Break Week Was Luffy’s Red Rock Attack on Kaido Disappointing?

[Elder Lee Hung]

I was reading the new chapter, and I couldn’t help but be underwhelmed by Luffy’s Red Rock attack on Kaido. And I don’t mean narratively, I mean artistically.

This image just doesn’t pack much weight behind it and imo is really underwhelming. With art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I decided to compare it to some other images we got from Oda in the past:

Comparing it to this image Oda drew 20+ years ago, and you can see a stark difference. The dramatic line effects all center on the impact of the punch, the water is dynamic and splashing in chaotic ways as a result of the punch, the area of impact is clearly visible and you can see how the Fish’s face reacts to the impact, Luffy’s pose is much clearer, etc..

Compare this to Red Rock, and it looks like Oda just got lazy, and drew the image from the worst angle possible and we really can’t see anything happening.

Some more punches for comparison:

And, one more time:

Do you see what I mean?

We can’t see either Luffy’s or Kaido’s facial expression in this moment, there are no artistic effects to stress the speed and power of the punch, I can’t even tell wtf is happening with Kaido’s body, and much of Luffy’s body is obscured by smoke or is drawn from an indifferent perspective that doesn’t highlight him at all.

To top it all off, Luffy’s fist isn’t even visibly striking Kaido here. It’s like Luffy’s fist is moving so fast that we missed the actual attack. Some may like this, but this kinda reminds me of how characters in Dragonball eventually started moving so fast that the artists didn’t even bother drawing them, and instead just started drawing a bunch of impact effects and expected people to be impressed. Which I guess worked for some but not for me lol.

I thought this was a really disappointing moment from Oda. A lot of people have praised the art in Wano, but imo Wano is full of moments that show how lazy Oda has become as an artist, with this image arguably being the best example of this.

This is chapter freaking 1,000....this is such a huge accomplishment for Oda, and this moment should’ve been one of the most hype punches in the entire series.

But I’m sitting here like, did Oda even put as much effort into this as he did when Luffy punched the Lord of the Coast in Chapter 1?

Am I alone here?

@Light D Lamperouge @Luthon @Den_Den_Mushi @dizzy2341 @Owl Ki @Blackbeard @playa4321 @Sentinel @RayanOO @Seth etc etc etc

 

[RayanOO]

Agree

We don't see much of Luffy attacks : the fire G3 punch could have been more drawn, here we didn't see a single time the big fist with fire, I wanted to see it

Kaido face being hit is weird and too goofy.

And Kaido body being hit at the end is drawn in such a weird manner I can't recognize his arm etc, for a second I thought he turned into dragon form.

Not 100% lame, but Oda could do a lot better

G4 was a lot better too

Spoiler

 

[duckman]

I..did think it was fan-made at first, but it's just scans. So wait for the Viz.

 

[Elder Lee Hung]

I..did think it was fan-made at first, but it's just scans. So wait for the Viz.

The Viz image will improve things like image clarity and shading effects lol. It won’t fix a lazily drawn shot.

 

[Steven]

It looks for me like a discout version of KKG

 

[Light D Lamperouge]

I'll share my thoughts in more detail when I actually read the chapter lmao. However, I get what you mean. Judging by that pic there it looks somehow lazy lmao.

 

[uyuu]

Imo Oda is tired.

And yes, its artistically such an ordinary depiction. The fist was unseen - was there a difference in the shape of the fist? Tribal motifs? Spikes on his fist like spiky and deadly gauntlet? - and the effects are redundant. Everyone have flaming attacks these days. Give us something else. Expanding and criss-crossing saturn rings of explosion with various size? Multiple diamond-shaped stars converging around black lightning sphere at the surface of Luffy's fist or Kaidou's head? Making it just burning was lazy imo.

 

[ShinmenTakezo]

I think it´s a style change that has been going on for a while, and not for the better.
You used to have these close-up two page spread or at least wide hits in close-up that seemed very dynamic and powerful, you simply do not have that anymore, and that includes Elizabello´s King Punch.

 

[Garp the Fist]

There’s not enough impact. If you compare it to the pacifista back in basically the same layout

There you can see the impact the attack has on the ground, it’s conveying that Luffy’s attack was so powerful that the force of Luffy slamming the Pacifista off the ground is shaking the earth.

Here, it’s too zoomed in- you can see at the edges that the ground is rising, but it’s not an earthshaker of an attack. It’s more like the ground is sort of shifting up, not being wrenched up by the force of the attack.

