Gear 5's biggest inconsistency in One Piece may be its take on Dragon Ball Z's Spirit Bomb

Modified Jan 18, 2025 04:30 GMT

Luffy's Gear 5 is one of the most powerful transformations in One Piece and even in anime. However, there are some weaknesses that this transformation couldn't redeem, one of which was the vulnerability to slash attacks. Moreover, another weakness that appeared when compared was Luffy's inconsistent Gear 5 transformation, which might be similar to another media technique.

During the Egghead Arc, Luffy needed food to restore his transformation, even though such a thing wasn't needed during the Wano Arc. So, Luffy's Gear 5 transformation might depend on people's joy and laughter, which fueled his Nika form. This might be similar to Goku's Spirit Bomb techniques, which relied on other organisms' life energy.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from the One Piece manga series and has the author's opinion.

One Piece: Exploring the reason behind Gear 5's instability

Luffy as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

During the Wano Arc of One Piece, after an utter defeat against Kaido for the third time, Luffy's body was lying on the ground as the antagonist boasted his power. He then went to the lower part of Onigashima to spread despair. However, Luffy's body suddenly releases drumbeat noises as the protagonist's hair turns white.

As the drumbeats got steady, Luffy jumped from the ground with a new persona titled Gear 5 (which also revealed Luffy's true devil fruit, the Human-Human fruit, Model: Nika). Luffy then surprised Kaido, who was busy telling the tale of the protagonist's demise and pulled the antagonist back to the battlefield for a final showdown.

During this final clash of fists, Luffy's transformation wore off. However, he soon regained it, marking the defeat of the tyrant of the Wano Kingdom. While this arc debuted the appearance of a new transformation, it might have also introduced its biggest flaw, which was revealed in the next arc.

Luffy's Gear 5 reaching its limit (Image via Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha)

During Egghead Arc of One Piece, while the Straw Hat Pirates were fighting Saint Saturn, Luffy's transformation wore off. However, he couldn't return to it because he needed food. This was concerning because no such thing was needed during the Wano Arc, so why did it happen against Saint Saturn?

Luffy's Gear 5 transformation might utilize people's joy and laughter as its fuel. This might be why it couldn't be utilized during the Egghead Arc (as no one was laughing at that time) and was in Wano Arc (as everyone was happy about Luffy's return and was expecting a win). Food might be an alternative to using people's joy.

Goku's Spirit Bomb as seen in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Gear 5's dependence on others might be a take on Goku's Spirit Bomb technique from Dragon Ball Z. Against Vegeta and other numerous occasions. Goku has utilized this technique, which is also dependent on others.

To perform this technique, the protagonist requests life energy from every living being worldwide (plants, animals, etc). Once the energy accumulates to a threshold amount, it becomes a blue sphere that can potentially wipe out an entire planet. So, Luffy's Gear 5 and Goku's Spirit Bomb share a key resemblance.

Final thoughts

Even though Gear 5 debuted a while ago, there are still some holes in this transformation, which can only be speculated without any canon description from the author. All in all, this resemblance with Dragon Ball Z is sure an interesting take that might even be true.

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Edited by Toshali Kritika