Luffy’s Gear 5 in One Piece anime managed to do many things- breaking the internet, changing the scope of One Piece, and challenging generic battle shonen transformations that people have been used to since the dawn of anime and manga. Let’s take a look at some of these aspects in detail below.
Luffy’s Gear 5 in One Piece Changes Everything
Luffy has always been a character who brings joy and liberation- it only makes sense that he’s the legendary Joyboy and the Warrior of Liberation from the days of the Void Century. The Gomu Gomu no Mi Devil Fruit has never existed and it was only used as a cover for the true name of Luffy’s Devil Fruit, Hito Hito no Mi Model: Nika– a mythical Zoan Devil Fruit.
We learned of the 4 Gods of One Piece in Skypiea and among them was the Sun God whom we only learned in Wano was called Sun God Nika. According to legend, he was a Warrior of Liberation whose body had the properties of rubber and he freed the slaves all while laughing, dancing, and being goofy. Oda took a long time to solidify Luffy’s character and his role in the world and story of One Piece.
That’s why when Luffy’s Gear 5 in One Piece came out in Wano, it was at once shocking but also earned. Let’s take a look at its powers and abilities.
Powers & Abilities of Luffy’s Gear 5 in One Piece Explained
Luffy’s Gear 5 in One Piece has a signature heartbeat pattern resembling that of Drums and is often called the Drums of Liberation. It makes his body more rubbery and grants him to fight with full freedom. In short, it’s toon force- invoking the iconic rubber hose style animation of classic cartoons, this form allows Luffy to fight with as much freedom as his imagination can handle.
He can obviously turn his surroundings into rubber but he can also grab lightning, clouds, or even his opponents as if they too were made of rubber. He can affect natural phenomena, manifest sunglasses and baseball bats from a hammerspace, and so on. His abilities are only limited by his imagination and we know Luffy has boundless potential there. Being a Zoan Fruit also means it has a will of its own and grants Luffy increased strength, stretchiness, stamina, and durability.
The only downside to Luffy’s Gear 5 in One Piece is that it consumes a lot of stamina and even likely his life force- which is why after using it for 5-10 minutes, he reverts into the form of an old man. His appearance goes from white hair and attire to a washed-out shriveled-up greyish grandpa.
Why Luffy’s Gear 5 in One Piece Challenges Established Tropes in Battle Shonen Mangas
A transformation like this in a battle shonen is unprecedented as most mangas go for a serious or gritty tone the more their protagonist progresses and gets powerful in their story. Goku’s Saiyan transformations are the precedent and have become the blueprint for battle shonen anime transformations. You can then look at Naruto’s Sage of 6 Paths or Ichigo’s Final Getsuga Tenshou forms as the next heavy hitters. Everyone thought that after Gear 4, Luffy would go in the same direction.
But Oda, being the eccentric genius he is, still wanted to keep the story fun considering the manga is entering the Final Saga and it’s already darker than the majority of the story before. Luffy’s Gear 5 in One Piece also pays homage to the classic Western cartoons that inspired the manga industry in the first place- cartoons like Tom & Jerry, Mickey Mouse, and Looney Tunes were some of the specific titles that heavily inspired Oda.