Is Gear 5 The Greatest Powerup In Manga History?

is gear fifth the greatest transformation in Shonen manga history well it depends on what you mean by that if you mean most iconic well then no one piece still has a long way to go before gear fifth becomes a household name however if you want to argue that conceptually gear fifth is the single most creative and brilliantly thought out transformation in Shonen one that feels like more than just a power up but rather a moment of completion the full actualization of what the main character was always meant to be then I think you have a great argument there at the same time that's not to say that the incorporation of gear fifth into the story is perfect when it was first revealed it was a little polarizing as while it is undoubtedly creative and uniquely one piece at the same time because it is so drastically different from other power-ups and the actual manner in which Luffy attained it is so drastically different from other power-ups there are several critiques one could make of it as well so today we are going to break down one of the most groundbreaking Transformations anime will ever have and dissect both the genius and the shortcomings behind it covering the themes character writing foreshadowing reveal and future but before we get into it make sure to subscribe and make sure that you get your own power of the summer with Factor that's right get stronger be faster jump higher and live longer with factors nutritious delicious meals delivered straight to your doorstep these are approved by chefs and dietitians to make sure that you're eating a healthy diet for the summer so that in a couple weeks you'll be looking like Luffy in udon the best part is these meals require zero prep at all they are completely made for you so you don't have to put any time or thought into getting healthy no waiting at the grocery store no cooking at the end of a long day no counting calories just fuel up on Factor whenever you're hungry I know that I've been able to stay healthy and in shape way easier this summer by eating Factor instead of takeout and I can honestly say there is no easier way to maintain a healthy diet than just signing up for one of factors me meal plans and letting Ben do all the work the best part is you can get 50 off your first Factor order to date just head to factor75.com or click the link below and use code merge 50 to get 50 off your first Factor box that's factor75.com code merge 50 to get 50 off Link in the description below so that aside to begin with the genius of gear fifth the form is objectively very creative this is one of those rare cases where you can use the word objective when discussing an artistic Choice as creativity objectively means thinking of something that no one has thought of before and while we have certainly seen this style in cartoons growing up it is objectively true that no one has thought to take that style and combine it with a traditional battle Shonen to create a manga where the hero actually wields two inverse abilities to defeat evil in this vein the concept of the form is inherently creative and the manner in which the form is actually you used is also endlessly creative as in just a short span of two fights against kaido and Luchi we have seen Oda concoct in Myriad of action sequences that you would otherwise never see in any other battle Shonen from eyeballs popping out of sockets to jumping rope with enemies to pulling out props from thin air every moment of gear fifth has been an opportunity to see something new now on the flip side of that strength comes a critique gear fifth also sacrifices a lot of aspects of traditional battles shown in power-ups that many readers enjoy and have become accustomed to power-ups are often fueled by serious emotions such as anger even just recently gear fourth was introduced to us to conclude a powerful angry speech from Luffy and as such these types of Transformations tend to take fights up a notch by making them more serious and dramatic the share not the fact is that often what works works and a simple Primal emotion that is a huge draw for Shonen enjoyers tends to be that sense of hang anger and drive being channeled into a dramatic and intense transformation gear fifth is very deliberately the opposite of that the moment it is introduced it turns the brief tension of gear forth Luffy vs kaido on its head by flipping the battle into an extended gag sequence filled with jokes intended to make for a comedic tone with the main character now exuding joy and lightheartedness rather than the usual rage-filled power-ups that we are accustomed to this is very deliberately oda's entire intent behind the concept of gear fifth as he has explicitly explained that he feels that other manga are too serious and that gear fifth was created so that Oda could make his fights lighter and more playful from here on as such where is the concept of the transformation is objectively extremely creative whether or not you enjoy traditional dramatic Transformations or the light-hearted comedy that comes with gear fifth that is entirely subjective however no matter how you spin it gear 50 is a boldly unique Vision by the Creator and it's something that I feel can only really work in a series like one piece that has always made sure to allow its cartoonish side to shine in particular the greatest aspect of Genius behind gear fifth in my opinion is how it