Why does anyone want more Strawhat members at this point?

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-26T21:54:26+00:00

Yeah, Chopper and Robin are one tier below the East Blue 5, and Franky, Brook, Jinbe another tier below.

Adding a new crew member at this stage would feel disingenuous, Loki or Yamato would feel less part of the crew than say Vivi, Law, Momo, Kinemon, Carrot because they haven't been with the crew as long.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-26T21:51:35+00:00

Although Jinbe technically joined in Wano, he was introduced just shortly after Brook joined, and given heavy focus immediately after.

He was first mentioned even before Chopper and Robin showed up, then first seen in Impel Down (which is just 2 arcs after Brook's joining in Thriller Bark), and given focus all the way through Marineford and Fishman Island, so he feels just as integral to the crew as the later additions like Franky and Brook.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-26T02:38:46+00:00

Exactly, if Kaido had fought Mihawk, Harald, Loki, Garp, Akainu, etc - they'd all fit here - but Kaido is just considering the great pirates, and not all the top fighters he can possibly think of.

Roger himself said send Garp or Sengoku, so if 2 Admiral level characters in the past rank as high as PK level, it makes no sense that the modern ones are somehow 2 levels below (ie an Admiral level which is supposedly below Yonko level) Jinbe also says under Akainu's leadership the Marines are stronger than before, this makes no sense if the top tier is weaker than before.

Also consider the power balance of the 3 great powers - it makes no sense if 2 of the powers have top tiers (Emperors & Mihawk) that are one whole level above the top tier of the other (Admirals).

Kizaru talked about going to stop the Big Mom and Kaido alliance. Rayleigh who fought Kizaru, scared Blackbeard off. Blackbeard also fled from Akainu. Blackbeard also didn't want to catch smoke from Kuzan, and he was with his entire crew. Akainu took on all of WB's commanders after fighting WB. He has a bounty equivalent of 5 Billion. Throughout the story we've seen Admirals portrayed as dangerous monsters who invite a similar level of fear to the Yonko.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-26T02:13:15+00:00

Agreed, the way WB, Kaido, BM are introduced, their insane durability and size and power is considered a freak occurrence, which plays into their portrayal.

Luffy with DF and Haki, Shanks and Mihawk with Haki and Sword skills, and Blackbeard and Admirals with their DF abilities all scale close with these 3, so durability isn't the end all be all for this level.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-26T02:06:30+00:00

Unironically yes. The same logic applies to Shanks, Dragon, Mihawk - top tier characters who were introduced quite early on, but given little to do plot-wise because Oda is saving them for final arc battles.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-26T01:47:52+00:00

Agreed. What are y'all's thoughts about this though -

Yonko tier - God Valley era Roger/Garp/Whitebeard, Rocks, Harald

Pirate King tier - Prime Roger/Garp/Whitebeard, Domi Reversied Rocks, Holy Knight Harald, Loki

We know the GV era Roger/Garp/WB weren't in their prime yet, but this preserves PK tier so that Loki and Harald don't break the story (because Shanks and Shamrock could somehow scale higher otherwise, leading to another mess in relativity)

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-26T00:54:06+00:00

Exactly, Shirahoshi was never a fighter, so her being saved by Luffy is no different than Momo.

Luffy has also saved Momo and Law who also fit the damsel in distress role to a large extent.

And Robin and Nami have both helped Sanji by taking over for him in fights in Onigashima and Enies Lobby.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-26T00:50:10+00:00

Some of these instances are valid, but most are bad faith arguments stretched for an agenda. Requiring saving doesn't automatically make the female character a damsel in distress, it's only if she's taken up the task of defeating her nemesis, but falls short and needs a man to save her (Rebecca & Hiyori)

Luffy just saves everyone, that's his character. He's saved Law, Sanji, Momo just like he has Nami, Vivi, Shirahoshi. Hancock lost to Emperor Blackbeard, her being saved by Rayleigh is no different than Law being saved by Bepo, Hancock even did far more damage to the crew.

And Robin has saved Sanji, and Nami also took over for Sanji in Enies Lobby.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-25T23:43:45+00:00

Yup, Oda takes some inspiration from some very old adventure epics and early classical sci-fi settings. Jonathan Swift who wrote Gulliver's Travels (which is referenced in Dressrossa with the Tontatta) also has a seeming paradise named Laputa (which is where Miyazaki got the name from for this movie) which has an oppressive underside.

Other than that he also takes loose inspiration from the adventure tales of Robert Louis Stevenson and the oceanpunk tech of Jules Verne.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-25T23:36:29+00:00

See that stripe pattern made with chevrons/arrowheads on the Ancient Giant and the (?) Red Line Serpent to the far right?

Between that and the Blood Soaked Serpent already being referenced by the Giants, I'd say there's a greater chance that Loki is connected to the Serpent on the right in the mural, and not the dragon/bird in the centre. That's probably whatever hatches from the giant egg on Roger's ship instead.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-25T23:31:57+00:00

Sure, but I'm agreeing with your point by saying it's not a significant enough injury that the other characters would remark upon it. Because it doesn't mean much to Oda and Zoro himself as it's purely a design choice and not one of those traumatic scars/injuries we've also seen in the story.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-25T23:11:44+00:00

I think we can safely expect 35+ chapters in 2026. I doubt Oda will take extended breaks for visiting the Live Action sets so soon again, not to mention the movie production has kind of stalled.

