Crimson by Will
(Thumbnail by Mrguifo)
Shanks, Emperor of the Red Hair Pirates from One Piece.
Minato Namikaze, Fourth Fire Shadow of The Village Hidden by Tree Leaves from Naruto.
They say absolute power corrupts absolutely...but these two asked who the hell 'they' are. They're strong and don't mind flaunting it, but have always kept strength as a tool to protect those they cherish. Standing as a shining example of what free spirits can do, these living legends are more than willing to put it all on the line. But will Shanks observe The Yellow Flash snuffed-out, or is Minato the only one flying past the finish-line?
Establishing My Rules
Since this is my first blog-style battle, I've got to outline the fundamentals:
1. These fights won't necessarily be to-the-death. Aside from trying to win the fight, combatants will be entirely in-character. Thus, incapacitation is on-the-table as well (including BFR).
2. Each combatant will already know the initial appearance of their competition. Aside from this, no prior knowledge and prep-time will be allowed unless specified before the rundowns.
3. The arena will be a neutral setting where both combatants can utilize all of their abilities in some fashion. When necessary, elaboration on specifics will be given after both rundowns are complete.
4. Combatants will be taken at their physical primes unless otherwise specified before the rundowns. However, those with transformations will start the fight in whatever their 'base' form is.
5. Combatants will start 20 feet apart unless otherwise specified before the rundowns.
Aside from these, it's important to point-out that I'll only be including so many calcs and links here. I'm only one guy, and tracking down most of what I talk about is pretty doable. On a personal note, I think calcs have gotten a bit...excessive these days, and often don't portray characters as stories generally describe and illustrate them. That isn't to disrespect those doing them at all; they still have plenty of value, and I will use some to help illustrate certain points. But I also want these battles to have their own identity, and I'm not a dedicated calcer. Going about it this way feels like it'll both improve these fights and my enjoyment in making them.
Rules for This Matchup
For those still catching-up on the One Piece manga or only watching the anime, keep-in-mind I will be covering material past the anime and into the currently un-adapted Elbaph arc (specifically, up to Chapter 1171). If you don't want spoilers, stop reading here.
While Naruto is also recieving new content via Boruto, there isn't anything in that series which will be covered here. Simply put, Minato is far removed from the story's events, so there's no particularly relevant information to discuss from it. Any Boruto fans worried about manga spoilers can rest easy (especially since the anime got canned already lmao).
Shanks will be taken as he currently stands in One Piece; his last appearance in the story's current timeframe is Chapter 1126. Despite currently traveling with his crew, he will not have the assistance of the other Red Hair Pirates.
Minato is...more complicated. I hate to jump ahead to part of his bio, but it needs to be talked about early. Minato is only seen within the main story's timeframe as an undead being; physically weaker but largely immortal, along with additional abilities. This makes determining his "prime" a tricky prospect, especially since his resurrection and subsequent immortality were involuntary. Nonetheless, it is the only time we see him in the main-series outside of flashbacks, and the non-resurrective abilities were techincally ones he accquired just-before death. As such, the reincarnated Minato will be the one used for the battle. How the fight goes with alive Minato will be briefly detailed, but will not impact the final outcome.
My analysis will largely center on the original manga for both series as primary material (before anyone tries to be cheeky, yes, this includes Chapter 0 of One Piece). These being the main source should be a no-brainer for those familiar with each, but there are many other pieces of media for each franchise. Barring a few exceptions, these will be excluded; most contain major contradictions to the source material and/or don't add meaningful information.
Most notably, the anime adaptations will not be included. There's no good way to marriage the anime-only story arcs with the manga, some of which drastically change the abilities of characters and even contradict the anime's story alone. Covering just the anime adaptations of manga arcs doesn't work either, as major changes are often made with huge implications for scaling. One Piece in particular has seen dozens of these in its last two animated arcs, and Toei Animation has even made changes expressely disapproved by One Piece author Eiichiro Oda.
Guidebook and author-statements will be considered secondary material. If found uncontradictory to the manga, they will be included, but mileage will vary on a case-by-case basis.
Last but certainly not least, Naruto: The Whorl Within The Spiral will also be considered primary material. Written and illustrated by series author Masashi Kishimoto, this one-shot manga was explicitly made to be part of the original series' world. There's no good reason to exclude or relegate it to being 'less-canon'.
Got all that?
Good.
Stay tuned.
Comments
Post a Comment