One Piece - Chapter 897 [manga]

[P_Dezz]

Originally Posted by J4n1

So far Zoro has not faced any major opponents.
Sanji has fought Doflamingo and a large number of the crew of an emperor.
I doubt Zoro would have faired better than Sanji has.

That said, Sanji has always been the planner of the monster Trio, while Luffy and Zoro are far more likely to buldoze through problems than use cunning.

Hopefully the next arc will force Zoro to push himself to the limit like Luffy and Sanji have.

Bro, I think Luffy would have had serious problems with Pica, and you forget that Zoro almost took out Hodi underwater. This arc to me would have been a lot better with Zoro in it, can you guys imagine, him in that melee taking out everybody, like he did in Whiskey Peak? I really thought Sanji had snuck in a mirror, but I guess he didn't plan that. Judge I think is planning some secret weapon against the BM pirates and last part of this is Ceasar. If he can't fly off, he's sure to come back.

[OH&S]

Originally Posted by Kaz_

After failuring once again in his own specially focused arc, I seriously dont think Sanji belongs in Monster assault trio anymore. He has become more of a planning man like Usopp. In fact Robin seems to hold her own way better than Sanji nowadays.

Originally Posted by The Small One

Well, after all Sanji isn't really a fighter, he is a cook.
I think it would have been a better turn of events, if he used his skills to prepare a snack for Luffy, which made the captain recover immediately, so Luffy could fight his way out by himself.

However, Sanji is also a victim of the storytelling… if his plan to run with Luffy would have gone smoothly, the Germa had no further use, so the author had to let Sanji fail.

I just don't get what people were expecting Sanji to do when he was outnumbered by an army. Charlotte Mont -d'Or proclaimed that even if it was Gold Roger he wouldn't be able to escape from that island. People seemed to dismiss that right off the bat but the sheer number of forces on Cacao Island right now is starting to resemble that of the Summit War (obviously minus the Marines and about half the size of Whitebeard's forces).

Unless Sanji had some master plan, his plan of rushing in to get Luffy and then rushing out in the sky with Geppou was the most effective; there was no better strategy considering the resources he had. Sure it failed (because the Big Mom pirates are no pushovers (with Rokushiki being more widespread than expected), but what else could he have done? It would be too unrealistic (for One Piece) for Sanji to show some dominance in that scenario. Hell, even with Germa 66 there it will be touch and go for them to escape.

Sanji won't get his proper 1-vs-1 fight this arc but I'm still clinging to the belief that he will have one defining moment before this arc is complete. Too many things are unresolved for him character-wise in regards to Pudding (where is she, what did she do) and Judge (what's under his helmet); he's the only one left.

Originally Posted by teejmo

Well, Chopper was the one to beat Brulee which was arguably the turning point of the whole arc.

I'll give you that but even Pedro and Carrot did more than Chopper in this arc.

[J4n1]

Originally Posted by P_Dezz

Bro, I think Luffy would have had serious problems with Pica, and you forget that Zoro almost took out Hodi underwater. This arc to me would have been a lot better with Zoro in it, can you guys imagine, him in that melee taking out everybody, like he did in Whiskey Peak? I really thought Sanji had snuck in a mirror, but I guess he didn't plan that. Judge I think is planning some secret weapon against the BM pirates and last part of this is Ceasar. If he can't fly off, he's sure to come back.

Pica was a one trick pony, uniquelly suited for Zoro to deal with.
Grow huge and hide in the stone body.
All Zoro needed to do was to cut him to pieces until there was nowhere to hide.
Sanji and Luffy might have been able to keep destroying his body, but their methods would have been far less controlled, making it easier for Pica to keep running away.

I doubt this would have been Whiskey Peak mk.2 if Zoro had been here.
Sure, i get people wanting to see Sanji kick ass, i really do, but i think people over exaggerate Zoro's OP'ness, he simply has not had a hard fight yet, while Sanji and Luffy have.
That said, while Sanji was always one of the heavy hitters, he also was always the smart one of the monster trio, him being an exellent cook, decent fighter and charismatic have all been crucial for the crews survival in this arc, which is as it should be.

Now, hopefully next arc will show Zoro struggling against strong opponents.

[itachi-san314]

I don't think Sanji is supposed to be on Zoro's level aside from the banter and playful competition. We know why he's named Sanji now, but I think that character name is also supposed to suggest that he's the 3rd strongest SH which seems to be the case.

Originally Posted by J4n1

Now, hopefully next arc will show Zoro struggling against strong opponents.

