Favorite joke is whenever Saiki brings up dark reunion as a real option whenever someone or something is being shady
I love how Oda shows that Gear 5 is getting more powerful. Not through how much destruction it causes, but that Luffy is now using other kinds of slapstick.
When fighting Kaido Luffy was using body/environment squish and strech (I have no idea what any of the terms I'm trying to use are). Growing in size, bouncing off the ground, turning Kaido into a balloon and jump rope, most of that fight had rubbery qualities to its gags, even the eye stretches can be categorized as stretching, as none truly fell out. (Ussop is able to do a similar thing with the wasabi grape, but that's a whole nother post and another reason for his godhood.)
Against the Gorosei though, he's turned them into paper (which is distinctly NOT rubber,) had all his scars blown off, and created a baseball bat and helmet with paint seeming out of nowhere!
Oda is making it so that Luffy can do anything to anyone so long as it'll get a laugh from us, and while I'm not qualified to do an analysis on that subtle 4th wall breaking. I for one can't until he does the ultimate attack and shoves Pies into all their faces!
they’re zany to the max!!!
Seems like only last year
You were teaching
Life can fill you with fear
But it ain't just suffering
And now irony would have it
That I teach it back to you
finished playing Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley recently, have some fanart 💖
Gear 5 Foreshadowing/Analysis
One of the things that absolutely delighted me about gear 5 was how natural it felt for Luffy. It was Luffy to a T - which is what makes it so incredible! That's the best part of him :)
I learned about Gear 5/Joyboy/Sun God Nika like a month after starting One Piece, and I was just able to see how every element of the show was building up to this.
luffy vs. kaido fight spoilers under readmore
GEAR 5 GEAR 5 GEAR 5!!
Part of the reason it feels so natural is because of how it shows that the Devil Fruit's Awakening builds on Luffy's growth and understanding of his powers, particularly his use of all 4 gears, which are all incorporated and clearly referenced in the Gear 5 fight:
Gear 1- Luffy interacting with lightning!! Because since we have known since Skypiea, rubber is nonconductive, meaning luffy isn't affected by it. Luffy grabbing the lightning strikes and using it to catapult him around? That's gomu gomu no rocket! On top of that, he manages to become the lightning and swoop towards Kaido (in a move that looks a lot like Python). He's able to combine his base rubber powers in a wild and wacky way, and absolutely loves it :)
Gear 2 comes in play in this incredible screenshot from the fight after Luffy restarts the Drums of Liberation. Gear 2 is also about controlling bloodflow and breathing - and by extension, the heartbeat!! Its all there. Thank Gear 2 for luffy's auto-defibrillation skills.
Gomu Gomu no Giant is the logical progression of Gear 4 Boundman, (which builds on gear 2 and gear 3 as well). It's like a version of Luffy without the additions
Gear 3: ... Yeah, this one is pretty obvious.
But the most important aspect of Luffy it brings in from his previous fights is his silliness. From the shocked face Crocodile gives him when he sees Water Luffy to Kaido's eyes popping out as he uses him as a jump rope. Things that seem meaningless, like his Gomu Gomu no UFO move. (I had to include this because I thought about how Joyboy it was from the moment i saw it. He's just joyously having fun in weird ways!! <3)
The magic of Gear 5 is in how everything from before comes together and combines seamlessly, which brings us to section 2:
Foreshadowing of Joyboy
Luffy has always been the sun. Tanjiro has nothing on Luffy for Most Sun Coded Anime Protagonist. Luffy is from the East Blue on Dawn Isle. One could say he rose from the East. The beginning of his story is called romance DAWN. This is from other posts that delve into it more, but luffy has been liberating people from the start- Koby, Zoro, Shells Town. Thats just how he rolls, it's part of his existence- Luffy will see someone oppressed, think "Is anyone going to help them free themselves?" and not wait for an answer. Punching a celestial dragon? That's ridiculous. But Luffy was made to do ridiculous things.
Skypiea, which is where we learn about Joyboy, has Luffy facing off against Enel and winning easily because of his nonconductiveness - the true god destroying the false one.
On Fishman Island, he frees Shirahoshi from her prison and promises to take her to see the sun. Another aspect is the symbol of the sun pirates being changing the celestial dragon's slavemark into a SUN. Luffy also takes away the giant shadow of Noah hanging over them.
Dressrosa? Known for it's SUNflowers.
When Luffy loves and accepts sanji, freeing him, the sun literally dawns on him. One of my fave moments with him. (To go into sanji & his wano arc i would need a whole different 1000 word essay on him. Bbg u are simply so fucked up)
Wano arc amps up the dawn = freedom references by 100. referencing the dawn 24/7, having luffy become a slave
Luffy has always been free because he is himself.
Here’s my Ranboo art from the Valentine’s Day stream :]
Be nice to him he just got dumped :,,(((
LUFFY WEEK HAS BEGUN. ☀️🌞
Luffy Week Day 1: Smile!
they’re both stupid, where r ppl shipping them to guys? you decide idk, they’re gonna explode
nobody gets tsukasa like i get tsukasa but one thing i dont get is if hes the mf beating hanako up. BC IT FEELS IMPLIED BUT ALSO??? weve never seen him move to hurt hanako. ever. he doesnt even defend himself whenever hanako grabs him, pushes him, STABS HIM??? like i cant see him doing that
and another thing i always considered was "maybe hanako i defending tsukasa" but tsukasa was actually very popular amongst his classmates, hanako says so.
so its clearly not that? but then what is going on?
one theory i have is that it has to do with their mother. we know she can tell something is wrong with tsukasa considering how she drags the poor boy to be exorcised multiple times. if she is potentially threatening/trying to harm tsukasa and hanako is protecting him, perhaps its that? idk gimme ur thoughts if u have any.
Moomins and their Snufkins - part 2 [part 1]
going back to my old ways