
Originally Posted by
Splash!
This is exactly it.
The anime has dragged out events in this war to make it seem like the admirals have been sitting around and doing nothing. In the manga, things were happening very quickly and simultaneously. For the most part, the admirals were busy with the higher squad captains and Whitebeard. Kizaru and Mihawk both made an attempt to stop Luffy's final charge but were blocked, and Garp's ineffectiveness is understandable. The only person I can't really defend is Sengoku. He should have done better.
This pace also makes it seem like Whitebeard has been standing still for long stretches . In the manga, he seemed most instrumental in holding up the admirals, engaging all 3 of them at different stages of the battle.