Ever since Luffy’s Gear 5 debuted in the story, fans have been dying to see it animated. The much anticipated Gear 5 episode of the anime, Episode 1071, finally was released this Sunday and received an overwhelming response from viewers.
This response, however, was divided into two halves where one half believed it to be an extraordinary adaptation and the other found it unsatisfactory.
A section of viewers complained about the cartoonish animation of Gear 5, citing that the childlike vibe of the animation made the tense situation too light and diminished the seriousness of such a power-up. In this article, we’ll be discussing the reason behind the cartoonish animation of Luffy’s Gear 5 in One Piece Episode 1071.
Table of Contents
The Reason behind the Cartoonish Animation of Luffy’s Gear 5 in One Piece Episode 1071
Fans who have already read the manga know that the cartoonish animation of Luffy’s Gear 5 in Episode 1071 was intentional and meant to convey the ridiculously grand power that Luffy now owns.
His Gear 5 is the awakening of his devil fruit, which was previously believed to be a Paramecia type , but was then revealed to be the Mythical Zoan, Hito Hito no Mi; Model: Nika.
In Gear 5, Luffy becomes the Sun God Nika who was said to be able to move his body in any way he wanted. This is where Luffy’s unbelievable power comes from: he can now do anything and everything he wants to do, without any limitation of physics and biology.
The cartoon-like animation of Luffy’s Gear 5 stems from this: the unbelievable nature of his power and how it surpasses every common sense. It’s as if the reality Luffy is experiencing is completely different from everyone else.
The other reasons behind the cartoonish animation of Luffy’s Gear 5 are:
Joyboy’s Introduction
Luffy’s Gear 5 awakening also marks the debut of Joyboy, the legendary character who still remains a mystery. As Luffy’s awakening starts and his heart begins to beat to the Drums of Liberation, Zunesha comments that Joyboy has finally arrived.
Like Nika, Joyboy is also said to make people laugh; in fact, that’s where his name comes from. That’s why the animation of Luffy’s Gear 5 is silly and cartoonish because through such movements, he is meant to make people laugh and forget their pain.
Eiichiro Oda’s Wish
After the debut of Luffy’s Gear 5 in the manga, Eiichiro Oda, the author of the series, revealed that he made Gear 5 so silly and childish because he wanted to play around. He also said that power-ups in shounen manga are very intense, and become progressively more so to satisfy the expectations of readers.
But he didn’t want that for Luffy, and instead gave him a ridiculous yet very important power-up that looks cartoonish on the front, but also makes him one of the strongest characters in the series.
Conclusion
The silliness of Luffy’s Gear 5 makes it so unique and profound. The ridiculousness of it diffuses the overwhelming tension that had been going on for several episodes, with several intense battles and Luffy’s crushing defeat. The cartoonish animation does justice to Luffy and the “most ridiculous power in the world” that he currently possesses.
There are a lot of characters in the Wano Arc who became more powerful through their intense battles. But the childlike nature of Luffy’s power-up highlights his uniqueness and the innate freedom he possesses as a person. That’s why in our opinion, Luffy’s Gear does the character and the situation justice, and Episode 1071 is indeed one of the best episodes of this year.
Do small things with great love.
Follows us on Twitter for more updates.
Also Read
Anamika loves words and stories and putting them to pages. She also loves anime, manga, books, movies and everything fantasy. She has been a fan of anime since childhood and her admiration for it only grew with years. Her passion for writing is even more elevated by writing about the things she loves.
