Animation has a long history in Japan. The Dull Sword, the short film regarded as the first anime, was created in 1917. Since then, American cartoons have helped to shape the history of the anime industry and influenced many prominent anime creators like Astro Boy‘s Osamu Tezuka. Watching Gear 5 Luffy in action, it’s clear the entire premise of the Gear 5 form is a callback to classic American cartoons.

Gear 5 Luffy’s ability to increase not only his own rubbery properties but turn everything around him to rubber as well, makes his fight scenes clearly evoke the distinct style of classic American cartoons. During Luffy’s iconic fight with Kaido, for example, both combatants make plenty of cartoonishly exaggerated reaction faces, complete with eyes popping right out of their heads. Luffy’s attacks land with funny little sound effects. The fight even ends with the defeated Kaido having stars circle his head.

Gear 5 Luffy Turns Cartoon Logic Into a Powerful Weapon

The exact nature of Luffy’s Gear 5 was explained in the One Piece special Road to Laugh Tale Vol. 3. As clarified in the special, at their most basic, Luffy’s Gear 5 powers derive from the enigmatic sun god Nika and the ability of Gear 5 Luffy to turn his imagination into reality. Gear 5 Luffy’s ability to rubberize his surroundings takes the rubber-based power set of the Gum-Gum Fruit to its logical extreme. Similarly, turning himself and the world around him into a giant cartoon is a succinct expression of Luffy’s goofy imagination. Giving Luffy a new form that draws inspiration from classic cartoons is a perfect thematic statement about Luffy’s character.

The fanbase’s reaction to the introduction of Luffy’s Gear 5 has been mixed, with fans divided especially over the form’s cartoonish nature and over-the-top fighting style. Despite this mixed reaction, Gear 5 has been presented as nothing short of Luffy’s most powerful form ever. Thanks to the clear demonstrations of Gear 5’s impressive power level, anime fans have embraced the debate over who would win in a hypothetical fight between Gear 5 Luffy and other powerful anime heroes like Goku and Naruto.

Gear 5 Luffy Is a Homage to the History of Anime and Manga

By Eichiro Oda’s own admission, Gear 5 Luffy’s design and powers are a deliberate artistic decision. A recent interview with Oda has the author explain that he wants One Piece to be fun. Furthermore, the deliberately cartoonish and exaggerated depiction of the Gear 5 form’s powers is a conscious tribute on Oda’s part to the more lighthearted style of classic manga and cartoons. Fittingly, Luffy’s ability to turn his imagination into reality reflects Oda’s own desire to take his story in a more imaginative direction.

Since its first appearance, Luffy’s reality-warping Gear 5 form has established itself as one of the most powerful and memorable abilities in anime. The cartoonish design and fighting style of Gear 5 is a brilliant reference on author Eichiro Oda’s part to the classic cartoons that have historically influenced the anime industry. At the same time, it’s a creative way to look forward, allowing for many new narrative directions to be taken as One Piece moves forward.

The One Piece anime streams on Crunchyroll and the One Piece manga can be read online at Viz and Manga Plus.