One Piece - Episode 1071 [Review]
By: Mithrandiel
After years of watching Luffy’s ongoing battle to free the land of Wano from Kaido’s iron grasp, the battle is reaching its (final) chapter, and along with it, an iconic transformation that has been nearly 24 years in the making.
When last we saw our intrepid, Straw-hat wearing captain, he had just been foiled by a CP0 agent and hit head-on by a powerful attack from Kaido that rendered him unconscious. It seems like he was truly down for the count…until Zunesha commented on hearing a familiar sound - a steady drumbeat known as the Drums of Liberation. Uttering a stoic sentence: Joyboy…has returned!
We learn from the Five Elders that the Gum-Gum fruit has been sought after by the World Government for nearly 800 years. Yet, seemingly having a mind of its own, the fruit eluded the government this entire time. At the heart of its power is the fact that it is in fact a Mythical Zoan type fruit: a Human-Human fruit for the Sun God, Nika.
In other words, whoever bears the Gum-Gum fruit is in fact a God - limited only by their imagination as the awakened form turns everything around them into rubber, as well as reinforcing their already strong rubber body.
As one of the Five Elders puts it: “It is said to be the most ridiculous power in the world.”
We see this come to life with Luffy as he laughs joyously, bouncing around and reflecting on his new form.
“This is my peak!” he exclaims, newly invigorated with a fresh set of skills that he has only just begun to discover.
His first order of business is reaching into the castle and pulling Kaido out like an oversized jump rope. Seemingly controlling his physical form with ease, Luffy shifts into a more muscle-bound mode and spins Kaido around, slamming him into the ground multiple times before pummeling him. Once Kaido realizes that Luffy is back in action, the familiar excitement that we’ve seen from him in past episodes returns as he launches a Blast Breath attack. Luffy, still cackling at the earlier attacks, is almost taken by surprise, and dashes away as quickly as he can before pulling up a segment of earth (that is now rubberized), and using it to “bounce” Kaido’s blast breath back at him. Intrigued by Luffy’s new form, Kaido prepares to battle once again. Luffy, of course, welcomes the challenge.
Since the debut of Gear 5 in the manga back in chapter 1044, One Piece fans have been eagerly awaiting the on-screen adaptation of Luffy’s (presumably) final form. The hype reached a fever-pitch in the last few weeks, as many notable fans claimed that this transformation would be “iconic” and “change the medium forever”.
While I’m not entirely sold that episode 1071 was a seismic shift in the industry as a whole, it’s hard to deny its weight in the context of the long-running series. Fans of shonen know that new forms and skills are the name of the game, but with the general understanding that Oda is working towards the ultimate finale of One Piece, the reveal of this form is also showing fans what to expect for this final arc.
Fans were also eager to see it - to the point where multiple streaming platforms buckled under the weight of those early watchers as the episode went live.
I really enjoyed the aesthetics for 1071, though some of the overly rubberized and fluid scenes caused some confusing gaps as I tried to track the motion of the scene. When it comes to the sound design, the various springing sounds and other notable cartoon-style sound effects were a fantastic complement to Luffy’s new power.
Thematically, I find the concept of such a joyous hero to be a welcome change from the typical shonen protagonist. Oftentimes the final form of a shonen character is stoic and serious, commanding tremendous power and focused on defeating their enemies. Luffy is just…having a great time.
It’s a breath of fresh air to be honest, and I’m looking forward to next week’s episode, where we’ll get to see Luffy display the full range of Gear 5’s ridiculous power.
