 The One Piece anime finally released the moment we've all been waiting for. And when I say we've all been waiting for it, I do mean all of us. Whether you're a manga reader, anime only, or even a casual fan, chances are you've heard about this legendary reveal of Gear 5th. And now we got to see it animated, so let's talk about it. The first thing I want to mention is that this episode may have been the biggest and the most anticipated anime episode in One Piece history. The Gear 5th trailer released on One Piece Day has, at the time of recording this video, reached over 11 million views. And to put that into context, the One Piece live action trailer, which was also highly anticipated, now has just over 9 million views. And the One Piece live action teaser trailer that came out over a month ago has roughly the same 11 million views. And that's an astounding comparison when you consider the fact that the One Piece live action is being handled by Netflix, the biggest streaming provider, and when you consider the global reach that Netflix would have, especially after taking the teaser trailer to Tudum. And look, you could say that that's because the trailer for Gear 5th is shorter, so people might find it an easier watch and an easier to click on, but I don't think it's quite as simple as that. And regardless, it's just a crazy amount of anticipation for a single TV event. Even Crunchyroll's Drums of Liberation clip has reached over 4 million views. So it's safe to say that people are excited to see Luffy turn into Rezin. And that's a One Piece theory community joke for those of you who don't get it. But it's safe to say that Toei has put in some special effort for this episode, because alongside the Gear 5th reveal, we also got a new ending or an ending at all, because this is an anime feature that we haven't had for over 17 years. Actually, the last episode that had an ending was Episode 278, which is just an iconic of an episode, but I digress. So yeah, just loads of special things happening in this episode. And we have seen the anime treat certain episodes with more dedication in the past, particularly in the recent 1-0 arc, you know, episodes 982, 1,000 and 1,015, all standing out just off the top of my head, as well as the general level up in the quality of animation recently. But this episode was treated even more specially for sure, because Episode 1071 was marketed really heavily, almost like a movie. Toei ran promotions for the reveal of Gear 5th in Japanese train stations, and fans in Europe are actually organising to watch the episode in the cinemas, which sounds like an amazing experience, and I really wish that I could be there. It's really been the talk of the town, a hype train that just hasn't died down. Even anime-only fans have known what's been coming for months, the anticipation building up the closer that we get to Episode 1071, just because of the sheer amount of excitement surrounding the episode. I had friends who are casual anime fans talking to me about this episode weeks before it released, and to put that into context, I don't have that many friends, period, no, just kidding. I don't have that many friends in Australia who watch One Piece, so it's just not a conversation topic that comes up in everyday situations. So this has obviously been marketed extremely well, doing the right thing, and reaching broader audiences, and rightfully so, because the reveal of Gear 5th will go down as one of the most iconic moments in One Piece, perhaps the history of all manga. Not only because the reveal of a new gear is always an exciting moment where we get to witness a new power-up for Luffy, but this reveal was extra special and meaningful to the story as a whole. While previous gear forms have all been epic and hype in their own rights, Gear 5th went beyond being simply a power-up. It's a massive turning point in the story that completely recontextualized Luffy's devil-fruits ability, and is arguably one of the greatest twists in One Piece. The fact that Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Mi, which we've witnessed and come to understand its mechanics and features from all the way back in Chapter 1, was in fact another fruit entirely. It's a mind-blowing twist that no one could have expected. One of those moments that if you go back and reread One Piece from the beginning, you would read the series in a completely new light. And Gear 5th also wasn't your typical badass anime power-up. Even by One Piece's standards, which is wackier than most, Gear 5th is a really refreshing take on combat and power-up in anime. The heavily cartoonized style of fighting is hype in its own way, and just such a fun and entertaining way to experience a battle. And then on top of this, Gear 5th added a whole lot more to the lore of One Piece. The new gear essentially being the awakening of Luffy's devil fruit, which actually meant unlocking the true nature, the Hitohito no Mi, Model Nika, and the reveal of this mythical zoan devil fruit also meant the reveal of things like the fact that zoan types, particularly mythical zoan types, have wheels of their own. The heavily implied suggestion that this is likely the same devil fruit that Joy Boy once owned, and the existence and ties to a legendary figure called Sun God Nika, also known as the Warrior of Liberation. Just so many new details about some of the biggest mysteries in One Piece, like Joy Boy, the origins of the devil fruit, and what happened during the Void Century. It seems like that this Nika devil fruit that Luffy now owns will be somehow linked to all of them. So I've gone on a bit of a tangent here, but I think you can see what I mean, and why Gear 5th is the big deal that it is, and why it has generated the amount of hype that it has. So about the anime episode itself. Episode 1071 was directed by Tatsuya Nagamine, and he's been a part of the One Piece animation team since episode 892, and directed episode 990. That was when Yamato saved Luffy from Ulti, as well as episode 1027, and that's the episode that featured Zoro's use of Asura against Kaido. So clearly, Tatsuya Nagamine is very experienced when it comes to animation, particularly action scenes. And you can also tell from his previous episodes that something he really focuses on is sound design. The level of sound effects going on during Yamato's use of the Thunder Bagua really stood out for me in that episode, or the use of rock music during the rooftop