perfectly fits the main character Luffy in a way that I think is unrivaled by any other series that I have personally read after all Luffy as a character represents many things he represents freedom he represents the Light Of Hope wherever he goes He embodies the sense of childlike wonder that we all have within us he brings out a sense of joy and laughter in whoever he meets and above all else he is the ultimate dreamer every single aspect of what Luffy represents very literally manifests as his actual abilities in gear fifth gear fifth is Limitless Unbound freedom to do whatever Luffy wants to not even be constrained by the loss of reality gear fifth is the Light Of Hope as it is the income incarnation of the sun god itself gear fifth is Luffy's childish Whimsy becoming his actual strength in combat gear fifth evokes joy and laughter as an ability that turns any situation no matter how serious or dire into a lighthearted joke gear fifth is the definition of turning your dreams into reality as whatever Luffy dreams he can do can now be brought to life gear fifth is not just a power-up it is a completion of the concept of the main character and the themes of the series I genuinely feel like it's almost wrong to even call it a power-up as it feels like the true idea of the hero Straw Hat Luffy the joyous Unbound Liberator of the world was always this I feel like this was the original vision from the start Oda just couldn't have Luffy start the series like this and so Luffy had to be toned down first and walked through a hero's journey before becoming his fully realized self and so looking back at the previous point of gear fifth being lighthearted versus being dramatic well there's different ways to look at it it's a very different type of emotion that gear fifth brings that in many ways is true to the type of emotion that Luffy has always brought even if everyone is up against an impossibly strong villain where there is no hope left for anyone the arrival of Luffy in gear fifth can feel like the sun shining through the darkness a Carefree Warrior of hope that alleviates all sense of Despair and replaces it with a smile as you watch him turn a seemingly unwinnable situation into cause for joy and laughter and in many ways that sense of relief and the tension breaking as Luffy finally arrives to save the day well that has always been the type of emotion that Luffy has evoked going all the way back to East blue it's just that year fifth takes that concept and multiplies it exponentially now all that being said while I personally think that the form of gear fifth is brilliant and fits the story of One Piece perfectly I think there is fair criticism to be made regarding the manner in which it was introduced and incorporated into the story to begin with most fictional power-ups fall into two categories those were the character trains beforehand and shows up to the battle already prepared with the power-up and those where the character attains their power up mid-battled the mid-battle ones are the ones that tend to be the most dramatic since they feature the hero taking a huge leap in the spur of the moment during the actual conflict and in this regard the single most important aspect of the power up is the actual emotional triggers and character writing that go into it Super Saiyan is kind of the OG example of this where the emotional trigger of Frieza killing Krillin and Piccolo deeply affects Goku as a character who finally can no longer take it and pushes himself to tap into something deeper than he had ever gone before in the process bringing out Goku's drive for righteousness and Justice in a manner that we also had never seen before we see a similar even more intense scenario with Gohan and Super Saiyan 2. seeing the characters experience and emotional journey and go through some degree of actual writing in the process of transforming and becoming stronger is the most important aspect of introducing a power up mid battle because that is where the actual substance of a power-up moment comes from and since Dragon Ball malda have only gotten more and more developed in that character writing surrounding power-ups with writers thinking of more and more ways to make these moments as character driven as possible and becoming more and more nuanced in the actual emotions and triggers the character is experiencing their thoughts their feelings as they break through to a new level gear fifths reveal is strangely devoid of all that the entire point of Luffy's moment of Awakening was that we actually don't experience any of Luffy's emotional journey in fact there is none he is supposed to be out cold maybe technically dead and then he just wakes up with new abilities Luffy attaining gear fifth essentially avoids any character writing altogether which is a damn shame as Oda is historically in my opinion the single best Shonen writer at crafting these types of power-up moments even if they aren't traditional power-ups one piece is littered with moments like this the first time we saw Luffy truly go to a new level mid-battle was against Arlon at the moment where Luffy found himself inside nami's Rune and saw firsthand exactly what arlong had put Nami through in that moment everything came together the history of nami's tragic past Luffy's desire to erase everything that caused pain to the one that he cared about the building story of what Luffy's crew truly meant to him Luffy's