Break Week Opinion: Zoro should’ve fought a Samurai in a proper swords battle

[draganax]

king has the most perfect fighting style i've ever seen in one piece, the diversity, the aggressiveness, the power, it's so beautiful to watch.
too bad the writing around it sucks tho.

lets compare this fight to zoro vs kaku fight:
-when kaku went hybrid he was already stronger, faster, durable and more mobile than zoro, and he could easily break zoro's guard or catch him of guard to land clean hits.
-and when he started to use yontoryu (for swords style) he just completely overpowered zoro cutting him left and right, in a display of overwhelming superiority, that's until zoro used asura and one shoted him.
-king on the other hand has never landed a clean hit on zoro, all of his attacks got either blocked or dodged, and the only way that zoro gets damaged is because he crashes into walls and rocks (which is an obviously a PIS forced way of taking damage, and zoro for some unknown reason didn't protect himself with armament despite him being the specialist).
-the only areas that king surpasses zoro in are: durability, mobility and strength. but he is clearly not faster nor skilled than zoro, because zoro landed clean on king hits if not for king's mysterious racial ability cancelling the damage.

now let's look at it from a plot perspective:
-king's character is being developed bit by bit as the fight continues we are just getting to know him, we literally had almost 100 chapters in 1st and2nd acts and oda couldn't give him any development until onigashima, that is just disgraceful writing, compared to queen who got plenty of characterization during udon and established conflict with luffy, chopper and later in onigashima he showed interest in sanji.
-the fight between zoro and king just came out of nowhere, marco had to get low diffed off-screen to clear the spot for zoro, oda literally just said: oh zoro is there, king is there, let's make them fight each other.
-zoro has more plot relevancy on the rooftop, fighting kaido, fulfilling oden's will, and the ryuma legend...
-zoro and king have nothing in common, no previous interactions, no motivations to fight each other, no linked plotlines, they aren't rivals, oda tried to create this "respect" plotpoint as a theme for their fight which just comes off as forced as hell, and it's not going anywhere.

king is a great character, but the fight simply make no sense.
the shogun is truly a wasted potential, he should've been someone that stands shoulder to shoulder with kaido, instead we got this pathetic snot-nosed good for nothing fool.

this is what should happen:
luffy, kid, law and yamato vs kaido and big mom
zoro and killer vs orochi (the badass version)
sanji and marco vs king and queen

 

[ShadyOjiro]

Being both right hand is enough I think.

And bout flying enemies idk I bet mihawk/shanks don't have aerial skills.

Sanji subplot is kinda lame just Oda working on what he couldn't do in WCI.

 

[Finalbeta]

The taboo of Zoro merely taking on swordsmen was stupid from the get go. His history displays how that funnily didn't even happen in the past let alone the present and future.

 

[draganax]

The taboo of Zoro merely taking on swordsmen was stupid from the get go. His history displays how that funnily didn't even happen in the past let alone the present and future.

it's not a bad thing tho, it shows how zoro overcomes different fighting styles relying on nothing but his swordsmanship, i think it's badass.

 

[Finalbeta]

it's not a bad thing tho, it shows how zoro overcomes different fighting styles relying on nothing but his swordsmanship, i think it's badass.

The Grandmaster forged himself as a very flexible swordsman. He himself claimed he would never lose again. :cheers:

 

[draganax]

The Grandmaster forged himself as a very flexible swordsman. He himself claimed he would never lose again. :cheers:

that's for sure, i never lost faith in him, he basically carries the series.

 

[Swordtaker]

Zoro fighting a guy who knows nothing but to fight with swords would be boring af, imagine them doing nothing but clashing swords for a couple of chapters, oda would need to mix things up so he can play with his weird imagination, we know he loves creating weird stuff. this character zoro was so one dimensional thats the reason oda keep on pairing him to opponents who have multiple fighting methods.

Post automatically merged: Nov 21, 2021

The Grandmaster forged himself as a very flexible swordsman. He himself claimed he would never lose again. :cheers:

yet he lose several times

 

[draganax]

this character zoro was so one dimensional thats the reason oda keep on pairing him to opponents who have multiple fighting methods.

this is just wrong, it's the most disingenuous critique against zoro i've seen.
zoro has multiple sword styles: 0/1/2/3/9 sword styles, and each style has it's unique choreography, and a plethora of designated attacks. that's far from one dimensional.
zoro doesn't need to just fight swordsmen, there's also people who use spears, halberds, axes... bladed oriented fighting styles, with their own unique choreographies as well.
oda is just lazy to draw that he simply sucks as drawing good fights, the enjoyment factor has nothing to do with that.
there's mangas about boxing (just two people punching each other) that had fights better than anything one piece could ever offer.