Yes, that's pretty much assured. I'm certainly looking forward to Zoro being challenged. While he will probably have a tough time of it, he will likely also acquire a new sword or two while in Wano. Just a shot in the dark theory, but it would be entertaining if he got a sword with a personality or if he learned how to listen to his swords or something like that. That could possibly cure his direction issue too

[grey_1960]

Sanji
I don't know why you guys are so bummed about Sanji and his strength. Your bias is also what led you guys to your misjudgment of his fighting level. Sanji has displayed the max of his potential in fighting since Punk hazard when he went up against Vergo. Everything else has just been down hill from there. Sanji's greatest strength is his brains and his cooking skills. In water 7 who saved the Straw Hats from the buster call? Sanji. Who was the one that going to defeat Big Mamma? Sanji. Why do you think he built that Cake in the first place? Big Mama has a terrible Eating disorder and its affecting her. The Cake that Sanji made is only making it worse. Have you guys wondered what it will be like after she eats the cake? If she survives how will she control her disorder in the future when that cake is the only thing that will calm her? Who will be able to control her if nothing but Sanji's cooking can bring her back to sanity? I personally think the cake will kill her. Oda has gone to great trouble to put a lot of emphasis on Sanji's cooking and you guys keep looking for him to take a big guy down with his fighting skills.

Top fighters in the Straw Hats
Finally has for everything else you guys know it in your heart that Jimbi, Luffy, and Zoro are the strongest of the straw hats. Look at all of your comments. Your not happy about Sanji. Has for Jimbi he did pretty good at pushing big mama off Sunny. He is also a former shibukai. Luffy has proven himself in this arch. Finally Zoro is a very capable individual. Not even a 1 billion bounty will take Zoro down. This is just my opinion I think Zoro and jimbi are equal or greater to luffy in strength.


My next question to you guys
Why would Oda introduce another battle between 1 Billion bounty pirate vs. Luffy if he has shown it already? With the defeat of Dalfaminigo and Dogtooth, Oda has told his readers how strong Luffy is. After first commander Dog tooth there nothing left but Yonkous, admirals, or facing off with two 1 billion bounty pirate crew at the same time.

[P_Dezz]

Originally Posted by grey_1960

Sanji
I don't know why you guys are so bummed about Sanji and his strength. Your bias is also what led you guys to your misjudgment of his fighting level. Sanji has displayed the max of his potential in fighting since Punk hazard when he went up against Vergo.

Agreed and Vergo probably would have torn him apart had that fight been 1 on 1 with no interruptions.

Originally Posted by grey_1960

Top fighters in the Straw Hats
Finally has for everything else you guys know it in your heart that Jimbi, Luffy, and Zoro are the strongest of the straw hats. Look at all of your comments. Your not happy about Sanji. Has for Jimbi he did pretty good at pushing big mama off Sunny. He is also a former shibukai. Luffy has proven himself in this arch. Finally Zoro is a very capable individual. Not even a 1 billion bounty will take Zoro down. This is just my opinion I think Zoro and jimbi are equal or greater to luffy in strength.

Luffy>Zoro>Jinbe>Sanji now is what's more than likely.

Originally Posted by grey_1960

My next question to you guys
Why would Oda introduce another battle between 1 Billion bounty pirate vs. Luffy if he has shown it already? With the defeat of Dalfaminigo and Dogtooth, Oda has told his readers how strong Luffy is. After first commander Dog tooth there nothing left but Yonkous, admirals, or facing off with two 1 billion bounty pirate crew at the same time.

It's not about proving how strong Luffy is, Luffy is single-handedly little by little destroying the entire pirate/navy/government structure. Most of his fights will be with top level guys trying to protect them. Doflamingo protected his underworld trading business, Dogtooth protecting BM's reputation, and Kaidou will be protecting himself basically.

[Ramero]

Remember that Sanji posess a stealth ability and even able to perform a stealth mission unnoticed. It is quite a trait for a cook.

I bet that he has done something out of ordinary again and this has shown at least twice. First is he disable Arc Maxim at Skypiea much to Enel's frustration, second is Sanji manage to seal off Justice Gate at Eines Lobby unnoticed by the Marines.

[Hoodspirit]

Originally Posted by P_Dezz

Luffy>Zoro>Jinbe>Sanji now is what's more than likely.

