'One Piece' Details A Dangerous Gear Fourth Breakdown

One Piece has put Monkey D. Luffy through the ringer more than once, and the hero has come out [...]

One Piece has put Monkey D. Luffy through the ringer more than once, and the hero has come out stronger for it. From all-out wars to training missions, Luffy has tackled it all, but that does not mean the captain is invulnerable.

When it comes down to it, Luffy takes licks more often than not, and the anime just proved Gear Fourth has its limits whether the pirate likes it or not.

Recently, One Piece put out its latest episode, and it follows Luffy as he carries on his battle with Charlotte Katakuri. The massive Sweet Commander is laying out his attacks with ease, giving Luffy more than a little trouble despite him being in Gear Fourth. So, it was only a matter of time before the powerful transformation ran up its time limit.

Yes, that's right. Gear Fourth was whipped out as a last resort against Katakuri but failed to take the Sweet Commander out. Luffy put a lot of faith in the form pulling through, but he found himself deflating soon enough without an escape route in sight.

"I really need 10 minutes! Without Haki, I can't even compete against him," Luffy tells himself once his Gear Fourth form fizzles out. The now-lean pirate is seen sprinting away from Katakuri as the Mochi-Mochi user tries to take out Luffy while he is down. The Straw Hat knows he will need Haki to stand a chance against Katakuri, but he is unable to use the power for ten minutes once Gear Fourth runs out his reserves. So, it is lucky for Luffy that Brulee is lurking around the battlefield, and the captain uses Big Mom's daughter to temporarily retreat until he can use Haki once more.

While this is not the first time Luffy has used Gear Fourth, it marks a major breakdown for the form. The technique is treated as a last resort by Luffy as it has so many drawbacks, and its meager time limit is less than ideal. However, it seems the pirate has grown strong enough to withstand the form's exit as he was able to run away from Katakuri this time around. In the past, Gear Fourth has left Luffy basically boneless upon its leave, so fans can applaud the hero for that boost.

Do you think Luffy will pull out a Gear Fifth before the series ends? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 80 volumes, and 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 over 430 million copies sold.

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