The first two Gear 5 episodes of One Piece will be released this August.
One One Piece leaker, @OP_SPOILERS2023 on Twitter, reported that episodes “Gear 5,” 1071, and 1072, will air in August “due to another delay.” Although their post doesn’t include screenshots, it does feature a fanart of Luffy using lightning in his Gear 5 form. OP_SPOILERS23 also shared a notice from One Piece’s animation team that anyone caught spreading “photos or clips” from episodes 1071 and 1072 prior to the official release will be reported.
Gear 5 is Luffy’s most powerful stage, famously giving the food-loving pirate god-like abilities. Rumors of the aforementioned Gear 5 episodes started circulating earlier this month. On June 3, a Twitter user named @EriesuInformer reported that the “legendary” events of Chapter 1044 will occur in Episode 1071 of One Piece. Their post also includes what appears to be a screenshot of Luffy in Gear 5 form. Other anime leakers, including @OP_SPOILERS2023 and @WeeklyLeaks were quick to share the news.
Luffy’s One Piece Gear 5
Luffy’s Gear 5 stage originates from a mythical character named Nika, who was honored by ancient slaves as the “God of the Sun”. Like Luffy, Nika’s signature ability is the ability to stretch his body out like rubber. After Luffy ate the model Devil Fruit Hito Hito no Mi, his strength multiplied tenfold, increasing his strength, speed, and endurance. In addition, this fruit also gives Luffy the ability to perform any feat he can imagine, allowing him to take on even the strongest opponents head-on. Even so, Oda has admitted that he created Gear 5 as a joke to “disgust” his fans, as he thinks the character’s overly animated style will make most readers uncomfortable.
Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece manga series launched in Weekly Shonen Jump in July 1997. More than two decades later, it is now the best-selling manga series of all time, with over 516.6 million copies sold. Toei’s One Piece anime premiered in October 1999 and currently consists of over 1,000 episodes spanning 20 seasons. Currently, Oda is on hiatus from One Piece for 4 weeks due to eye surgery to correct severe astigmatism. The hiatus of the series officially began on June 11 with the release of Chapter 1086: “Five Elders”. The manga will resume publication on July 18.
One Piece is currently available to stream on Hulu, Netflix, and Crunchyroll. The comic is available in English from VIZ Media.
Source: Twitter