One Piece's Creator Confirms Gear 5's Hidden Origins

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In a recent interview, One Piece's author Eiichiro Oda revealed the hidden inspiration for one of the biggest revelations in the history of his manga: Luffy's Gear Fifth transformation. The unusual and cartoonish style of this form has divided the fandom, but Oda explains that there is a very specific reason behind it.

Fans of One Piece were completely astonished when the series revealed that Luffy's iconic powers did not, in fact, derive from the Gomu Gomu no Mi, but from a much more powerful Devil Fruit, the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. Even more surprising were the abilities displayed by Luffy after awakening his Devil Fruit and entering Gear Fifth, a bizarre set of powers that included the ability to alter his body and surroundings according to his imagination. The result looked like something out of a cartoon, with eyes popping out to signal shock, legs turning into wheels when speeding up, and so on. The formal explanation was that Nika's powers granted its user «absolute freedom», but there is actually a lot more behind that.

Related: Luffy's Most Powerful Form is Literally Breaking One Piece's Reality

Issue #34 of Weekly Shonen Jump contains an interview with Eiichiro Oda and Detective Conan's Gosho Aoyama (which can be seen below in a translation provided by Twitter user@Orojapan1), where the two legendary mangaka discuss their respective careers. When asked about turning points in their respective stories, Oda answered that, to him, Luffy's Gear Fifth was a very important development and something that he had been planning for a long time. The reason is that Oda was actually not happy about One Piece becoming too «serious», especially in terms of its battles, to meet modern fans' expectations. He wanted to go