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One of the most highly anticipated parts of the One Piece story is set to begin in the series’ anime, which serves as an adaptation of author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s manga. With the upcoming focus having already been published in the manga, readers have been discussing their anticipation for Gear 5 everywhere online.
Unfortunately, this has led to some anime-only One Piece fans doing independent research on the form online, spoiling themselves to varying degrees in the process. With Gear 5’s introduction being one of the most exciting and narratively significant moments in the entire series, it’s somewhat unfortunate the manga readers exposed anime fans to it early.
On the other hand, many fans are now concerned about when One Piece’s anime adaptation will finally introduce the form. Likewise, they are also curious to see just how far behind the anime series is from the original manga, even with Toei Animation’s exceptionally quick adaptation pace as of late.
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Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers on the Gear 5 form and its introduction.
One Piece anime is dishearteningly behind the manga in the introduction of Gear 5 by calendar date
Gear 5 anime and manga debut date explained
The first official appearance of the Gear 5 form in the One Piece manga came in Chapter 1044. While the transformation technically starts in the final pages of Chapter 1043, the form isn’t fully seen or officially named until the events of Chapter 1044. The issue was released on March 28, 2022, roughly 15 months ago as of this article’s writing.
For context, the manga is currently set to release Chapter 1088 this coming Monday, July 24, 2023. There was a full month hiatus for the series earlier this year due to Oda needing eye surgery, which somewhat inflates the amount of time to have passed since the form debuted in the manga. In any case, it’s clear that the anime is very behind the manga in terms of released story material.
The One Piece anime, meanwhile, released Episode 1069 this past weekend, on Sunday, July 16, 2023. This episode adapted Chapter 1042, meaning that the anime has two chapters left before reaching the Gear 5 debut. Being a weekly anime series, this would presumptively mean that there are only two weeks until fans see Gear 5 debut.
However, the anime series is taking a one-week break before the release of Episode 1070. The episode will be released in Japan on Sunday, July 30, 2023. Assuming another break isn’t taken to prepare for the Gear 5 episode’s release, this would put the Gear 5 anime debut date as Sunday, August 6, 2023. If another one-week break is taken, the release date will be further pushed back to Sunday, August 13, 2023.
Within the Gear 5 anime debut episode, One Piece fans can expect to see the form’s most basic powers on full display. Fans will also learn some key information about the true nature of Luffy’s Devil Fruit, including its true name and classification.
Be sure to keep up with all One Piece anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