Luffy > Zoro > Jinbe > Nami > Sanji I would say currently.
That is if Nami keeps Zeus. Perospero, mistook an improvised usage of Zeus as a Yonko attack. Probably not an all out attack, but at least he thought the SHPs would be unable to pull off such an attack. So far nothing Sanji has shown wold come close to that.
And Nami is one of the most intelligent characters. With some time to plan on how to use Zeus, I expect an even bigger Damage output, or a usage on how to deal with faster characters.

[Ramero]

Originally Posted by Hoodspirit

Luffy > Zoro > Jinbe > Nami > Sanji I would say currently.
That is if Nami keeps Zeus. Perospero, mistook an improvised usage of Zeus as a Yonko attack. Probably not an all out attack, but at least he thought the SHPs would be unable to pull off such an attack. So far nothing Sanji has shown wold come close to that.
And Nami is one of the most intelligent characters. With some time to plan on how to use Zeus, I expect an even bigger Damage output, or a usage on how to deal with faster characters.

The problem is Nami need preparations for that while Sanji can just kick them off immediately. Creating a massive thunder like that requires plenty of preparations.

[J4n1]

Let's remember Luffy (the strongest) fighting Usopp (the weakest) in Water 7.
Sure Usopp lost, but he did not go down easy.
The strong/weak rankings are not absolute, and even the weaker members can dish out the hurt in the right circumstance.

[marvelB]

Speaking if Zeus, I really wonder if he will end up becoming a (semi) permanent power-up for Nami? In a way, I could potentially see Big Mom lending him to the crew as a means of contact between them (Zeus was created from her own soul, after all). But this basically hinges on how much her mood improves after eating Sanji's cake. She won't easily forgive having her tea party crashed, along with several of her strongest offspring being defeated (with her strongest, Katakuri, being among them). The only reasonable way I can see Linlin being magnanimous enough to lend off one of her strongest homies to an enemy is if Pudding works her brain-scrambling magic on her. But who's to say that BM wouldn't have some countermeasure in place against Pudding's ability....?

[itachi-san314]

Originally Posted by Hoodspirit

That is if Nami keeps Zeus. Perospero, mistook an improvised usage of Zeus as a Yonko attack. Probably not an all out attack, but at least he thought the SHPs would be unable to pull off such an attack. So far nothing Sanji has shown wold come close to that.
And Nami is one of the most intelligent characters. With some time to plan on how to use Zeus, I expect an even bigger Damage output, or a usage on how to deal with faster characters.

That's a good idea. I would definitely like Nami to keep Zeus. It makes sense that she would get a power upgrade and Zeus gets to keep eating all that delicious storm food.

Originally Posted by marvelB

Speaking if Zeus, I really wonder if he will end up becoming a (semi) permanent power-up for Nami? In a way, I could potentially see Big Mom lending him to the crew as a means of contact between them (Zeus was created from her own soul, after all). But this basically hinges on how much her mood improves after eating Sanji's cake. She won't easily forgive having her tea party crashed, along with several of her strongest offspring being defeated (with her strongest, Katakuri, being among them). The only reasonable way I can see Linlin being magnanimous enough to lend off one of her strongest homies to an enemy is if Pudding works her brain-scrambling magic on her. But who's to say that BM wouldn't have some countermeasure in place against Pudding's ability....?

I assume Pudding's ability will be used again before the arc ends, but it's tough to tell in what capacity. BM knows about it and should be prepared for it, but she is also one of the dumbest characters we have seen yet, e.g. not realizing Brook's body was switched.

I think Sanji's cooking will be enough to win over BM. It will make her rational at first and then she's going to realize that she's can't give up on eating it again as much as possible. She's definitely lost a lot this arc, but what better thing for her to gain than the best food she has ever eaten? She strikes me as the type of character who would willingly give up a lot just to be able to eat the finest cooking possible which she didn't even know existed.

If the SHs just escape while she's eating or passing out from eating for that matter, then I think the BM pirates would be too much of a joke. Half the SHs infiltrate her HQ, destroy almost all of it, beat her right hand man and then escape? That just seems like too much to me.

[Ramero]

Since her turf has taken considerable losses, she can't advance temporarily and i believe that she will challenge Luffy again in the future to defeat him for good. We know that if Big Mom pushes herself to assemble fleet and launch the attack, Marines will occupy Totto Land and she will no longer have base of operation for sure.

Being knocked at the front door and the party crashers deal considerable damage makes you unable to retaliate in full force since you need to expect other party attack like Marines. If Big Mom is a wise one, she will reassemble the fleet, assess the losses and prepare for the next attack. Marines will surely not making their move with this.

[bhl88]

Should have taken a RAID suit for Sanji