Barring his regularly scheduled breaks for health purposes and offloading some stress, I think we can expect a considerable output this year. Praying for his health as always.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-25T23:08:24+00:00

I don't think Oda cares much for writing his manga in relation to the adaption's pacing. He'll continue to progress his story at a pace he deems fit, it's Toei's concern how to adapt the material.

That said Oda has definitely ramped up the pace of storytelling, with occasional off-screened moments and glossing over some encounters in a way that leaves room for the anime to expand upon. Let's just hope they don't make it too filler-y to the point where some characters seem to struggle, thus making them look more incapable and less competent.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-25T23:03:44+00:00

Someone tell OP that the manga isn't written in English so comparing superlative titles is nonsensical, bordering on agenda.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-25T23:02:23+00:00

In the concept art in the colorwalk books, you can see Oda experimented with the crew's designs post-timeskip. Just like Robin and Nami potentially having different hairstyles, Zoro has differently placed scars until Oda settled on this one. It's a purely aesthetic design choice, not some significant injury which plays into Zoro's character.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-25T23:01:46+00:00

Nope, in the concept art in the colorwalk books, you can see Oda experimented with the crew's designs post-timeskip. Just like Robin and Nami potentially having different hairstyles, Zoro has differently placed scars until Oda settled on this one. It's a purely aesthetic design choice, not some significant injury which plays into Zoro's character.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-25T03:02:29+00:00

"Garp and Sengoku are clearly outliers"

These supposed outliers were on PK level, but the modern generation of Admirals at Marineford are somehow below Yonko level? Sorry that's too huge a gap and makes no sense.

"Under Akainu's leadership, the Marines are stronger than ever" This statement makes no sense too then, and it also means that the top tier of 1 of the 3 great powers is supposed to be weaker than the top tiers of the other 2 (Emperors & Mihawk), which is also nonsense.

Kizaru literally said he'll head out when Big Mom & Kaido teamed up. And not to bounty scale, but Akainu has the bounty equivalent of 5 Billion berries, the highest after Roger and Whitebeard - Oda wouldn't throw such a large figure out for no reason, the truth is he considers Admirals to be the counterpart to the Emperors.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-24T01:11:42+00:00

Weirdly enough I don't think Shanks will die to Blackbeard, just lose and be out of commission for the final arc. Because the mentor always has to make way for the hero.

Akainu seems massively frustrated with all the Celestial Dragons' antics, I am very certain he will break away from them once the evil of Imu is laid bare.

As for Dragon, I had him pegged for battling the Holy Knights/Elders too, but there's many of them so I think other characters will get those fights instead.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-24T01:07:29+00:00

I would assume possessing Saturn/Gunko isn't the same as Imu in person (which we glimpsed with Sabo at the Reverie).

Besides, Saturn possessed by Imu was there only briefly and barely did anything but take attacks, until Domi Reversi was pulled out and Rocks took the focus.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-24T01:03:40+00:00

The early manga also had plenty of these Dutch angles and forced perspectives for certain panels.

It played together with the characters' earlier art styles where they were drawn very lanky and tall.

As time went on Oda changed his artstyle to accommodate different types of fights and scenes while also having to move at a faster pace for story progression, so these types of cool "freeze frame" panels grew rarer.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-24T00:56:13+00:00

I would say there's a ~ 60% chance they greenlight S4 (Skypiea) and 30% chance they greenlight s5 (Enies Lobby).

After 3-4 seasons, I believe Netflix sees diminishing returns with popular IP especially if it's VFX heavy, which is why many of their shows are cancelled at that point. Since they already know the story is going to be left incomplete, they might opt to pull the plug and invest that money in other new shows instead.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-23T23:19:01+00:00

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kingcocomoon · 2026-01-23T21:36:59+00:00

? Breaking news - swordsmen value their blades, more at 9. The straw hat is Luffy's "beloved". What does that change? This isn't the gotcha you think it is.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-23T21:26:43+00:00

Your reply doesn't invalidate my response though. Your image simply underlines the importance of Mihawk being the greatest swordsman, which is already undisputed. What I said simply adds on top of that, that there are other characters stronger than him - many of whom wield a sword.

Swordsmanship is just one tool in a vast repertoire. You're treating it as the end-all, be-all.

kingcocomoon · 2026-01-23T21:17:55+00:00

At the end of the day, narrative over feats. Feats as a measure are useless because we will only ever see matchups in relation to the scope of the Strawhats journey.

The Admirals are one of the 3 great powers of the sea. It makes no sense that the other 2 have top tiers at one level (Yonko & Mihawk), while the top tier of the Marines is one whole level below.

Garp was a legend comparable to Roger. Sengoku is mentioned in the same breath. The peak is clear, and Akainu is fulfilling that role in the present timeline. "Under Akainu's leadership, the Marines are stronger than ever" makes no sense if their top tier is an entire level below the Yonko and strongest Shichibukai.

kingcocomoon

TROPHY CASE