Monkey D. Luffy is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and one of the four emperors of the sea. When he set out on his journey, he was extremely weak and in no shape to face the dangers of the Grand Line. Of course, Luffy had to get enough power-ups so that he could beat his opponents One Piece.
Eiichiro Oda quietly sets up Luffy's next transformation after Gear 5
Luffy could have another transformation after Gear 5. Oda already set it up in One Piece.
The first of them was Hito Hito no Mi, model: Nika, formerly known as Gomu Gomu no Mi. For a long time, Oda had kept the secret that Luffy's Devil Fruit was a mythical Zoan type. Instead, he had led One Piece the audience to believe that the hero only had a measly Paramecia-type Devil Fruit. Over time, Luffy began to fight more and more powerful opponents. Soon he realized that his current strength was not enough to get the job done. So Luffy developed power-ups called Gears and started using them in battles. The latest is Gear Fifth.
This post contains spoilers for One Piece.
Luffy's Gear Fifth subverts most Shonen Tropes
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Luffy's Gear Fifth is the manifestation of his desire to be free
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It's a hotly debated topic in the anime community
When Luffy fought Kaido, the strongest being in the world, it became apparent that the former lacked the minerals to win. So Oda had to step in and help the hero. At that particular point, almost every single power-up that had been given to Luffy was in line with the usual shonen standards.
Naturally, most fans had expected Luffy's next Gear to be similar in design. However, Oda decided to make a drastic change. Instead of sticking to the usual shonen tropes, Oda made Luffy's Gear 5th extremely silly, and in doing so shocked the entire community.
Gear Fifth is an extremely controversial transformation
Obviously, manga readers knew about the transformation first, while anime-only fans learned about it much later, and both times there was a lot of discourse within the community. However, when Luffy's Gear Fifth debuted in the anime, things got out of hand as other fandoms got wind of it as well. As mentioned earlier, most Shonen anime fans are used to seeing the main character grow more serious and stronger, so they were quite taken aback by Luffy's transformation.
I don't want to conquer anything. I just think the guy with the most freedom in the whole ocean is the pirate king.
They considered Luffy's transformation to be against Shonen principles, which is why there was overwhelming disapproval on their part. But most One Piece fans agree that Gear Fifth is perfect for someone like Luffy. Not only does it make him strong enough to protect his friends, but it also captures his humorous side. Furthermore, it also encompasses his desire to be free and creative.
Luffy's Gear Fifth is arguably the best anime transformation in recent history
Although many anime still don't feel strongly about it, they will likely show up over time. Controversy aside, there is absolutely no doubt that Luffy's Gear Fifth is the best anime transformation of the last few decades. The design is unique and the power it provides is also quite special. Gear Fifth changes Luffy's appearance drastically. When he enters this state, Luffy's hair, eyebrows and clothes turn white. His eyebrows become dizzy and he gets a cloud of white smoke around his neck, symbolizing the awakening of the Devil Fruit.
Luffy's strength is also greatly increased to the point where he can fight someone as massive as Kaido's beast form. It is worth mentioning that in the fight against Kaido, Luffy increased the size of his fist so much that it dwarfed the entire island of Onigashima. An attack of such magnitude is dangerous to anyone, especially when imbued with Armament and Conqueror's Haki. In addition to enhancing his physical attributes, the Devil Fruit also allows him to turn anything into rubber. Additionally, Luffy can also change the size of his body to resemble that of a giant.
Luffy must master Gear Five in the final saga
Although Luffy's current strength is impressive, he still needs to improve and master Gear Fifth in the Final Saga. In the Egghead arc, when Luffy ran out of stamina, he was immediately in danger and had to be rescued by one of his crewmates. Even if he survived both cases, there is absolutely no doubt that he cannot continue like this in the Final Saga.
Luffy must learn to fully control Gear Fifth so that he is not about to die after using it. There is a chance it could happen in the Elbaf arc when Luffy is pitted against Imu and the Holy Knights, but for that, fans will have to be patient.
One Piece
- Issue date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
- Author
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
