One Piece anime drops first look at Gear 5 “Joyboy” Luffy

One Piece has given fans a new look at Luffy in his Gear 5 Joyboy form, and needless to say we’re excited.

After almost two years of waiting, One Piece’s recent episode gave fans the first glimpse of Luffy’s Gear 5, setting the stage for the upcoming episode 1071.

Expectations had been high for the appearance of Luffy’s Gear 5 Joyboy form, but what we’ve got so far seems to be living up to the hype.

This has translated into excitement on Twitter, as fans rejoiced at the first look at Luffy in his Gear 5 form.

One Piece has finally given fans a first look at Luffy’s Gear 5

Luffy’s Gear 5,and his subsequent Joyboy form, has finnaly appeared during his recent battle with Kaido. Kaido had been our protagonist’s biggest foe to date, with Luffy not winning one round against him.

At one point, Luffy even receives a fatal blow from a CP0 agent while fighting Kaido. However, this pushes Luffy to the brink as he awakens his devil fruit and transforms into the Sun God Nika, taking the first step toward the liberation of the world.

Tatsuya Nagamine, the series’ director for Episode 1071, has stated in an interview: “We tried to do it just like in the Manga. But our dream started to broaden. The animators were all very enthusiastic about it. Anyway, many people gathered from around the world to work on Gear 5. Four different languages were used in one meeting. Everyone loves One Piece so much.”

He also mentioned Gear 5’s laughing part. “I thought it would be difficult to do the laughing parts, so I tried to cut down on the laughter a little. But Ms. Mayumi Tanaka went above and beyond and gave us an amazing Gear 5 laugh. And the final result exceeded our expectations.” 

Fans rejoice at Joyboy’s return for One Piece Gear 5

This short clip of Luffy’s Gear 5 began making the rounds across Twitter, with fans expressing their excitement for the upcoming chapter and Luffy’s new abilities.

We won’t spoil what’s going to happen with Joyboy and Kaido – if you want to find out you can read the manga – but if you’re wondering what all of this means, we’ll explain down below.

Who is Joyboy, and how are they connected to Gear 5?

Like every Shonen protagonst, Luffy has a special ability. For him, these abilities are a Paramecia-type devil fruit and a very strong Haki. However, his Gear 5 transformation is a cut above the rest. Luffy is the only character in the entire series to have a devil fruit that can change its properties after awakening, as this was not ordinary devil fruit, but a Mythical Zoan.

After Luffy’s awakening, it was discovered that some devil fruits have enough consciousness to avoid those they don’t wish to be consumed by. Therefore, it’s likely the powerful fruit chose Luffy as its next user.

As for said fruit’s previous user? The Void Century’s Joyboy. Before this, Joy Boy was believed to be a name, but it turns out to be a title. So as Luffy awakens, Zunesha announces him as the second Joy Boy, born after 800 years to liberate the world from the tyranny of the World Government. We’ll have to wait and see if he succeeds.

One Piece Episode 1071 will release on August 6 on Crunchyroll. In the meantime, check out our other anime coverage below:

10 short anime series | 10 nostalgic anime series | Jujutsu Kaisen chapter 230 | One Piece live-action different from anime | One Piece SWORD members | Jujutsu Kaisen Gojo’s Hollow Purple | Minato’s side story | Bleach TYBW Episode 16 | One Piece Episode 1071 | One Piece Gear 5 anime schedule | One Piece chapter 1089 | One Piece Koby’s power | Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 4