forgive me for uttering these words: people weaker than her, Jinbei, Kidd, Law, individually all have less haki than her, but were unaffected by her ability. Why? Because their soul weren’t scared of them, could you blame ‘em? The same concept will apply with Akainu.
Now, Kaidou may look like a serious character, but is he really? With all the crying, comedic battle styles, self-deprecation and flip flopping with how he wants to die? Not really. Hell, Luffy made him laugh when he was drinking, pretty much Kaidou sealed his fate right there in that moment.
But Akainu, this may be the one and only major antagonist without a gag, and Oda will continue to make it that way, because he’s the perfect counter for Nika. It’s a rite of passage, every japanese author, be it manga, videogame etc, always has to have the Order vs Chaos shit, mildly preferring chaos, and Luffy is freedom, so chaos, while Akainu is the perfect embodiment of order, because it’s not some self-serving shit like Imu.
So, Oda, who can only draw fights where Luffy is disadvantaged, will have him struggle against Akainu, until he’s gifted his final power up or whatever because it’s a shonen, but the fight is gonna be Masterclass to bookend Marineford
Tldr: characters with extreme seriousness and conviction in what they do, are immune to toon warping, and Akainu fits the bill, only way Nika is gonna make him laugh, is if he goes into a bodybag.