absolute resolve to never let anyone hurt his friend again we experienced that emotional Journey along with Luffy as he fueled that emotion to reach a level we had never seen before he had been getting knocked around by our long up till now but in this moment Luffy's strength becomes far greater than it was moments ago and he completely crushes arlong that is beautiful writing all the dramatic setup of the Ark and the Dynamics of the characters coming together to create a moment where the hero driven by well crafted emotion Taps into something greater of course this wasn't technically a new transformation but it shows what Oda is capable of crafting when he wants to write a dramatic power-up moment of sorts for the hero we see an even more intense version of this in any sloppy when a seemingly defeated Luffy has his iconic exchange with usop as yet again all of the personal drama and conflict of The Arc comes to a head as Luffy is reminded of everything that he is fighting for of the responsibilities he carries of what he must push himself to do we get to literally see him step by step walk through that process internally the Beats of him realizing what's at stake being reminded of what he must do pushing himself to get back up steering himself to win no matter what and all of it culminating in him unleashing the greatest finishing move in the history of One Piece again not a new transformation but still along the same lines of what you usually expect from a hero's final power up before defeating the villain it is a true tragedy that none of that is present in the wano arc for Luffy's power-ups as both of Luffy's power-up moments of gaining Advanced kakurasaki and gaining gear fifth simply come from Luffy being knocked out and then waking up with a cool new ability it would be like if we skipped the entire chapter of flashbacks and realizations and growth for Zorro and instead had King just defeat Zorro and then Zoro just wakes up with coppers hockey or it would be like when Zoro was seemingly defeated by Mr White and instead of all of this character writing and flashbacks and realizations Zorro just woke up and said I feel great now I can use the breath of all things to go a step further let's compare the gear fifth transformation to something even closer to Luffy's situation from another manga I think back to bleach where Ichigo has just been seemingly killed by ukiora Ichigo literally has it all through his chest and Ichigo essentially seems dead much like Luffy then Orihime screams his name repeatedly and Ichigo in an admittedly very cliche Shonen transformation pushes himself to get up and protect her triggering a transformation power up now I do view the scene as about Bare Bones cliche simple Shonen as it gets love interest screaming Heroes drive to protect he wakes up with a new ability however even that completely basic cliche writing of having Ichigo with a hole in his chest completely defeated origami crying for him to get up at him waking up because of her cries and getting new power up even that is better than Ichigo Simply Having a whole blown through his chest and then waking up with new powers for literally no reason at all because having even some level of dramatic character writing take place during the power-up even if cliche is really the absolute bare minimum of writing for a character power-up because without even the bare minimum it's not really writing at all it's just a shortcut villain hits the hero hero wakes up with a power up now the second aspect of gear Fifth's reveal that I think was poorly done is the fact that we only found out about Nika and that the rubber fruit was actually an extremely special legendary fruit right before Luffy got the transformation it genuinely could not have been any more last minute Oda wrote in the fact that the rubber fruit was actually a legendary special fruit not even before the final battle but literally during the battle with kaido itself the final battle with the villain was already going on and only then do we get this all-important and extremely convenient extra fact written in about Nika and the legendary fruit and then Luffy gets to immediately capitalize on this completely brand new information that his fruit was special all along if it was any other series but one piece that something like this happened I think most everyone would be unanimously criticizing this now I've heard the argument that Oda technically foreshadowed Luffy being Joy boy all the way back in skypeia because of this silhouette but this isn't a real defense as foreshadowing can mean different things yes foreshadowing is evidence that an author had something planned from far back but foreshadowing does not always mean that an author provided clear groundwork for an important future development to the reader this is because there are different types and degrees of foreshadowing see foreshadowing that can only be recognized as a subtle detail in hindsight is not the same as actually laying out narrative groundwork for the meter for example when the minks say that they can do more when there is a full moon that is a clear paint actually being communicated to the reader that the Minx can do something more during the full moon so when sulong is revealed it doesn't feel random in contrast just because we see Luffy dancing in Sky Pia this moment when originally read in no way communicates to the reader that Luffy's rubber fruit