battle, really adding to the tension of the scene. And as we know, the music and sound design is a really important detail for an episode like 1071, and was possibly my favorite part of episode 1071. Some of Tatsuya's other most well-known works are One Piece films Heart of Gold and Film Z, and Film Z is still to date my favorite One Piece film. He also directed the film Dragon Ball Super Broly, so again, loads of experience, especially when it comes to action. My understanding is that Megumi Ishitani, who is widely praised for her direction of episodes 957, 982, and 1015, which are some of the most highly ranked One Piece episodes. It seems that she was involved as the storyboard artist for episode 1071, and my understanding is that she also may be the director of episode 1072, which is also super exciting, because this would be the episode that features even more wacky combat scenes. And I can't wait to see her take on that, because her previous episodes have always had such a unique artistic approach that felt so fresh and breathed new light into the anime episodes. The key animators who worked on this episode include Wailin Zhang, who is perhaps most well known for his work on Boruto, and this was his first involvement in the One Piece animation. And that must be a super awesome feeling, getting to be involved in the production for episode 1071. That's gotta be a core memory that stays with you. I mean, the experience of watching it will always be a core memory for me, so imagine being a part of its creation. Takashi Kojima, who worked on the Paradise Totsuka scene from episode 972, and Red Rock from 1015 was also involved in this episode. Both of those were epic action scenes that really captured the intensity of the attacks superbly, and an animator named Chris, who has recently joined Toei full-time, and since then has been an absolute powerhouse, involved in some of the most legendary scenes of the Onigashima battles, such as the King of Hell, Sanji's Hell Memories, and the last two minutes of the Zoro and King fight. In fact, it actually seems like many of the animators who worked on the Zoro and King, or the Sanji and Queen fights, were involved in this episode, including Fasto and Shitaruban. And I think it's safe to say that they have been really delivering with all of these recent episodes, because the animation for all of these fights and sequences have really been hitting. And on one hand, while the combat style between Gear 5th and the other fights are quite, quite different, these animators really brought the fast-paced, chaotic and wild energy that makes the action feel so much more hype and dynamic to life, and managed to translate that really well for the cartoon-style sequences in this episode. And someone else very notable of mentioning is Yongxi Tu, who has been the chief animation director for Wano and huge props to him, because I'm sure we can all agree that the animation in Wano has really stepped up since previous arcs. He's made a lot of stylistic changes that give Wano its distinctive feel, including the bushy black outlines, and that was also on full display here in episode 1071, and that fit really well with the cartoon theme of the fight. Yongxi was also a key animator in Film Red, which means that he has actually had previous experience animating Gear 5th, because episode 1071 isn't the first time that Gear 5th Luffy was animated. Film Red included a really short snippet of Luffy in Gear 5th form in the final battle alongside Shanks. And it was just a very small snippet, so hopefully anime-only fans who went to watch the film weren't spoiled. But then again, with the amount of promo out about Gear 5th, even outside of Film Red, it would be amazing if anyone managed to be completely unspoiled. And now I'm sure I'm missing a lot of others who worked very, very hard on the episode, so all props to them. And let's delve more into the anime episode itself. The best word to describe the episode is joy. The episode was honestly so much fun. You could tell everyone working on it worked very hard, obviously, but more importantly, that they were enjoying it. I think the fun that they were having really translated on-screen, and it was that energy that we picked up as fans. I think the role of the anime is to enhance what is on paper in the manga. And this is an episode where you truly feel that. The amount of detail that they put to increase the feeling of constant movement and energy was just very apparent and really made you enjoy these moments even more. Something that I really liked was the ground continuously bouncing and bobbing along with Luffy. I thought that was a really nice touch. And even the scene when Luffy jumps out in front of the moon, the flashing outline really enhances what is already an iconic image in the manga. They also dedicated a lot of time just teasing at Luffy's form and just showing him dancing and playing before going into the battle with Kaido. And I really appreciated that. It was such a fun experience that captured how much Luffy was enjoying this and really set that playful tone for Gifif. The wacky cartoon sequences were pulled off really well, which I'm not surprised about at all actually because if there's a series that can pull this sort of fighting off, then it's one piece. I was genuinely laughing at all of those comical goofy scenes such as Luffy swinging Kaido around or the loony tune style gags like the running and the eyes popping out. Just such a contrast to the slick and intimidating Kaido that makes it so much funnier. In fact, my cheeks hurt from how much I was smiling or laughing but what stood out to me the most in this episode was the auditory experience and how much that elevated the visuals. Huge props to all the voice actors and everyone involved in the sound design because that absolutely slapped. From the very beginning, listening to the drumming, I very much felt the anticipation building up in me and I had the goosebumps to match. And then all throughout the episode, especially during the fighting, hearing the blend of the cartoon wacky style mix as well as the epic sound effects and the music was really refreshing because this is something that I was really interested in prior to watching the episode. Whether they would go down the cartoon style effects or whether they would stick to the epic style anime sound design. You know, are they going to lean into the cartoon more or try to portray Gear 5th as this hype