One-Piece: Here’s Why Aokiji Defeats Garp
One-Piece’s story has finally reached its endgame. This means that all the anticipated powerhouses, who have laid low for most of the series, are finally being brought into the limelight. Monkey D. Garp is a character that fans have wanted to see go all out in a fight for decades.
He’s a prestige Marine, a man who’s rightly earned himself the title of “Hero of the Marines”, a man who defeated the legendary Rocks pirate crew, and a man who went toe to toe with the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger on several occasions.
All of Garp’s accolades have been disclosed during the story, but we are yet to see a fully fleshed out Garp fight.
On the other hand, Aokiji’s full strength is another mystery. We’ve seen more of Aokiji’s fights with highlights at Enies Lobby and Marineford, but we don’t know the full extent of his abilities.
It’s heavily implied that Aokiji is an awakened Logia Devil Fruit user, as he permanently changed the geographical landscape of Punk Hazard, during his battle with Akainu.
Awakened Logia users are something that fans are eagerly waiting for, and Aokiji may be the first user that we see.
What’s certain is that Garp vs Aokiji is an exciting Marine matchup, that fans are waiting to see unfold.
Thematics:
If you view this fight through a thematical lens, it holds an awful lot of weight. It’s a classic showdown between the student vs teacher. When Kuzan was apart of the Marines, he was personally mentored by Garp, very similar to the current mentoring Koby receives from Garp.
In fact, when we’re first introduced to Aokiji in the Water 7 arc, Aokiji states that he is indebted to Garp for helping him in the past. Clearly, Garp played an important role in Kuzan’s early years in the Marines.
Garp probably still cares for his former student, and could even feel a sense of responsibility, in Aokiji’s descent towards piracy. The same way he felt responsible for Ace becoming a pirate.
This fight carries significant emotional weight, the battle will be an emotional bout for both parties.
Abilities:
When it comes to abilities, we all know these two characters are absolute powerhouses. Aokiji is a former Marine admiral, therefore it’s a fact that he’s mastered advanced forms of Armament and Observation Haki.
However, the biggest threat Aokiji holds, lies not in his mastery of Haki, but rather in the proficiency of his Devil Fruit, the Hie-Hie no Mi. The fruit gives him the ability to manipulate and control ice at his will.
Garp was easily able to break out of Aokiji’s Ice ball (a move that encapsulated Garp into a block of thick ice), but Aokiji’s attacks are likely to get more lethal, as the fight progresses.
Throughout the story, Oda’s never showcased the full power of admirals, perhaps now that it’s the end game, Oda’s going to crank up the heat, and show us just how terrifying these elite Marines truly are.
This is also a great opportunity to show readers the power of an awakened Logia Devil Fruit. We’ve seen awakened Zoans, Paramecia’s and even Mythical Zoans, but nothing for Logia’s.
Perhaps it’s time that Oda shows us, just how powerful just how mighty awakened Logia’s are, proving why Logia’s are deemed the strongest Devil Fruits, in the world of One-Piece.
On the other hand, Garp is an heavy-hitter, he did not receive the epithet “Garp The Fist” for no reason, he received it because his punches are lethal. Garp is a man whose proficiency in all three types of Haki is truly astonishing.
His initial assault on the Hachinosu featured a move called “Galaxy Impact”, the punch caused substantial damage, desolating the entire area of the town. The punch shattered buildings, struck several civilians unconscious, and reminded readers why Garp is awesome.
Garp is a tried and tested Marine. A seasoned fighter, who is well past his hay day. But he’s still a hard-hitting puncher. Garp even quotes that he’s “lost his touch” after he landed his Galaxy Impact punch. Garp knows that he’s no longer in his prime, and this does worry many fans.
Garp is up against a young and sharp Aokiji, someone who is in his prime. It makes you wonder whether Garp is fighting a losing battle here.
Narrative:
One of the strongest reasons as to why I believe Aokiji will defeat Garp is due to the narrative. We are in the final saga of the story, therefore it’s the new generations time to shine, as the older generation slowly depart from the limelight.
It’s common for sensei’s/ teachers in Anime, to die in the latter stages of the story, especially when protecting their students from an enemy. Think back to Jiraiya Sensei from Naruto, or Genkai from Yu Yu Hakusho.
The sensei dying raises the stakes for the climax point of the story. As were slowly approaching the end of the story, major battles are going to occur such as The Blackbeard Pirates vs The Strawhat Pirates.
Garp dying or being severely wounded, massively antagonises The Blackbeard Pirates, causing the audience to despise the Blackbeard pirates, which in turn makes them better antagonists for the end of the story.
I’m unsure as to whether Garp will die, or just be severely wounded. But I’m very confident that Garp will lose this time round.
