Literally
NOTHING HAS CHANGED
If anything, it has changed for the worst for the Sanji fanboys
First of all, it'simply idiotic to take the statement literally, as it would otherwise imply that Gaban = Rayleigh = Roger, no escape from that
And does someone seriously believe such a thing? So do the same people think that Sanji = Luffy = Zoro?
Oh wait... they conveniently try to not see Roger/Luffy, removing them from the equation for their agenda...
The chapter simply says that Gaban is "equal" to Roger and Rayleigh
in the sense that he is in the same plane as them as pirates of legendary status
Like Shiki to Roger, Oden to Roger and Whitebeard, and so on (guess why... no one has ever considered Shiki equal to Roger in strength or Oden equal to Roger and Whitebeard in strength)
In fact, the word used is the same used to say that Luffy is "equal" to Shanks now,
Which obviously was in the sense that Luffy is in the same plane as Shanks as both are Yonkos
The word used for Gaban/Roger/Rayleigh and Luffy/Shanks is the same
And it's DIFFERENT from the one used to depict "equality" regarding overall combat strength
It's not even fame, given that Roger as the Pirate King is possibly the most famous pirate ever, and Rayleigh is famous enough to be in
HISTORY BOOKS, with any single Straw Hat knowing about him...
... While no one of them even knew who the f... Gaban was
Roger = Everyone knowns and is in history books
Rayleigh = Everyone knows and is in history books
Gaban = Many don't know and He is NOT in history books
So it's not fighting strength, it's not fame/reputation, it's just general standing, based not on my opinion but on words used, comparisons of different portrayal, and some common sense
In fact, you see that Rayleigh is consistently portrayed as SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE Gaban, with the two NOT being put in the same level
Rayleigh is the person closest to Roger, not Gaban, neither Rayleigh and Gaban, that's shown and literally stated
Rayleigh is CONFIRMED STRONGER than Gaban
By the author himself, with no if or but, PLAINLY STRONGER
No Rayleigh and Gaban tied for N2 or close enough that a N2 can't be highlighted...
Rayleigh is the undesputable N2
Unsurprisingly, when the author illustrates the Roger Pirates
One can barely see Gaban compared to Rayleigh and Roger
Roger and Rayleigh steal the entire scene, put at the center, with equal focus
Gaban? You can barely spot him, he is so insignificant that even freaking Crocus and kid Shanks and kid Buggy get more focus than him!
Why, do you think?
It's a coincidence that Oda called these characters with names based on the metals that EVERYONE IN THIS WORLD know to scale as precious metals/not precious metals, and olympic medals as 🥇🥈🥉? Come on, use common sense...
Gold > Silver > Copper (bronze is made of copper) 🥇🥈🥉
Gol D. Roger > Silvers Rayleigh > Scopper Gaban
Likewise
Luffy > Zoro > Sanji
Zoro has, throughout the ENTIRE STORY, always had much better feats and stronger powers
Has much higher combat potential and much higher fighting benchmarks
We know Zoro's combat speed is fast enough to keep up with Sanji's movement speed
Zoro has the endurance to endure Sanji's kicks, and the Haki and physical strength to block them with his swords
Sanji can't survive Zoro's Adv CoC attacks, Zoro can survive Sanji's attacks
Sanji's current strongest attacks literally tingled Luffy's back, Zoro's strongest attack from 150 chapter ago and two power ups ago could permanently damage Kaido who eclipses Luffy in passive durability... in terms of attacking power and Haki, Zoro outclasses Sanji by a large, large, large margin
It can be a decent fight between 100% Sanji and holding back Zoro, when Zoro uses his 100% Sanji gets destroyed
Hell, chapter even shows us that Gaban sees Roger in both Luffy and Zoro
Luffy and Zoro who ignore Gaban completely, would they treat Rayleigh the same? We have literally seen they won't lmao
