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One Piece’s return after a six-month hiatus was supposed to be a triumph. Episode 1127, spotlighting Luffy versus Kizaru, arrived with explosive energy, kaleidoscopic visuals, and Gear 5 in all its elastic glory. Butwhat should have been a victory lap for Toei Animation—and freelance animator Vincent Chansard—swiftly unraveled into one of the anime’s biggest controversies in recent times. Despite being widely praised for its visual flair and energy, the sequence has become a flashpoint within the fandom, dividing viewers over whether its experimental animation style enhanced or detracted from the narrative.
The battle is part of the ongoing Egghead Island arc, a turning point in theOne Pieceanime that resumed this April after a six-month hiatus. Known for elevating its visual standards in recent years,One Piecehas received considerable acclaim for its post-Wano episodes. However, this latest stretch has brought with it a new kind of scrutiny.Episode 1127 was hyped as one of the biggest fights in the seriesto date, putting Gear 5 Luffy and Kizaru on the center stage. Expectations were sky-high, and when the episode aired, not everyone was satisfied with how the battle was realized on-screen.
This divide turned toxic when Chansard,who helped choreograph and animate large portions of the fight, became the target of online harassment. Fans sent threats, accusing him of misrepresenting the characters and overriding Eiichiro Oda’s intent.
Vincent Chansard Explains Luffy’s Role and Responds to “Overanimation” Claims
“He’s Just Stalling”: Animator Clarifies Creative Intent Behind Gear 5 Fight
Chansard took to social media to explain his vision for the fight. In a now-viral post on X, formerly Twitter, he said:
At this point in the story, Luffy isn’t really trying to beat Kizaru he’s just stalling him. He’s dodging, teasing, keeping things light… he literally at several points in the fight held Kizaru in his palm.
Some fans interpreted this as the animator taking creative liberties with character intentions, leading to backlash and harassment. For some fans, an animator inserting narrative meaning that wasn’t explicitly stated by Oda degraded the episode’s importance.
The result?Chansard was bombarded with threats and harassment. Chansard later addressed the criticism in an interview, saying:
I’m not sure what “overanimation” would mean; one guy is literally the god of the sun, and the other is literally light.
Luffy vs. Kizaru Animation Criticized for Being ‘Hard to Follow’
When the episode first came out, scenes of Luffy fighting Kizaru circulated online, and so did criticisms. Some viewers claimed the animation was too chaotic—“hard to follow,” “too much happening at once,” and lacking cohesion. More damning was the accusation ofoveranimation—the idea that the sheer volume of movement and effects undermined the storytelling.
Some went even further, calling for changes to the anime’s sound team, arguing that outdated sound effects added to the confusion. One fellow animator even said,“Toei should fire the One Piece sound team immediately.It’s unprofessional work.”A number of viewers agreed, suggesting that the real issue wasn’t the animation itself, but the direction and sound mixing that failed to complement the visual storytelling.
Some Fans Are Still Debating the Animation Style: Innovation or Overkill?
Some Fans Defend the Fight as One Piece’s Boldest Creative Moment Yet, Some Are Not Buying Chansard’s Defense
TheOne Piececommunity’s reaction to Chansard’s comments has been split. Supporters argue that he was simply doing his job—and doing it exceptionally at that. Episode 1127, despite the controversy, is widely regarded as the Egghead arc’s standout moment so far. Its animation raised the bar not just forOne Piece, but for weekly shōnen anime as a whole.
However, criticism didn’t vanish after Vincent shared his take on the matter. Many argued that understanding the concept still didn’t make the execution any easier to watch.
He can be offended all he wants but the readability of this fight is terrible. It could have been so much better and the work of the animators could have been so more effective by slowing things down. Nobody gains anything from things you have to go frame by frame to see.
—One Fan on Reddit
Another fan said:
Luffy vs Lucci is still considered to be one of the best fights in the show, and that is because it is CLEAN. You can process what is happening AS it is happening.
Others pointed to the direction and editing, suggesting that more deliberate pacing or clearer choreography would have solved the problem without sacrificing visual creativity.
One Piece
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One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, to become the next king. The manga’s popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
