When will Luffy's Gear 5 be animated in One Piece?

Powerscaling is something that is often mentioned in One Piece, though fans remain divided on just how important it is.

Across more than 1,000 episodes of the show, powerscaling is a way that viewers can determine the power of a character by comparing them to others.

For some characters, it can be difficult to assess their strengths, but protagonist Luffy has had a clear journey of levelling up.

Even though the end of One Piece might be in sight, Luffy is still a fair way off from becoming Pirate King. Even as Gear 5 has just debuted, fans have long been theorising about when we may expect to see Gear 6 debut in the manga, or even when it may arrive in the anime.

Read on to learn everything we know about the most recent episode’s revelation, and everything we know about Gear 6.

When will Gear 5 be animated in One Piece?

Luffy's Gear 5 finally made its anime debut in Episode 1,071, during Luffy's face-off against Kaido. Although Kaido easily pummels Luffy into the ground, leading citizens of Wano to believe he's done for, out of nowhere Luffy's new-found powers manifest and he finds himself kicked into Gear 5.

This is a huge landmark for the anime, and it's something director Tatsuya Nagamine is very aware of.

Speaking to fans at One Piece Weekend 2023, Nagamine hyped up how the episode had been such a mammoth undertaking for everyone involved, so much so they had to recruit globally: "Many people gathered from around the world to work on Gear 5. Four different languages were used in one meeting. Everyone loves One Piece so much."

However, Episode 1,071 was more so a prologue to the Gear 5 adaptation than anything else – Luffy's full battle with Kaido will be the focus of the next episode, which is set to air on 13th August 2023.

Gear 5 is likely to show Luffy in his ultimate form, gaining more freedom in his movements while turning him into a "Warrior of Liberation".

His Devil Fruit will become the most ridiculous power in One Piece, being able to do things such as turning into a giant with ease and running in the air while leaving fire tracks behind him. We actually get a glimpse of Giant Luffy in the teaser for next week's episode, alongside him even using Kaido as a jump rope. It's clear Luffy is operating on a whole new level now.

Fans think Luffy's Gear 5 is enough to put him in the Top 5, defeating characters such as Kaido and Big Mom.

How did Luffy receive Gear 5?

Luffy began with his natural resting position of Gear 1, before increasing the speed of his blood to withstand heavier damage at Gear 2 during episode 272. This happened during the Enies Lobby, enabling him to develop Red Hawks – otherwise known as fists of flames.

When it was established that Luffy could make full use of Devil Fruits, Gear 3 was properly introduced. Luffy made his first visual appearance in Gear 3 in episode 304, successfully destroying a metal door in an underground tunnel.

Gear 4 came along in episode 726 when Luffy merged with Armament Haki to take on the warlord Donquixote Doflamingo. While in Gear 4, Luffy uses shorter, compression-based blows, while attacks seem to bounce straight off of him.

Finally, Luffy has levelled up to Gear 5 in episode 1,071 and in episode 1,072 we'll get to see Luffy fully explore the extent of his new found powers, and just how outmatched Kaido finds himself.

It's clear that the anime's adaptation of Gear 5 is going to be one of the most epic moments in the history of the show's run, and that's down to Nagamine's dedication to faithfully adapting Oda's work, but also knowing when to push even further beyond: "We tried to do it just like in the manga... but our dream began to broaden. The animators were all very enthusiastic about it. I'm really thankful for it."

Does Gear 6 even exist?

Though Gear 5 might be thought to show Luffy in his ultimate form, there is still plenty of speculation about whether Gear 6 exists. Some fans have hypothesised that a Gear 6 seems inevitable due to the clear comparison to gears with cars, with Gear 6 being the highest a car can be placed into.

Even while no Gear 6 technique seems to currently exist, it doesn’t rule out the idea that Luffy could surprise fans with it as One Piece draws to a close.

Becoming the Pirate King means being the best — and going beyond the realms of what powers are imagined to be possible might be the way of ensuring that destiny is fulfilled.

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