 

[Swordtaker]

zoro has multiple sword styles: 0/1/2/3/9 sword styles,

im talking about fighting style not techniques.

 

[draganax]

im talking about fighting style not techniques dumbass.

you obviously can't read so i wouldn't even bother.

 

[Swordtaker]

you obviously can't read so i wouldn't even bother.

imagine thinking techniques and forms are all seperate fighting style, typical Zorofan

 

[CbShadow]

The Queen fight vs Sanji is simply a better written fight. Even the Jack fight apart from the off screening. Why?

Inurashi had a legitimate backstory with Jack.

Queen has a legitimate backstory with Sanji and Judge/MADS.

Zoro has nothing to do with King or his character apart them being the right hands of their crew. Now Oda is trying to force feed us King’s backstory to “help” beat him. It’s contrived af.

What do we get instead? Zoro being exposed for not being able to fly…Again. How many times must we go down this route?

Now his opponent doesn’t even consider himself a “swordsman”. If Orochi was going to be weak, and Denjiro going to betray him, then use someone else, like Orochi’s son.

Imagine having an evil badass Samurai, part of the Orochi clan, and his son, being >= YC1 level or whatever fighting in a PROPER swords duel with Zoro, and not just “What is the secret Lunarian ability?”.

Zoro should’ve fought the “Strongest Swordsman/Samurai of Wano”. It’s such a missed opportunity.

Zoro and King are both FM/right handmen.

Zoro can fly.

That's why King failed to knock Zoro off the island and haven't tried again.

Of course, he is not better at flying than King. Nobody is better at fighting in the sky than King. Not even Marco. Remember, Sanji's RS increase his flight power and he was still easily beat King.

The way the story is written a strong enemy samurai doesn't work. Samurais have honor code and a strong one would never work for a coward like Orochi or allow Kaido to rule Wano. The samurai would have killed Orochi and fought Kaido for Wano.

King vs Zoro works very well. He is a very diverse fighter with him several different styles and powers. The benefit to Zoro fighting and eventually defeating a fighter with a diverse fighting style it shows how strong swordsman aren't just strong against other swordsman. They are strong against any type fighter. King does have a strong swordsmanship so Oda is still giving us a sword battle.

Zoro fighting a guy who knows nothing but to fight with swords would be boring af, imagine them doing nothing but clashing swords for a couple of chapters, oda would need to mix things up so he can play with his weird imagination, we know he loves creating weird stuff. this character zoro was so one dimensional thats the reason oda keep on pairing him to opponents who have multiple fighting methods.

Post automatically merged: Nov 21, 2021

yet he lose several times

I disagree.

Zoro fighting an opponent that only has swordsmanship could still be a very interesting battle if it's written well. But that applies to any battle. Zoro vs Ryuma is still one of my favorite battles. There was a lot going on in that battle and I love the way that they used their techniques to deflect each other attacks. I brought that part up because of skills Kyoshiro's used against Zoro.

When Zoro first attack Orochi, Kyoshiro arrived and deflected his attack.

I believed, before I realized Kyoshiro was a good guy, he was going to be one of Zoro's main opponents for Wano. He was going to be a gentle style swordsman who's fighting style revolves around deflecting attacks. I thought he would have the power to deflect any attack. He would be another opponent who possesses a strong/unique defense Zoro would have to overcome.

That could have made a very interesting battle and would have forced Zoro to learn gentle style to understand how to overcome his opponent's deflecting techniques.

Sadly, that didn't happen.

