Monkey D. Luffy looking surprised in One Piece anime
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Emedo Ashibeze
Published 23 minutes ago
Emedo Ashibeze is a tenured journalist specializing in the entertainment industry. Before joining ScreenRant in 2025. he wrote for several major publications, including GameRant.
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Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents:
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One Piece is one of the shonen medium’s greatest titles. An epic exceeding over a thousand chapters, One Piece features an irresistible story formula involving pirates and an interwoven power system of Devil Fruits and Haki. The protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hats and an emissary of freedom, has had an impeccable story run until his latest transformation.
Luffy’s latest power-up, Gear 5, is one of the most polarizing developments in the story because it contradicts the foundation of One Piece’s power system and takes a narrative leap that spurs unanswered questions. It defies the story’s logic and brings an uncreative solution to Luffy’s zenith as a battle shonen protagonist.
Gear 5 Ruined Luffy’s Character Archetype, By Contradicting Everything He Stands For
Gear 5 Luffy seen laughing in One Piece Anime
One Piece's foundational themes revolve around Monkey D. Luffy, a protagonist with an unyielding will to become the King of Pirates and a laughable Devil Fruit — Gomu Gomu No Mi — which is just rubber with incredible elasticity. The combination of these two elements evolved to be Oda’s greatest asset in delineating the One Piece story structure.
They culminated in the creation of an underdog protagonist who rebels against the World Government's oppressive system and fights to liberate communities. Luffy’s encounters allowed viewers to witness how disadvantageous he was in battle with other Devil Fruit wielders. The Admirals, Emperors, and crucial characters in the story were armed with extremely powerful Devil Fruits that made Luffy’s Fruit purely comical.
However, despite the odds, Luffy continuously maximised the potential of his rubbery Devil Fruit, upgrading its potency with every fight and creatively refining the limited use of a somewhat weak ability. This pattern was reflected in the Gear series before Gear 5. Even with the invention of Haki, Luffy simply assimilated the power with his abilities.
Haki wasn’t a super-powered development that foiled every antagonist in One Piece. It merely raised the stakes, as every powerful opposition in One Piece can equally wield Haki tremendously. Ultimately, Luffy triumphed over every battle's odds through grit, perseverance, and sheer doggedness.
Opponents like CP-9’s Rob Lucci and Katakuri allowed Luffy to evolve and earn every battle win. However, Gear 5 contradicts Luffy’s character build. The super Fruit – Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika — debuted as an awakening with no ties to Luffy’s perseverance or evolution. It was simply handed down to him as a gimmick to awe viewers.
It weakened One Piece’s narrative impact and is not a genuine extension of the Luffy character idiosyncrasies. What separated Luffy from the opposition and characters was destroyed with the invention of Gear 5; he now shares a super Devil Fruit with a toonforce-esque impact, sullying his underdog nature.
Gear 5 is Too Much of a Narrative Stretch, With No Story Anchor
Monkey D. Luffy looking very tired in One Piece anime
Gear 5 is a narrative leap with no credible evidence to support that it was conceived earlier in the story. Oda is famously known for his impressive foreshadowing, which makes him one of the greatest storytellers within the Shonen demographic. However, his execution of the background context for Gear 5 is quite questionable.
Luffy’s awakened Devil Fruit, which includes “Nika” in its name, is barely referenced earlier in the series. There are only a few definitive mentions of Nika, which undermines the genuineness of Gear 5. Furthermore, it changes the perception of Luffy as a character by making him “the chosen one.”
What made Luffy iconic in One Piece is his ingenuity in battle. He earned his reputation as an underdog pirate through gruelling encounters and battles. He was never special for his risible abilities. Unfortunately, Gear 5 changes this narrative. What presently makes Luffy special is the paradoxical god-like Devil Fruit that can change battle stakes in seconds when he unleashes it.
Gear 5 is limitless, but not in an impressive way. It is too much of a narrative stretch to pin down easily. What are the rules for the form? Does it have a glaring weakness or counter? What effect does it have on Luffy’s body? These questions underpin its thematic flaws.
It is incorporated into the story as a multifaceted narrative that buckles under its own weight and discredits what the Straw Hat leader truly represents. Gear 5 makes zero sense, and not from an awe-stricken perspective, but from a questionable one.
Gear 5 Has Weakened One Piece's Tension and Hindered Luffy’s Growth As A Character
Luffy holding Kizaru while in Gear 5 in One Piece episode #1127
Overpowered characters share a plot-compromising dilemma. Their impressive strength comes at a cost of novelty and unpredictability. With Luffy’s ascension to Gear 5, he joins the fold of immensely powerful characters with student character development and predictable behavioural patterns.
As a story, One Piece is still stellar; it’s an adventure that seeks to uncover the truths about the world and the dastardly actions of the World Government. It retains its unfiltered creativity and humor that fans have grown accustomed to. However, as a battle shonen, One Piece has dropped the ball when it comes to Luffy.
Gear 5-themed fights lack the tension ingrained in earlier fights featuring Luffy. One Piece has created an unstoppable super-powered protagonist, contradicting the story’s original stance on fortitude and guts. In the end, Gear 5 doesn’t just miss the mark — it actively undercuts the very ethos that once made One Piece electrifying.
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9.2/10
One Piece
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-14 Comedy Action Adventure Anime Fantasy Release Date October 20, 1999 Network Fuji TV Directors 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 Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou Writers 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 Franchise(s) One Piece
9 Images
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Luffy getting ready to fight Babanuki in One Piece episode #947.Close
Cast
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
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