One Piece’s anime is currently heating up with the highly anticipated fight between Luffy and Kizaru. The two first clashed against one another in the Sabaody Archipelago Arc after Luffy punched a Celestial Dragon. Kizaru was sent to deal with the pirates on the island and easily overpowered them. Luffy again met Kizaru in the Summit War, but without Haki, he couldn’t have fought and won against any of the Admirals. However, he has grown much stronger in the past two years after mastering all forms of Haki. Not only that but his Gear 5 awakening is so overpowered that he can even easily defeat Kaido, the strongest creature on Earth. Luffy is now even more powerful than the Admirals, including Kizaru.
However, because the result of the fight is ambiguous, and more enemies start to appear during the clash between Luffy and Kizaru, many fans believe that the Emperor is still a lot weaker than Kizaru. Even though that’s not the case anymore, the confusion regarding the fight between the two was a topic of debate until now. However, famous One Piece animator Vincent Chansard, who worked on Episode 1127, explains the storyboarding process of this spectacular fight.
Luffy vs. Kizaru Is Much Deeper Than Fans Realize
In his official X account, Vincent shared a long thread sharing notes about the storyboarding. He says, “At a certain point, Kizaru figures out he’s not going to win head-on if Luffy just dodges everything, so he tries another approach, kind of like Luffy vs Enel in Skypiea.”
He later adds, “At this point in the story, Luffy isn’t really trying to beat Kizaru; he’s just stalling him. He’s dodging, teasing, keeping things light, only pulling out a named attack once Kiki actually manages to land a hit. He literally, at several points in the fight, held Kizaru in his palm.”
While most fans look at the surface of things, animators must fully understand the plot, the characters’ actions, their complex emotions, and so much more to create a beautifully animated scene. At first glimpse, the fight between Luffy and Kizaru might seem like any other battle, but things are much different this time.
In Episode 1126, Kizaru confirmed that he doesn’t want to kill Vegapunk, so his heart might be wavering when he’s fighting Luffy. On the other hand, Luffy’s main priority right now is to stall Kizaru for as long as possible so the others can prepare to escape the island. Luffy doesn’t usually kill his opponents, and knocking out an Admiral isn’t an easy task by any means.
Hence, stalling Kizaru is the best available option for him. While Kizaru’s dilemma may be holding him back, it’s also not an exaggeration to say that Luffy is stronger than him now. The manga is currently in its Final Saga, and Luffy will have to face much stronger opponents than the Admirals. Since the animator clarified that Luffy held Kizaru in his palm, the confusion should be finally solved. However, many Admiral fans aren’t happy with this post and believe that’s not how the story is intended to portray the fight.
H/T: @Sparkleredpanda on X
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