But this is just the opening punch, not the final one. The other images you have shown are ending their fights- here, Kaido is going to get back up and be basically fine. It’s not meant to be an attack that shows Luffy has overwhelmingly overpowered Kaido

 

[duckman]

I think it´s a style change that has been going on for a while, and not for the better.
You used to have these close-up two page spread or at least wide hits in close-up that seemed very dynamic and powerful, you simply do not have that anymore, and that includes Elizabello´s King Punch.

Um...Dressrosa is full of those kind of hits. Heck, read the Germa saving Sanji chapter. Tons of Double Spreads. Zoro vs Hawkins. Zoro vs Kamazo. etc.

 

[Dark Admiral]

You guys missed the point; the actual contact with Luffy's fist with Kaido's face is made in this page. You can clearly see the impact and the pain on Kaido's face.

What we see next is just Kaido getting pinned down from the force which Luffy put behind that "Red Rock".

All the above given examples show both of these moments in one double spread which made it easier for us to feel the power behind the punch and the impact afterwards. But this one was different. Oda couldn't just show Kaido, the strongest creature get down with a single shot in a single page.

 

[Gensui Sazid]

Oda just Copy pasta-ed Post-Ts Luffy punching the pacifista
If i didnt read the chap i would have thought someone photoshopped Kaido into the Pacifista panel

imo Oda should have gone with a better angle where we can see the punch, point of impact, Luffy and Kaido's expression ALL in a single panel. Not in thousands of smaller panels that looks like trashy jumpcuts that we see in many movie/series that cant orchestra a decent fight choreography.
i swear i am not a hater
All hail Goda and One Piece

 

[Finalbeta]

The drawing style looks on point to me despite I'm no expert. The animation will allegedly render it even better but so far I still don't spot anything too off about it. I would say the author is enough creative when it comes to new attacks, the sole shame is constituted by the notion this move looks too similar to Elephant Gun.

 

[Seth]

I was reading the new chapter, and I couldn’t help but be underwhelmed by Luffy’s Red Rock attack on Kaido. And I don’t mean narratively, I mean artistically.

This image just doesn’t pack much weight behind it and imo is really underwhelming. With art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I decided to compare it to some other images we got from Oda in the past:

Comparing it to this image Oda drew 20+ years ago, and you can see a stark difference. The dramatic line effects all center on the impact of the punch, the water is dynamic and splashing in chaotic ways as a result of the punch, the area of impact is clearly visible and you can see how the Fish’s face reacts to the impact, Luffy’s pose is much clearer, etc..

Compare this to Red Rock, and it looks like Oda just got lazy, and drew the image from the worst angle possible and we really can’t see anything happening.

Some more punches for comparison:

And, one more time:

Do you see what I mean?

We can’t see either Luffy’s or Kaido’s facial expression in this moment, there are no artistic effects to stress the speed and power of the punch, I can’t even tell wtf is happening with Kaido’s body, and much of Luffy’s body is obscured by smoke or is drawn from an indifferent perspective that doesn’t highlight him at all.

To top it all off, Luffy’s fist isn’t even visibly striking Kaido here. It’s like Luffy’s fist is moving so fast that we missed the actual attack. Some may like this, but this kinda reminds me of how characters in Dragonball eventually started moving so fast that the artists didn’t even bother drawing them, and instead just started drawing a bunch of impact effects and expected people to be impressed. Which I guess worked for some but not for me lol.

I thought this was a really disappointing moment from Oda. A lot of people have praised the art in Wano, but imo Wano is full of moments that show how lazy Oda has become as an artist, with this image arguably being the best example of this.

This is chapter freaking 1,000....this is such a huge accomplishment for Oda, and this moment should’ve been one of the most hype punches in the entire series.

But I’m sitting here like, did Oda even put as much effort into this as he did when Luffy punched the Lord of the Coast in Chapter 1?

Am I alone here?

@Light D Lamperouge @Luthon @Den_Den_Mushi @dizzy2341 @Owl Ki @Blackbeard @playa4321 @Sentinel @RayanOO @Seth etc etc etc

Yeah, I can agree. The concept sounds sick but I have a lot of problems with this panel starting with Luffy ending on Kaido.

At first it looked like fan art ;d

 

[Fn Lucci]

Rofl

This is the OPENING SHOT, not the money shot. The only point was to show that when Luffy makes contact now Kaido really feels it. Why would Oda even try to outdo himself when he still has every bit of the fight against the two of them to cover

Your example should be something like Luffy strolling up to Arlong

 

[Tripod]

I agree that it’s not beautiful but I do still think it’s very impactful
Plus the anime will do it justice