might actually be a super legendary fruit it is foreshadowing but it is the kind of foreshadowing that can literally only be recognized in hindsight after the eventual reveal meaning that with regards to the actual reading experience this moment is not establishing any sort of build up or hint to any sort of future reveal for Luffy's ability essentially the bonfire scene on its own when we originally read it is not providing information the fact is that for the reader the first time that we are given any actual information that Luffy's fruit might be something special and legendary is like 5 min it's before he gets the power up for kaido a simple analogy to how insane that is would be like if in The nomic Saga the phrase Super Saiyan was literally never mentioned in the Saga at all ever and then randomly during the final fight between Goku and Frieza itself when Goku is losing and it seems like he has no way to win right then some random character tells us there is such a thing as Super Saiyan and immediately afterwards Goku transforms into this super powerful form that we just found out about if that were to happen most everyone would acknowledge that this is fairly random and abrupt and I think most would agree that even if let's say Toriyama technically included some arbitrary throw with party panel 200 chapters ago where Goku dyed his hair blonde for fun for one moment therefore technically foreshadowing Super Saiyan that wouldn't change the fact that in the actual reading experience the actual concept of Super Saiyan is still introduced completely out of the blue at a last minute moment in the battle so gear fifth is brilliant as a concept and a perfect fit for Luffy's abilities and the themes of the story but I don't personally like the manner in which it was triggered or revealed to us in the story however I will round things off with the final biggest strength of gear fifth that I don't see people talk as much about and it's maybe my personal favorite aspect in terms of how it relates to the final Saga that we are in and future battles this is the fact that I feel like gear fifth is the perfect way to have Luffy have reached his peak in terms of Transformations and yet at the same time allow his actual Peak to continue getting higher essentially endlessly see a lot of people have debated whether or not Luffy will get yet another gear like gear 6. I personally don't think Luffy will ever need a new form Beyond this one when Luffy first gets gear fifth he literally says this is my Peak and I think we are meant to take him at his word for that because with this ability if it is truly only Bound by Luffy's own creativity and Imagination then why would we ever need any other form than this unlike other Transformations and Shonen where you usually a hero is being given a stats boost of sorts which means they're a lot stronger than they were before but there's still a limit to their power it's just higher than it was prior to the power-up but with Luffy the very concept of gear fifth is that it's the power of imagination meaning it's not so much about giving Luffy a new stats increase but rather allowing him to change himself and reality in whatever way he can think of there are likely limits to how much he can warp reality but the question isn't so much what the ceiling of what he can do is like I'm sure there's a limit to how big he can make his fist for a big attack but his ceiling does seem Limitless when it comes to variety of ideas it's about creativity not power and Luffy is a character that never seems to run out of creative ways to use his devil fruit what we've seen so far against kaido and Luchi is still Luffy in the process of trying his fruit out but there's still so much more he could think of so much more that Luffy could imagine I love that concept that Luffy doesn't need some sort of new form to take on future opponents like like Blackbeard Akainu or emu but rather that Luffy just needs to dream bigger and Bolder each time continuously coming up with xanier and zanier ways to fight essentially now that Luffy has infinite options wouldn't that mean that there's no longer any need for future power-ups it all comes down to how well Luffy can use this one unique cheat code tool that he has I don't think I've ever seen a transformation with that kind of concept before in any manga which is why there is nothing I look forward to more than seeing Luffy's next high level gear fifth battle in the story so year fifth despite an uncharacteristically rough introduction to the story in my opinion as a concept it is undeniably a stroke of Genius that is a welcome Mainstay for the remainder of one piece and I think in time it may be the single iconic transformation that people think of when they think of one piece but let me know how much you like gear fifth below if you agreed or disagreed with my views of its strengths and weaknesses and if you want to hear about some of the potential writing possibilities I imagine for gear fifth going forward you can support me on patreon to get my weekly podcast Link in the description below foreign

Channel: Mr Morj

Views: 98,677

Keywords: Gear 5, Gear 5 Anime, Luffy, Goku, Naruto, Super Saiyan, Gear 5 vs Super Saiyan, Shonen, Powerup, Best Powerup, One Piece, Dragon Ball, One Piece vs Dragon Ball, Luffy vs Goku

Id: gBxXEfJSUAk

Length: 20min 16sec (1216 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 08 2023