Editor's Note: This entry contains spoiler information related to the One Piece manga and anime series

About

The Gear 5th or Gear Fifth is a famous power-up of Monkey D. Luffy, the main character of the shonen manga and anime One Piece. The power debuted on episode 1071 of the anime in early 2022 and became a trending topic on social media over the following years, inspiring reaction images, videos and photoshop edits of the character's power.

Origin

The Gear 5th^[1] power-up (shown below) is the awakened form of the Gomu Gomu no Mi fruit (or as its true original name, the Hito Hito no Mi fruit, model Sun God Nika). This power-up strengthens the user's rubbery body and gives them the ability to manipulate and transform their environment based on their own imagination in a way reminiscent of slapstick humor from Western animation. This power was first used in the One Piece manga in chapter 1044 on March 28th, 2022, during Luffy's final battle with Kaido on Onigashima, in the climax of the Wano arc.

On August 6th, 2023, the power debuted in the anime adaptation of the series. Anime streaming service Crunchyroll official YouTube^[2] channel posted a clip of episode 1071 showcasing some of the power's abilities (shown below), which garnered over 395,000 views and 25,000 likes in four hours.

Spread

Online, the debut of the Gear 5th power-up in the manga and anime has inspired a series of memes on social media. For instance, on August 6th, 2023, Twitter^[3] user @newworldartur said that many anime streaming websites, including Crunchyroll,^[6] have purportedly crashed from too much traffic thanks to One Piece's 1071 episode (Gear 5th reveal). The post (shown below) garnered over 57,000 likes and 11,200 retweets in a day.

One Piece's official Twitter^[4] page @OnePieceAnime posted a clip of the power (shown below), which garnered over 1.2 million views and 54,600 likes in 15 hours.

GEAR FIVE, BABY pic.twitter.com/Dh6wOXCCNd

— One Piece (@OnePieceAnime) August 6, 2023

The power's cartoonish features also inspired a series of redraws and ironic memes on social media. For example, on August 5th, 2023, Twitter^[5] user @tridoza posted a video of a man crying paired with the caption "This is my peak! This is… GEAR 5TH." The post (shown below) garnered roughly 31,000 views and 1,600 likes in a day.

"This is my peak! This is.. GEAR 5TH" pic.twitter.com/uaPnOEXLR4

— TRIDOSA (@tridoza) August 6, 2023

Various Examples

Fan Art

Search Interest

External References