After more than a thousand chapters, One Piece finally gave Monkey D. Luffy his ultimate form, and it split the fandom almost overnight. Gear 5 turned Luffy white-haired and grinning, made his eyes pop out like a cartoon character’s, and revealed that his Devil Fruit had never really been what everyone thought. For some readers it was the most joyful moment in the series; for others it was a betrayal of everything that made Luffy’s fights matter. Why did Luffy’s awakening divide One Piece fans so sharply? Let’s look at what Gear 5 really is, what its critics say, and how its defenders answer.
What Gear 5 Actually Is
Gear 5 arrives at the climax of the Wano arc. Kaido has beaten Luffy down and his heart appears to stop, when a strange rhythmic beat begins to sound from his body. The ancient elephant Zunesha recognises it as the Drums of Liberation and announces the return of Joy Boy (Chapter 1043).
In Chapter 1044, the Five Elders reveal the truth. The Gomu Gomu no Mi was never a simple Paramecia fruit. Its real name is the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, a Mythical Zoan that lets its user become the legendary Sun God Nika, the “Warrior of Liberation” who brings joy to those around him. The World Government had renamed it to hide that truth, chased it for some 800 years, and finally secured it, only for the Red Hair Pirates to steal it during transport. The Elders describe its power as the most ridiculous in the world.
In practice, Gear 5 makes Luffy’s hair and clothes turn white, wraps him in cloud-like steam, and lets him treat everything as rubber: the ground, his enemy’s body, even lightning. The anime adapted the moment in Episode 1071, though Gear 5 had already appeared briefly a year earlier in One Piece Film: Red.
Why Some Fans Were Disappointed
It Feels Like a Late Addition
The legend of Nika is first mentioned in Chapter 1018, when Who’s-Who tells Jinbe the story he heard in prison. Less than thirty chapters later, that legend becomes the secret behind Luffy’s power. For many readers, a twist arriving more than a thousand chapters into the story felt like a retcon, no matter how much hinting came before it.
It Turns Serious Fights Into a Cartoon
The battle with Kaido had been built up for years as the darkest, most desperate fight of Luffy’s life. Then Luffy started stretching the ground like taffy, popping his eyes out in shock and laughing through the battle. Critics felt the tension simply vanished. When the anime aired, a section of viewers who expected an intense, power-up moment in the style of other battle anime was disappointed to get something closer to a classic slapstick cartoon, with many comparing it to Tom and Jerry.
It Undermines Luffy’s Struggle
This is the deepest complaint. Luffy’s appeal was always that he took a “weak” power, rubber, and beat stronger fruit users through creativity, training and sheer will. Learning that he had a legendary, god-level fruit all along made some fans feel that his past victories were worth less, and that he had become a chosen one rather than an underdog.
The Fights Became Harder to Read
With an ability limited only by imagination, it is not always clear how much damage Luffy is doing or taking. Some readers found that the cartoon logic made the stakes of later fights harder to judge.
Why Others Love It
Luffy Has Always Been a Cartoon
Defenders point out that Luffy has never fought “seriously” in the usual sense. Against Arlong, Crocodile and Rob Lucci, his style was always goofy, creative and full of exaggerated rubber gags. Gear 5 does not change his personality; it takes the side of him that was always there and pushes it to the limit.
The Theme Was There From the Start
One Piece has always been a story about freedom. Luffy wants to be the King of the Pirates because he sees that as the freest person on the sea, and the people he saves end up laughing and celebrating. A power defined by liberation and laughter fits that theme perfectly. Many fans also enjoy how the reveal recontextualises the very first chapter, where Luffy eats a mysterious fruit from a chest on Shanks‘s ship; it now turns out to be the treasure the World Government had chased for centuries.
Oda Did It on Purpose
Eiichiro Oda has been open about the choice. In a 2022 conversation with Gosho Aoyama, the creator of Detective Conan, he explained that he drew Gear 5 as a huge joke, fully aware that many readers would dislike it. He said he hates how battle manga keep becoming more serious to meet readers’ expectations, did not want his own series to go that way, and even compared the Luffy-Kaido fight to Tom and Jerry, with Luffy as the only one acting like a cartoon. Whether one likes the result or not, it was a deliberate artistic decision rather than an accident.
Gear 5 Is Not Without Limits
Another counterargument is that Gear 5 is far from a free win. The form burns through Luffy’s stamina so quickly that after using it he can look as if he has aged decades and collapse from exhaustion. An awakened Zoan also carries the risk of the fruit’s nature taking over its user’s mind, and Luffy remains vulnerable to cutting attacks. In the Egghead arc, Gear 5 lets him overpower Rob Lucci’s own awakened form and fight Admiral Kizaru, but it never makes him untouchable.
Who Is Right?
- The critics are right that: the reveal came very late, and the tonal shift in the Kaido fight was abrupt, especially for anime viewers expecting a dramatic transformation.
- The defenders are right that: the form matches Luffy’s personality and the series’ central theme, and Oda clearly planned the comedic tone.
- Both sides agree that: Gear 5 is unforgettable. No transformation in recent years has been discussed as much.
Conclusion
Gear 5 divided One Piece fans because it asked them to accept that the ultimate power in a world of pirates, admirals and emperors is not rage or darkness, but joy. For readers who wanted a grim final form, that felt like a joke at their expense. For readers who see Luffy as the boy who makes everyone laugh, it felt like the truest version of him.
So where do you stand – is Gear 5 the perfect expression of Luffy’s freedom, or the moment One Piece took its comedy one step too far?