 

[Sword God Ryuma]

king has the most perfect fighting style i've ever seen in one piece, the diversity, the aggressiveness, the power, it's so beautiful to watch.
too bad the writing around it sucks tho.

lets compare this fight to zoro vs kaku fight:
-when kaku went hybrid he was already stronger, faster, durable and more mobile than zoro, and he could easily break zoro's guard or catch him of guard to land clean hits.
-and when he started to use yontoryu (for swords style) he just completely overpowered zoro cutting him left and right, in a display of overwhelming superiority, that's until zoro used asura and one shoted him.
-king on the other hand has never landed a clean hit on zoro, all of his attacks got either blocked or dodged, and the only way that zoro gets damaged is because he crashes into walls and rocks (which is an obviously a PIS forced way of taking damage, and zoro for some unknown reason didn't protect himself with armament despite him being the specialist).
-the only areas that king surpasses zoro in are: durability, mobility and strength. but he is clearly not faster nor skilled than zoro, because zoro landed clean on king hits if not for king's mysterious racial ability cancelling the damage.

now let's look at it from a plot perspective:
-king's character is being developed bit by bit as the fight continues we are just getting to know him, we literally had almost 100 chapters in 1st and2nd acts and oda couldn't give him any development until onigashima, that is just disgraceful writing, compared to queen who got plenty of characterization during udon and established conflict with luffy, chopper and later in onigashima he showed interest in sanji.
-the fight between zoro and king just came out of nowhere, marco had to get low diffed off-screen to clear the spot for zoro, oda literally just said: oh zoro is there, king is there, let's make them fight each other.
-zoro has more plot relevancy on the rooftop, fighting kaido, fulfilling oden's will, and the ryuma legend...
-zoro and king have nothing in common, no previous interactions, no motivations to fight each other, no linked plotlines, they aren't rivals, oda tried to create this "respect" plotpoint as a theme for their fight which just comes off as forced as hell, and it's not going anywhere.

king is a great character, but the fight simply make no sense.
the shogun is truly a wasted potential, he should've been someone that stands shoulder to shoulder with kaido, instead we got this pathetic snot-nosed good for nothing fool.

this is what should happen:
luffy, kid, law and yamato vs kaido and big mom
zoro and killer vs orochi (the badass version)
sanji and marco vs king and queen

1. This is not true after King sent Zoro flying through outside wall he caught up to him and hit him in the stomach and also he overpowered him with his name attack and made him spit blood
2. King still hasn't even used his Fire manipulation yet.

 

[Weeman]

If Orochi had been a legit Samurai menace, like a rival to Oden back in the day and around King's own level, it could've made for a really cool Zoro-centric antagonist.

But as thigns currently are, the strongest Samurai alive are all on the alliance's side lol

 

[draganax]

1. This is not true after King sent Zoro flying through outside wall he caught up to him and hit him in the stomach and also he overpowered him with his name attack and made him spit blood

king never broke zoro's sword guard, most of king's attacks are either slashing or piercing attacks, if any of them bypassed zoro's guard, zoro would be cut or stabbed, but he doesn't have one cut or stab wound on him, none of king's attacks connected directly with zoro's body.
the only damage zoro took came from slamming his unprotected back against the walls and rocks, not king's attacks.

2. King still hasn't even used his Fire manipulation yet.

true, but zoro can counter fire based attacks, oda can try some gymnastics to make it work, but again, it would be forced as hell.

 

[KiriNigiri]

Earlier in Wano, I was hoping for this, just to see if Oda could channel of some old samurai classics. But as the arc went on, it not only became less likely, but less appropriate for the arc. The Samurai are the allies of the Straw Hats, who are trying to return the land that was once theirs. The ones who bent the knee to Kaido and Orochi were the weak willed ones, and will directly correlates with strength more often than not in this series.

 

[Patryipe]

Of course he can. Zoro vs Killer was nicely choreographed in the few panels we got. Oda just doesn't seem to give a shit about drawing fights between actual Swordsmen.

Nah, it was bland, like every sword fight. You're seeing this with King as well. Whenever he just uses the sword the fight turns lame. Oda can't draw it.

 

[ShinmenTakezo]

This was my opinion since the beginning of Wa No.
We are at the land of the samurai, and mr bushido is fighting a dinosaur.

Oda messed this one up big time.

 

[Finalbeta]

yet he lose several times

He never truly lost again, this is the gist of such beauty. The fight with Kuma ended with Kuma going away after Zoro accepted conditions and Kizaru vs Zoro got interrupted. So technically Zoro never declared "I surrender, I' ve lost" or something or technically lost independently.

 

[Malio]

The "Warrior of Science" is the objectively the best plotline in Wano right now and this was "Zoro's arc".

States his opinion and calls it objectively :cantseeme: