‘One Piece’ Finally Kicks Off Luffy’s Big Fight With Katakuri

At long last, One Piece is ready to bring Monkey D. Luffy off the bench. The captain is about to take on one of his most anticipated battles yet, and the anime finally set up the fight with a truly epic stare from Charlotte Katakuri.

This weekend, One Piece released a new episode, and the update followed Luffy as the Straw Hat crew came under heavy fire. Reeling from the death of Pedro, Luffy was left horrified by his friend’s sacrifice while the rest of the Sanji Retrieval Team came together to escape Big Mom’s approach. However, things took a turn when the Yonko began eating Luffy’s ship and her seafaring fleet began assaulting the Thousand Sunny.

Desperate, the crew uses a Coup de Burst to blast themselves away from the front lines, but Luffy chooses to fall back. He sticks with Katakuri to make sure the commander cannot pursue his crew, and the episode’s final moments show the pair facing off deep within the Mirroworld.

The showdown sees Luffy challenges Katakuri to a one-on-one fight, saying that he can pummel the Big Mom pirate without any worries now that his crew is safe. In fact, the captain goes so far as to break the mirror leading to the Thousand Sunny, ensuring Katakuri cannot escape and take out his friends. The commander admits Luffy’s plan is bolstered by his determination, but it doesn’t mean he is a match for Katakuri.

“You’re no match for me,” Katakuri says. “This place will be your graveyard.”

For fans, this big fight has been a long time coming, and readers can attest to its scale. When it comes to One Piece battles, this big showdown is often ranked alongside epic clashes like Luffy v Lucci, so audiences are ready to see what this battle has to offer.

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has been collected into 87 volumes, with a few chapters yet to be included. It’s been a critical and commercial success worldwide, with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best-selling manga series worldwide with 430 million copies sold.

Are you ready to see this big fight get going? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!