General & Others Morj perfectly explains why the Luffy vs Kaido end felt so anticlimactic to so many people
- Thread starter Blackknife
- Start date
This is the biggest issue. Because Luffy perpetually loses and his losses always lead to him getting power ups, they never feel real. As a result there was never a moment of genuine tension in the fight.
Like imagine if after kaido supposedly "killed" luffy, there was actually a decent gap between that and Luffy awakening his DF. Imagine if Kaido descended below the roof and Luffy wasn't there to save the allies. Everyone has to make a futile attempt to defeat kaido, or otherwise die an honor-less death. While that's happening, awakening isn't merely handed to Luffy. We actually see Luffy's mind as he edges closer and closer to death. Defeating Kaido seems like an insurmountable option and dying legitimately seems easier. As Luffy gets closer to death, he begins to see Ace in his dreams. Luffy is given a choice, to die and walk to the afterlife with Ace, or to continue to struggle against kaido. Ultimately, Luffy sees a vision of what is happening below the roof. Of how everyone will struggle and die if he dies. Then luffy knows what choice he has to make....
I feel like this ^^^ is the type of thing you would expect from any other manga. idk, maybe Oda is unwilling to pull out stuff like that because he's saving it for blackbeard or akainu. But I think that speaks to the flaws of OP. How the manga is so long that kaido, who is in actuality a side villain, gets build up usually reserved for main villains. Ultimately leading to Oda dropping the ball, as he can't raise the stakes as high as he should, or else it would ruin Blackbeard/Akainu/Imu's fight.
Like imagine if after kaido supposedly "killed" luffy, there was actually a decent gap between that and Luffy awakening his DF. Imagine if Kaido descended below the roof and Luffy wasn't there to save the allies. Everyone has to make a futile attempt to defeat kaido, or otherwise die an honor-less death. While that's happening, awakening isn't merely handed to Luffy. We actually see Luffy's mind as he edges closer and closer to death. Defeating Kaido seems like an insurmountable option and dying legitimately seems easier. As Luffy gets closer to death, he begins to see Ace in his dreams. Luffy is given a choice, to die and walk to the afterlife with Ace, or to continue to struggle against kaido. Ultimately, Luffy sees a vision of what is happening below the roof. Of how everyone will struggle and die if he dies. Then luffy knows what choice he has to make....
I feel like this ^^^ is the type of thing you would expect from any other manga. idk, maybe Oda is unwilling to pull out stuff like that because he's saving it for blackbeard or akainu. But I think that speaks to the flaws of OP. How the manga is so long that kaido, who is in actuality a side villain, gets build up usually reserved for main villains. Ultimately leading to Oda dropping the ball, as he can't raise the stakes as high as he should, or else it would ruin Blackbeard/Akainu/Imu's fight.
