I don't understand why people expected Kizaru to be a big deal. Was it because he was heading to EGG and possibly going to be the next arc boss?
What proper build-up did Kizaru have to be a great adversary who could effectively serve the basic role of being a significant obstacle for Luffy? Zero build-up for that. Of course, beating up rookie SNS and letting them all escape isn't something impressive—it's an insane L if you ask me.
Unlike Kaidou, who was hyped up by everyone after the time skip and had all that build-up—Dressrosa, where Doffy did well to elevate the hype for Kaidou, Law in PH, and Big Mom in Whole Cake all played their parts in building him up. Kaidou, as many believe, might be a poorly written character, but he didn't fail to meet people's expectations in terms of strength and performance; he's an incomparable monster so far.
Did people really think that Kizaru, who didn't receive any of that build-up, would be someone superior to the villain that Oda put the most effort into showing the public as the strongest? It's crazy. Kizaru is just a mere admiral that Oda doesn't care about. He was literally overshadowed in his own arc and couldn't even be a decent obstacle for the protagonist—he didn't even force Luffy to get serious. And this is entirely plausible, people. After all, Oda has an admiral with the same rank as Kizaru get humiliated by a Yonko from miles away and dance to the tune of his Haki.
@comrade
