'One Piece' Sees Gear Fourth Meet Its Match

Monkey D. Luffy is the peak pirate for fans around the world, but that doesn’t mean the One [...]

By Megan Peters

Monkey D. Luffy is the peak pirate for fans around the world, but that doesn't mean the One Piece lead is invincible. Over the years, the Straw Hat captain has experienced defeat, but audiences are never ready to see Luffy get brushed aside. So, you can see why it was a shock to have Gear Fourth taken down so easily this week.

For those caught up with One Piece, you will know how the anime just brought back Gear Fourth. With the tea party in shambles, the Sanji Retrieval Team is doing their best to flee Whole Cake Island, but Big Mom isn't keen on letting that happen. As such, the Yonko prepares to fight the intruders for their insolence, and Luffy takes the bait when she calls him a coward.

The insult prompts the Straw Hat captain into a rage, and it ends with him going Gear Fourth. The form is Luffy's latest, and its intense power can't be missed. After using the power against Doflamingo Donquixote, Luffy tries to take out Big Mom using Gear Fourth, but the devastating transformation doesn't do a thing.

No, really. Big Mom doesn't even flinch after being hit with a Haki-reinforced punch.

Of course, fans can learn a lot about Big Mom's power from how she handles the sudden Gear Fourth debut. The Yonko is one of the group's most feared members, and her ability to brush off Luffy's biggest attack is telling. Luffy might have exited Gear Fourth on his own due to its harmful drawbacks, but his big wind-up should have done some damage; Even Doflamingo was sent flying but such a hit, but Big Mom shrugged off the punch like it was nothing. So, it looks like the Straw Hats are in for some trouble as they try to escape the Yonko's territory with Sanji in tow.

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has been collected into 87 volumes, with a few chapters yet to be included. It has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best selling manga series worldwide with 430 million copies sold worldwide.

Did you think Big Mom would be this powerful? Will Luffy need to tap into a new Gear to defeat her? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!

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