Gear four is lame


Im sick of these random powerup asspulls in anime. Its so contrived and unoriginal. I know the hero has plot armor because he's the hero, but can manga writers really not come up with anything more creative for how the hero and his allies defeat the villain?

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Im sick of these random powerup asspulls in anime. Its so contrived and unoriginal.


Uh... how so? How is any of it random?
Gear 2 -> blood
Gear 3 -> bones
Gear 4 -> muscles, obviously

It was stated that Luffy had to find a way to fight off all those beasts during the 2 year gap, during which he developped this technique which, I assume, also has other forms.

So how is this a "random asspull", and "contrived and unoriginal"?


Fine, fine, I'll leave! But first I'm going to bother these peanuts! Hmm? Yes? Hmm? HMM?

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Luffy's gears have always been about taking advantage of his powers in unusual ways. Gear Four is actually the logical progression as he learned Armament Haki and combined it with his other skills.

The whole point of these next-level abilities is that Luffy and the Straw Hats weren't capable of beating even a single Schibukai (Kuma) as a whole team, so Luffy realized they all needed to improve their abilities.

This gives Oda the ability to have the villains at the power level he intended without having them be constantly out of Luffy's reach.


Copycat trolls always have each others' backs, even if both accounts are the same guy.

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At what point does it get ridiculous? Think of Dragonball and its constant transformations.

Super Saiyan 1, 2, 3, and now even Super Saiyan God. At what point does it end? I actually wouldnt mind if the hero had to team up with a bunch of people to win. Ill take that any day over pulling up yet another transformation out of nowhere.

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Are you really comparing One Piece to the absurdness of Dragon Ball (in terms of power level)...?

Luffy developped Gear 2 after copying some moves from the enemy that he was fighting, and who also was stronger than him at the time.

He also developped Gear 3 which had drawbacks to it, in case you've forgotten, and the same applies to Gear 4. It's not just a power up, it's something that has a cost and has been acquired along the way and in a logical fashion.

Unlike Dragon Ball where they go like "oh yeah btw, I've been doing more push-ups so now I can transform into level 3 or whatever"...


I actually wouldnt mind if the hero had to team up with a bunch of people to win. Ill take that any day over pulling up yet another transformation out of nowhere.


And isn't that exactly what's happening in One Piece? Luffy and Law's alliance?
Both of them taking on Doflamingo, and wanting to take out a Yonkou...?

I really don't see what you're complaining about. Also, unlike Super Saiyan levels, Gear 3 isn't superior to Gear 2, and vice-versa. They're all different forms, and their usage depends on what Luffy is up against;

- Gear 2 -> blood -> fastness
- Gear 3 -> bones -> more power per hit, bigger size, but considerably slow
- Gear 4 -> muscles -> more power

Also, again (looks like you're trying to avoid this on purpose), his Gear 4 form didn't come "out of nowhere".


Fine, fine, I'll leave! But first I'm going to bother these peanuts! Hmm? Yes? Hmm? HMM?

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And isn't that exactly what's happening in One Piece? Luffy and Law's alliance?


Not really. It started that way initially but Luffy stomps out Doffy on his own. And heres my point. Gear 2 and 3 fail. So what does Oda do? Create another Gear. Same boring trope that Toriyama popularized, and now every other shonen writer now does. My point by the lack of creativity of these forms is that the manga writers lean on them when they have no idea how to make a vastly superior villain fall to the hero.

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Not really. It started that way initially but Luffy stomps out Doffy on his own.


Lolno. Luffy was/is vastly inferior to Doflamingo. What happened when Luffy used Gear 4 for the first time? Was it enough to beat Doflamingo?

F_ck no. He had to rely on civilians to protect him/drag him around the city for 10mins while avoiding Doflamingo who was still able to not only move around, but also use his awakening.

If it weren't for the intervention of others, Luffy would've been killed. Same thing when Sabo dropped in and stopped Burgess. Do you think that Luffy would've magically got his stamina back and kicked his/their asses on the spot?

No, Doflamingo was beaten but definitely not by just Luffy's hand; Law dealt some damage to him (debatable, but still), and everyone else had to protect Luffy, otherwise it would've been all for nothing.

Doflamingo tanked everything that was thrown at him while in Gear 4, and he was still up and kicking. There's your "vastly superior villain" right there. He didn't lose because of Gear 4, he lost because

- the whole country was against him/supporting Luffy and helping him;
- all members of his Family were beaten, so it was just Doflamingo.

If this had been a "real" fight just between Doflamingo/Luffy, it's pretty obvious that Doflamingo would've won hands down. Or do you think he would've kindly waited 10 minutes for Luffy to recover?


And heres my point. Gear 2 and 3 fail. So what does Oda do? Create another Gear.


Which is something that people predicted was going to happen since Luffy used Gear 3 for the first time. There's been hundreds of theories since then, a lot of which had to do with rubber and how it could be used in different states.

Luffy has always been the character to develop his own attacks. And like he said when he fought against Blueno, he had to get stronger otherwise he wouldn't be able to protect his mates.

Do you honestly think 2 years would go by without him developping something new? Especially when you take into consideration that he learned Haki, and now had the possibility to incorporate it in his attacks?

Luffy was forced to develop Gear 4, otherwise he wouldn't be able to survive and do any damage to the animals that roamed the island where he trained with Rayleigh.

I think you're a bit confused about what the Gears are supposed to represent. Unlike Dragon Ball - where you evolve into a superior being with all your stats being maxed - the Gears are all different from eachother, each one having its pros and cons, like the obvious time usage (just look at Gear 4) and efficiency.

Gear 3 isn't an improvement over Gear 2, just like Gear 4 for isn't an improvement over the other two. It's just a new way Luffy has found to use his rubber against his opponents, and that's all there is to it.

Unlike Dragon Ball, or Bleach, in One Piece the characters most powerful with Devil Fruits are the ones who go about finding all possible ways to use it, so they're prepared to fight any kind of opponent.



Fine, fine, I'll leave! But first I'm going to bother these peanuts! Hmm? Yes? Hmm? HMM?

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I agree with you, the design is the worst thing about it. I feel like this might be Luffy's final transformation though, since Devil Fruit Awakenings were introduced.

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It's lame but not an asspull. Luffy trained on the island for two years to learn Gear Four.

The lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of sheep.

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