Luffy's Peak - Attained! Fifth Gear

"Luffy's Peak - Attained! Fifth Gear"
One Piece episode
Episode no.	Season 20 Episode 180
Directed by	Tatsuya Nagamine
Written by	Atsuhiro Tomioka
Original air date	August 6, 2023 (2023-08-06)

"Luffy's Peak - Attained! Fifth Gear" is the one thousand seventy-first overall episode of the Japanese anime television series One Piece, which is based on the manga of the same name. The episode was directed by Tatsuya Nagamine and written by Atsuhiro Tomioka. It originally premiered on Fuji Television on August 6, 2023. In the episode, set during the Wano Country arc, Luffy finishes transforming into Fifth Gear and continues his fight with Kaido, having been defeated by him earlier.

Plot

In the previous episode, Kaido defeated protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and declared victory over him. Following that, Zunesha tells Momonosuke that she has heard the "Drums of Liberation" for the first time in over 800 years and that Joy Boy has returned, while Luffy undergoes a mysterious transformation. On the top of the Skull Dome, Luffy eventually finishes his transformation, having fully awakened his Devil Fruit maximum power. His hair becomes flame-like and white as does his clothes, while his eyebrows become swirled and billowing and his irises turn pink with a scarf of clods floating above his shoulders as the ground he walks becomes like rubber as he becomes incredibly joyful. The transformation alerts the others who're overjoyed that Luffy is still alive. Meanwhile, the Five Elders of Mariejois discuss the sacrifice of one of their top agents in an attempt to stop Luffy. The World Government had been attempting to obtain the Gum-Gum Fruit for 800 years, but had been unsuccessful, almost as if the fruit was evading them. One of the Elders mentions that Zoan fruits can have their own wills, revealing that the Gum-Gum Fruit is the Mythical Zoan Type Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika.

When the user awakens their fruit, they transform into the legendary "Sun God" Nika, with power and freedom limited only by their imagination, declaring the Devil Fruit to be the most ridiculously powerful thing in the world. Meanwhile, in the treasure repository, Orochi tries to persuade Hiyori to remove his Seastone nail and set him free. However, following his numerous betrayals and wrongdoings against Kouzuki Oden and the people of Wano Country during his reign, Hiyori is enraged and refuses. The armory explosion has reduced Kazenbo to a small wisp, which appears and returns to its master. Orochi orders Kazenbo to burn Hiyori alive. However, Kazenbo does not listen and instead sets Orochi on fire while he remains trapped beneath the rubble. On the rooftop, Luffy claims that he can now fight for longer periods of time and declares his new form to be his peak, dubbed "Fifth Gear". After fully recovering, Luffy unleashes the extremely powerful Conqueror's Haki, which reaches the Beast Pirates on the Performance Floor below. He grabs Kaido's dragon body and drags it back above the rooftop, beating him with minimal resistance. Kaido unleashes a Blast Breath on Luffy, but he blocks the fireball by pulling up on the ground. The fireball bounces off the wall, striking Kaido. Despite being unable to hit Luffy, Kaido expresses relief that he is still alive and apologizes for CP0 sabotaging their fight. Luffy accepts his apologies and plans to finish his final fight with him.

Production and broadcast

"Luffy's Peak - Attained! Fifth Gear", alongside with the rest of the series, was produced by Toei Animation and is based on the manga of the same name by creator Eiichiro Oda. It was directed by Tatsuya Nagamine and written by screenwriter Atsuhiro Tomioka. Animation for the episode was directed by Midori Matsuda and Keita Saitō, as well as Weilin Zhang, who was not credited. The episode is an adaptation of chapter 1044 of the manga, which is depicted in fifteen pages from pages 2 to 17.

Nagamine stated that they were attempting to "do it just like in the manga" and expressed that animators working on the episode were "very enthusiastic", adding that he was being cautious with adopting it from the original version from the manga and expanded "beyond what they had initially imagined". He also said that "many people gathered around the world to work on Gear 5". Nagamine described the Liberation part as "breaking free from the laws and physics of the world" and revealed that despite the director questioning the transformation and having Luffy's voice actor Mayumi Tanaka to cut down the laughter for the character, she was able to exceed their expectations. A first look at the episode, showcasing Luffy's transformation, was released on July 21 during One Piece Day 2023, while an official preview after episode 1070 was aired the following week. A animatic of a scene from the episode was shown on August 10 of that year.

"Luffy's Peak - Attained! Fifth Gear" was initially broadcast in Japan on Fuji Television and other channels on August 6, 2023, while the English dub debuted in the United States on May 5, 2024. The episode was released on the streaming service Crunchyroll. In Spain, Cines Filmax confirmed a limited theatrical release of the episode, starting on the same day as its release, and would contained previous debuts of Luffy's gears.

Reception

In Video Research's audience measurements, the episode earned a household rating of 3.9 and ranked four in the Kantō region. Various places reportedly held screenings of the episode. Before the episode was released on Crunchyroll, the website experienced an overload that lasted for nearly a hour, before being resolved. On Twitter, hashtags such as #Luffy, #Gear5 and #ONEPIECE1071 become trending, following the episode's release. Anime News Network writer Grant Jones stated that the episode was "a delight from start to finish", praising the animation and sound design, comparing it to those of Looney Tunes. Screen Rant writer Ken Mar ranked the episode in second place among of the best episodes in the One Piece anime series, saying that "even if other episodes were more emotional, it's hard to top this one in terms of epicness and general impact".