I would say that the discussion turning somehow to Zoro being equal to Luffy is unsurprising, despite how absurd it is and has always been because it's never been the case.
Not really, when there was no significant meaning behind it and it wasn't meant to be an actual distinction. The distinction came about because of the fans, who took it as a rule. It wasn't a distinction, more just Nami labeling them monsters.
Regarding the douriki, I wouldn't say that at all. Zoro and Sanji didn't mid diff their opponents. Neither one of them were winning at any point, nor even have the upper hand briefly, until they used their final attacks. Those weren't easy fights for them, and they weren't anything lower than high diff. With that said, the point still stands. Lucci's douriki was near double that of the next strongest, Kaku. The devil fruits weren't counted in the douriki, iirc, and further more predatory zoans just make them more aggressive, not stronger. The opponents of Zoro and Sanji were closer in strength to the rest of the crew's opponents than they were to Luffy's opponent, based on the numbers provided.
It wasn't true pre-TS, though it was much closer.
I agree with most of that. I think that the raid suit was Oda's way of making Sanji competitive against even run of the mill players in the New World, which he wasn't prior. I don't think he'll ever surpass Jinbe, and won't be anything close to Luffy's EOS level as you indicated, and I don't think that Zoro will for that matter either. Zoro will be under Yonko level EOS, I think.
The fact that Oda felt the need to call them out like that and distinguish the three over the rest of the crew is enough.
The Douriki did not do that actually because 1) Zoro and Sanji high end of mid diffed their opponent, while for Luffy it was actually the most extreme fight he had so far, with both going blow to blow and leaving everything on the table. You can guess what kind of opponent Luffy would same diff as Zoro and Sanji did Kaku and Jabra respectively, but it´s definitely closer than Fukurou and Kumadori were to the latter two (Franky same diffed Fukurou like Zoro and Sanji did their opponents, Chopper extreme diffed Kumadori) and equally important 2) the three strongest of CP9 all had Zoan fruits that significantly increased their physical abilities, which was pointed out several times, compared to Kumadori and Fukurou, who did not have any DFs, and Kalifa and Blueno who had more assistance type DFs. To add, both Lucci and Jabra had predatory type Zoans, which even additionally adds to it.
So yes, the three being closer than the crew are to them has always been true pre-TS, obviously before Franky and Robin even joined, but also after that. I would say around high diff opponents for Luffy.
The Douriki did not do that actually because 1) Zoro and Sanji high end of mid diffed their opponent, while for Luffy it was actually the most extreme fight he had so far, with both going blow to blow and leaving everything on the table. You can guess what kind of opponent Luffy would same diff as Zoro and Sanji did Kaku and Jabra respectively, but it´s definitely closer than Fukurou and Kumadori were to the latter two (Franky same diffed Fukurou like Zoro and Sanji did their opponents, Chopper extreme diffed Kumadori) and equally important 2) the three strongest of CP9 all had Zoan fruits that significantly increased their physical abilities, which was pointed out several times, compared to Kumadori and Fukurou, who did not have any DFs, and Kalifa and Blueno who had more assistance type DFs. To add, both Lucci and Jabra had predatory type Zoans, which even additionally adds to it.
So yes, the three being closer than the crew are to them has always been true pre-TS, obviously before Franky and Robin even joined, but also after that. I would say around high diff opponents for Luffy.
Regarding the douriki, I wouldn't say that at all. Zoro and Sanji didn't mid diff their opponents. Neither one of them were winning at any point, nor even have the upper hand briefly, until they used their final attacks. Those weren't easy fights for them, and they weren't anything lower than high diff. With that said, the point still stands. Lucci's douriki was near double that of the next strongest, Kaku. The devil fruits weren't counted in the douriki, iirc, and further more predatory zoans just make them more aggressive, not stronger. The opponents of Zoro and Sanji were closer in strength to the rest of the crew's opponents than they were to Luffy's opponent, based on the numbers provided.
It wasn't true pre-TS, though it was much closer.
Post-TS, that obviously changed. Sanji was barely matching opponents who were in the past and still are getting toyed with by the level of Luffy´s opponents, while Zoro was somewhere in-between these two (i would say Luffy was mid high tier, Zoro low high tier or high mid tier, Sanji mid mid tier, and Franky low mid tier). So obviously monster trio did not make much sense anymore.
And then Luffy even went further ahead with FS, high high tier, while everyone else remained the same. And with Jinbe joining, who himself is a low high tier, maybe even more, the concept became utterly meaningless.
With Sanji getting the RS, he jumped significantly up, but it´s debatable if he can advance from Jinbe more than the gap between him and Luffy, which is still really big, especially with Luffy learning another advanced Haki technique and moving up to top tier levels.
So right now, Jinbe, Sanji and Zoro are all pretty close to each other, while Luffy is significantly ahead, and the gap between Sanji/Jinbe and Franky is also very big, hence why it makes more sense to group these three together now.
What is gonna happen in the future can be debated, but i still do not see how Sanji could remain closer to PK level Luffy than to high tier Jinbe.
And then Luffy even went further ahead with FS, high high tier, while everyone else remained the same. And with Jinbe joining, who himself is a low high tier, maybe even more, the concept became utterly meaningless.
With Sanji getting the RS, he jumped significantly up, but it´s debatable if he can advance from Jinbe more than the gap between him and Luffy, which is still really big, especially with Luffy learning another advanced Haki technique and moving up to top tier levels.
So right now, Jinbe, Sanji and Zoro are all pretty close to each other, while Luffy is significantly ahead, and the gap between Sanji/Jinbe and Franky is also very big, hence why it makes more sense to group these three together now.
What is gonna happen in the future can be debated, but i still do not see how Sanji could remain closer to PK level Luffy than to high tier Jinbe.



