Gear 5 Luffy May Be Popular, But It's Not the One Piece Pirate's Best Form

One Piece features one of the most inventive transformations in anime history with Luffy’s Gear 5. It perfectly embodies his character, enriches the series’ deep lore, and subverts the typical Shonen trope of rage-fueled power-ups. However, it isn’t the series’ most impactful power-up debut—that honor belongs to Luffy’s original Gear 2. Unlike his awakening, Gear 2 arrived without major fanfare, spoilers, or an extensive promotional rollout. He looks more inconspicuous in that form than in his Awakening, making it easier to hide from newcomers to the series.

Furthermore, the anime diminishes Gear 5’s debut by inserting extra scenes that disrupt the already sluggish pacing—some of which are repeated multiple times in the same episode. In contrast, Gear 2 was introduced flawlessly, delivering a thrilling reveal without overwhelming world-altering lore, such as the origins of Luffy’s Devil Fruit and his true abilities, which could potentially spoil the experience for new fans.

The Debut of Gear 5 Was Tarnished in the Anime

The Pacing Of Episode #1071 Was Less Than Favorable

In the anime, a lot of animations and scenes from Luffy’s Gear 5 moment were re-used, and it was highly noticeable. It also felt a bit like filler since it doesn’t happen in the manga chapter, which is fine, but another animation would have been appreciated.

Collage of Goku in Super Saiyan form and Luffy in Fifth Gear form

Move Over, Super Saiyan. One Piece's Gear Five Is the New 'It' Anime Form

Like Goku’s first Super Saiyan transformation, Gear Fifth gave Luffy iconic status and a place in the greatest-ever power-up conversation.

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Not only does it ruin the pacing of this historic transformation, but reutilizing a moment we’ve already seen after the shoehorned scene between Orochi and Hiyori, the pacing of the reveal is worsened more than it already was in the source material. Although there were unnecessary cuts for Gear 2, the debut was done succinctly and paced better.

Spoilers For Luffy’s Transformations Were Everywhere

It Potentially Ruins Several Surprises For New Fans

Ahead of the debut of the episode, Luffy’s Devil Fruit awakening was one of the worst-kept secrets in anime history. His transformation and its design were spoiled in an official promotion from Toei Animation weeks ahead of the episode debut, and was obnoxiously visible in-person at conventions like Anime Expo, not to mention amongst fans on social media. What’s worse, it alters the experience for newer fans getting into the series, especially since Gear 5 establishes that the Gomu Gomu no Mi is the Hito Hito no Mi: Model Nika. Knowing that at the start ruins Luffy’s arc.

It’s very hard to hide something like Gear 5 in promotional art thanks to his bombastic look as opposed to Gear 2, which can be mistaken for intensity or a technique rather than a transformation for the uninitiated. Gear 2 could be mistaken for something like Goku’s Kaio Ken from Dragon Ball Z, where his change of tint in Gear 2 looks more inconspicuous.

Gear 2 Is the First and Best Power-Up Because It Came Out of Nowhere

Although the Suddenness of Gear 5 Is Cool, Mastery Over Gear 2 Was Better

Luffy uses Gear 2 at Enies Lobby in One Piece

Gear 2 comes out of nowhere for audiences and Luffy’s complete mastery over it as opposed to Gear 5 is shocking since it's never shown when he even learned it. Although it’s cool to see Gear 5 overcome Luffy at the moment, seeing Luffy with such proficiency is another kind of satisfying. Luffy vs Blueno was less of a fight and more of a demonstration where Luffy completely dominates his opponent. What’s more, the end of the sequence teases another Gear in Luffy’s arsenal, promising we haven’t seen everything at his disposal.

Gear 2 felt earned as it came directly from Luffy suffering one of his worst defeats thanks to the Six-Powers, which serves as the fundamentals of his new power-up. Despite Gear 5 being the perfect transformation for Luffy in terms of his character, the most rewarding due to the series’ lore, and a subversive take on the state of power-ups in Shonen, he doesn’t earn it. As opposed to every other Gear technique, Luffy didn’t train for this transformation and it came more as a need because otherwise, Luffy would not have been able to defeat Kaido.

While Gear 5 is a fitting and thematically rich transformation for Luffy, its execution, especially in the anime, diminishes its impact compared to the raw, unexpected brilliance of Gear 2. The latter arrived without excessive promotion, seamlessly integrated into the story, and felt like a natural evolution for Luffy due to how he learned it. Meanwhile, Gear 5, despite its creative brilliance, suffered from pacing issues in its debut, overexposure online and in the media, and a lack of earned progression. Ultimately, Gear 5 is the most popular transformation in One Piece, but Gear 2 remains the most satisfying debut.