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The story
Sommers, a villain introduced in “One Piece”‘s Elbaf arc, has become a hot topic on 5ch after being drawn with comedic flair yet again. Despite belonging to the Holy Knights — the elite unit under the direct command of the Five Elders — some fans questioned why he wasn’t portrayed as a serious, formidable threat, while others defended it, arguing “he’s just matching Nika’s vibe” and “this level is fine for him.” Opinions were split.
The discussion spread to other topics too, including the lack of a real rival swordsman for Zoro and the generational gap over whether Reiwa-era kids are even reading One Piece anymore, turning the thread into a sprawling debate with several arguments running side by side.
What people said
That's already broken-tough territory, honestly.
Yeah, the way they portray fear here is just way too over-the-top…
These days bashing One Piece is basically a full-time job.
Got too dumb so I quit buying Jump — I only catch up through clip compilations now.
You don't actually like it, do you.
Honestly even I, an anti, might like it more than you do.
Classic "not even a millimeter of that rubbed off on him."
Oda and his editor are probably cracking up over this one.
I bet the editor practices that exaggerated, hand-clapping laugh like TV comedians do.
Turns out Conqueror's Haki was the ultimate form of selfishness all along.
lol, that's just a knockoff of "the secret art of doing as one pleases" (the official name for Gear 5's Advanced Conqueror's Haki).
Give him a break like Togashi and make him redo the storyboards from scratch.
He actually did take a long break and rework things before the Elbaf arc even started, though.
Mihawk doesn't quite feel like a rival, and with the series nearing its end, Zoro's barely fought any proper swordsman. I think that's a pretty big problem.
Is Ryuma about the only one who really counts as a genuine swordsman?
Rocks, Roger, Shanks —
though I guess these guys were too unpolished to even achieve Black Blade, so none of them became the strongest in the world.
Ryuma's kind of a weak pick since his body's a zombie and he's really just bones underneath.
And in Wano, right when I thought Zoro would finally fight a proper samurai, it just ended with him fighting some weird dinosaur-looking thing instead.
Just retire from manga already.
Wait, was the die-hard fanboy actually the "unwanted kid" this whole time?
Reiwa kids are watching Demon Slayer — they're not touching a crappy manga like One Piece.
Reiwa kids probably aren't even reading it in the first place.
But Dragon Ball and Hunter x Hunter don't even get brought up anymore.
That's basically a Domain Expansion right there.
That's Hori Daisuke-tier popularity (Sanji's voice actor).
Apparently this is foreshadowing.
Classic Odacchi.
One Piece haters really are shallow.
The weird part in the first place is that the Holy Knights have become gag characters — they're supposed to be the elite combat unit under the direct command of the world's king.
There's nothing suggesting he's actually stronger than Enel.
That's basically the only arc that's gotten good reviews since the two-year timeskip era began.
Akazaya vs. Kaido, Yamato vs. Kaido, Kid vs. Shanks, Blackbeard vs. Hancock — there's plenty of those.
Because he's just some rank-and-file member of the final-boss squad, that's why.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
“Sommers” is a member of the Holy Knights, the combat unit under the direct command of the Five Elders, introduced in the Elbaf arc of Eiichiro Oda’s “One Piece.” What sparked discussion in the thread was that a character meant to carry a serious setting was given comedic treatment almost immediately upon introduction — a directorial pattern that has recurred throughout the series. The technique of expressing fear or shock through exaggerated crying faces, and the practice of depicting powerful enemies comically, has repeatedly sparked debate in past arcs as well, not just this one.
Some exchanges in the thread treat “the secret art of doing as one pleases” (Advanced Conqueror’s Haki) and “Conqueror’s Haki” as if they were the same thing, but within the story’s own setting these are distinct abilities, so the comparison should be taken with caution. The complaint that “Zoro has no rival as a swordsman” is also a long-standing grievance that persists even now that the series has entered its final arc — this thread brought up names like Rocks, Roger, and Shanks, the strongest figures in the series’ history, showing it’s a recurring talking point among longtime fans rather than a one-off.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Image] Eiichiro Oda Turns Yet Another Villain into a Gag Character wwwwwwwww.”
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