One Piece: Why Gear 5 Is The Most Controversial Transformation In Anime

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Monkey D. Luffy leads the Straw Hat Pirates and is now one of the most powerful pirates in the world, known as one of the Four Emperors. When he first started his adventure, however, Luffy was quite weak and unprepared for the challenges of the Grand Line. To allow him to overcome his enemies in the story One Piece, he needed to become much stronger.

Luffy’s Devil Fruit is actually the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, though it was previously known as the Gomu Gomu no Mi. For years, the author, Oda, intentionally misled fans into thinking it was a simple Paramecia-type. As Luffy faced increasingly strong enemies, he discovered his base power wasn’t sufficient. This led him to develop and utilize power-boosting techniques called Gears, with his latest being Gear Fifth.

This post contains spoilers for One Piece.

Luffy’s Gear Fifth Subverts Most Shonen Tropes

Image by Toei Animation
  • Luffy’s Gear Fifth is the manifestation his desire to be free
  • It is a hotly debated topic in the anime community

During Luffy’s battle with Kaido, widely considered the world’s strongest being, it became clear Luffy wasn’t strong enough to win on his own. The author, Oda, therefore needed to intervene and give Luffy a boost. Up until that point, all of Luffy’s power-ups followed typical patterns seen in shonen manga.

Most fans anticipated Luffy’s next transformation would follow a familiar pattern. However, the creator, Oda, surprised everyone by taking a completely different approach. Instead of relying on typical shonen anime conventions, he made Luffy’s Gear 5th incredibly silly and unexpected, which stunned the entire fanbase.

Gear Fifth Is An Extremely Controversial Transformation

Image via Toei Animation.

I remember when manga fans first saw Luffy’s Gear Fifth transformation – they were talking about it for a while! Anime-only viewers didn’t catch up until much later, and both times, it sparked a lot of debate within the One Piece community. But when the anime finally showed it, things really exploded. It wasn’t just One Piece fans reacting; people from other anime fandoms started noticing too. A lot of Shonen anime fans are used to seeing heroes get more intense and powerful, so Luffy’s transformation – it was definitely a surprise to many.

I’m not interested in ruling or taking over anything. I just believe the person with the greatest freedom on the seas is the Pirate King.

I noticed a lot of criticism surrounding Luffy’s new transformation, with some people feeling it didn’t fit the usual style of action manga. However, the vast majority of One Piece fans seem to love it. To me, it feels perfectly suited to Luffy’s character – it gives him the power he needs to defend those he cares about, and it really highlights his playful personality. Beyond that, it embodies his core values: his freedom and his boundless creativity.

Luffy’s Gear Fifth Is Arguably The Best Anime Transformation In Recent History

I’ve been watching anime for years, and honestly, even though some fans are still on the fence, I think everyone will eventually agree: Luffy’s Gear Fifth is the best transformation we’ve seen in anime for a long, long time. It’s just so creative and powerful! The design is completely different from anything else – when Luffy activates it, everything turns white! His hair, his clothes, even his eyebrows get this cool, swirly look. Plus, there’s this awesome cloud of white smoke that appears, which represents his Devil Fruit truly awakening. It’s visually stunning and really shows how much stronger he’s become.

Luffy has become incredibly strong, now able to battle opponents as large as Kaido in his beast form. During their fight, he even enlarged his fist to the point where it overshadowed the entire island of Onigashima! This powerful attack, coated in both Armament and Conqueror’s Haki, is a threat to anyone. Beyond just becoming physically stronger, Luffy’s Devil Fruit ability lets him turn anything into rubber and drastically change his own size, even becoming giant-like.

Luffy Needs To Master Gear Fifth In The Final Saga

Luffy is already very strong, but he needs to get even better and fully control his Gear Fifth form before the story ends. We’ve seen in the Egghead arc that when he gets tired, he quickly gets into trouble and relies on his friends to save him. He can’t keep fighting like that in the final battles, or he won’t survive.

Luffy needs to master his Gear Fifth transformation to avoid being severely weakened after using it. While the upcoming Elbaf arc, featuring battles against Imu and the Holy Knights, could be where he gains better control, fans will need to wait and see.

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2026-02-03 16:36