Why Gear 5 is the most controversial adaptation in anime

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 condition to face the dangers of the Grand Line. Naturally, Luffy had to be given enough power-ups so that he could defeat his opponents a piece.

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Eiichiro Oda quietly sets up Luffy's next transformation after Gear 5

Luffy may have another transformation after Gear 5. Oda has already set it up in one piece.

The first of these is Hito Hito no Mi, model: Nika, formerly known as Gomu Gomu no Mi. For a long time, Oda kept Luffy's Devil Fall as a Legendary Zone-type secret. Instead, he led a piece The hero had only a modest Paramecia-type Devil Fruit to make the audience believe. As time went on, Luffy began to fight more powerful opponents. Soon, he realized that his current strength wasn't nearly enough to do the job. So, Luffy developed power-ups called gears and started using them in battles. The most recent gear is fifth.

Luffy's Gear Fifth subverts many shonen tropes

Image by Toei Animation

• Luffy's Gear Fifth is an expression of his desire to be free

• This is a hotly debated topic in the anime community

When Luffy fought against Kaido, the strongest being in the world, it became clear that he lacked the minerals to win first. So, Oda stepped in and had to help the hero. At that particular point, almost every single power-up given to Luffy conformed to normal shonen standards.

Naturally, many fans came to expect that Luffy's next gear would be similar in design. However, Oda decided to make a big change. Instead of following the usual shonen tropes, Oda made Luffy's Gear 5th extremely stupid, and by doing so, he shocked the entire community.

Gear Fifth is a highly controversial conversion

Image via Toei Animation.

Obviously, manga readers knew about the change first, while anime-only fans learned about it much later, and both times, there was a great deal of discourse within the community. But when Luffy's Gear Fifth debuted in the anime, things got out of hand when other fandoms found out about it as well. As stated before, most shonen anime fans are used to seeing the hero become more serious and strong, so they were surprised by Luffy's transformation.

They felt that Luffy's transformation was against shonen principles, hence the overwhelming disapproval from their end. But most One Piece fans agree that Gear Fifth is perfect for someone like Luffy. Not only does this make him strong enough to protect his friends, but it also captures his comedic side. Furthermore, it also encompasses his desire to be independent and creative.

Luffy's Gear Fifth is one of the best anime adaptations in recent history

While many anime still don't feel strongly about it, they will likely come around in time. Controversy aside, there's no question that Luffy's Gear is the best anime adaptation of the fifth decade. The design is unique, and the power it delivers is also special. Gear Fifth changes Luffy's appearance drastically. After entering this state, Luffy's hair, eyes, and clothing turn white. His eyebrows curl up, and he gains a cloud of white smoke behind his neck, symbolizing the awakening of the Devil's Fruit.

Luffy's strength is also significantly increased to the point where he can fight someone as large as Kaido's beast form. It is notable 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 this magnitude is dangerous for anyone, especially when it is combined with the Armament and Conqueror's Haki. In addition to enhancing his physical attributes, the Devil Fruit allows him to turn anything into rubber. Furthermore, Luffy can also shape his body like a giant.

Luffy needs to master the fifth gear in the final saga

While Luffy's current strength is impressive, he still needs to improve and master Gear Fifth in the Final Saga. In the Egghead arc, whenever Luffy ran out of stamina, he was immediately in danger and had to be rescued by his teammates. While he survived both events, there is no doubt that he cannot continue like this in the final saga.

Luffy needs to learn to fully control Gear Fifth so that he doesn't drop to the brink of death after using it. There is a chance that this could happen in the Elbaf arc as Luffy is up against Imu and the Holy Knights, but for that, fans will have to be patient.

a piece

Release date

October 20, 1999

network

Fuji TV

directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Ito, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Noimauji, Tokahiro, Enoji Maudo Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

The authors

Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Usaka, 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)