and epic phenomenon? And I think that they managed a perfect blend. This mix of both styles really made the fighting feel so much more chaotic and dynamic, so liberated, which I think is the word that we have to use because it's the perfect feeling given that it's Gear 5th, the rebirth of the warrior of liberation. You truly felt like Luffy was free to do anything. Mix all the sound designs. Who cares that it's different genres? We're free, it works. And that's how I feel about the speed of the animation as well. I know that the cuts in a lot of scenes were incredibly quick-paced, so it's hard to catch certain details and truly take in all of the moves, but I think that fit with the tone of the episode because it again showed the dynamism of the atmosphere. It's chaos, it's free, but it also makes for a good experience to watch those scenes again, slow it down and really take the time to take in everything that's happening. Who doesn't love a rewatch? It's also important to remember that this is also just the teaser to Gear 5th, you know, it's only supposed to be our introduction. And I anticipate that the next episode is when we'll see really all of the details of Luffy's Gear 5th in action. And like I said, I think it may be Megumi Shitanya who's directing the next episode, and if that's the case, I have no doubt. No doubt at all that 1072 will be an absolute banger. But regardless, I'm really just excited to see more of Luffy in battle and all the hype moments that we know are coming, like Giant Luffy, for example. Also, I'm overall just really interested at what sort of direction the anime will take with Gear 5th, Luffy, long-term, you know, the sound effects and the animation style. Will it continue to be very cartoony or back to the classic one-piece style? But back to this episode specifically, because I haven't finished talking about all the music and sounds yet, I also really appreciated the mix of overtaken playing to the drum beats of Liberation. Because overtaken is such a staple in the series, and it's an absolute must for epic moments like these. So to hear it in such a fresh way made it all the more exciting, as well as the rendition of We Are. It really heightens the feeling of nostalgia and the sense of, you know, look how far we've come as we watch Luffy reach his peak. It's a particularly powerful emotion when you consider that Gear 5th is so intrinsically linked to the very beginning of the series. The very first chapter when Luffy ate his so-called Gomu Gomu No Mi, so to have We Are playing in the background as Luffy is just dancing and playing in his Nicar and Gear 5th form, that was ingenious. It goes without saying that Luffy's voice actor, Mayumi Tanaka, is the mother freaking goat. Her energy in this episode, I'm sure she was feeling that she also reached her peak, because this was such a spectacular performance. Luffy's laugh was perfect. He sounded so manic and unhinged, almost creepy but in the best way possible, like someone crazed with how much fun he's having. The director actually said in an interview that he tried to cut down on the laughter because he thought that it would be difficult to pull off in this episode, but then Mayumi's performance just exceeded the laws of expectation and they had to go with it. I honestly think that Luffy's laugh may have been my favorite part of the episode. I think Kandrura's voice actor also did a brilliant job and is worth noting. It's hard to make the audience care, feel about these sort of, you know, side plots almost, when Gear 5th is pretty much what everyone is paying attention to and the only thing that people are paying attention to in this episode. But then his creepy, tragic voice actually captured my attention and I actually did enjoy this scene with Hyori and Orochi. The way that that was animated too, particularly the close-up to Hyori's crying face, was so beautiful, so crisp and clean. And it served as a nice contrast to Gear 5th. In fact, the whole tonal shift that happens when we transition from that scene to Gear 5th was done really well, again with the sound design and the music. Towards the end of the scene, when the fire set ablaze, there's this dark, orchestral humming or, I don't know, aaaaring in the background. I'm sure there's another word for it, I just can't think of it at the moment, so, you know, feel free to inform me in the comments. But this really brought down the mood and the tone of the episode and then it made the experience feel much more dynamic when we go back to Gear 5th. And actually, you know what? The anime was very faithful to the manga. I actually forgot to reread chapter 1044 before watching and so I forgot that the Hyori scene was actually included in this chapter. But regardless, I would have expected that this episode would, you know, much more heavily or solely focus on Gear 5th and maybe just the scene with Orochi to add the hype about Gear 5th's true nature and the true nature and power of Luffy's actual devil fruit. But this all ended up working really, really well. I will say that the episode could have done with less flashbacks or replaced of the previous fights, but I'm not mad about it because the rest of the episode slapped so hard. Even the ending, like I said, first time in almost two decades that we got an ending. And this one was a vibe. One of my favorite things about One Piece is just the random and everyday straw hats interactions and we get a lot of that in this ending. So many different scenes that make you chuckle, like Sanji trying to flirt with Hyori while Zoro scowls looking on. Overall, I felt that same kiddish elation watching this episode that I remember feeling as I read the manga. Like being transported back to when I was eight years old, watching fun cartoons, smiling and laughing without a care in the world. And what a blessing it is to feel that again in this day and age. So whether you're a manga purist, a casual fan or a religious anime watcher, this episode is truly not one to miss out on. And I definitely recommend you to check it out if you haven't watched it already. And of course, what a blessing it is to get to share this experience with fellow fans. So thank you to all of you. Thanks for listening to another one of my rambling thoughts. Make sure to check out the episode. Let me know your thoughts on the episode by leaving a comment below. Don't forget to like, share and please do subscribe. This is Joygirl and I'll see you again soon.