Last week’s Gear Five debut in One Piece wasn’t quite what everyone was hoping for, but Episode 1072 takes every issue fans have and stomps them out. Seriously, the animation, pacing, and sound design for the episode were so much better quality. But, that’s not all that One Piece got right in Episode 1072, which is probably one of the best episodes from the Wano arc.
As always with new episode reviews, spoilers lie ahead! The new episode is available to watch on Crunchyroll, so proceed with caution!
Luffy Lets Loose in Gear Five
The last episode was so hyped up thanks to the debut of Gear Five but it was really just a taste for what episode 1072 brings to One Piece. Luffy and Kaido have finally resumed their fight now that Luffy’s Devil Fruit Awakening revived him. He gets off to a strong. start too, though initially swallowed by Kaido. Luffy’s madcap bouncing through the dragon’s stomach before reaching THROUGH KAIDO’S EYES to pull himself out! It’s so stupidly ridiculous that Luffy deflates in the clouds with a balloon sound effect for comedy.
It’s hard not to smile when Luffy’s kid-like energy and glee at what he’s able to do now set in. The Straw Hat Captain is doing things he could never dream of before, and his only problem now is coming up with names for moves. The animation is just leaps and bounds above last week, with much more fluid and understandable animation. Luffy’s movements were super smooth, especially when he powers up again to go all out.
What is Luffy’s Devil Fruit?
Of course, One Piece has another big reveal in store in Episode 1072 when the Gorosei reveal the true Gum-Gum Fruit. Kaido questions it himself as Luffy fights, and notes that he’s somehow working as both a Paramythia and Zoan Awakening at the same time. That makes sense too, since the Gorosei mention in the beginning that this Fruit is one of their greatest fears. The Mythical Zoan type, Human-Human Fruit, Model: Sun God Nika.
Nika is a god known for spreading joy and freedom wherever he runs, fighting with a smile on his face. It’s heavily hinted that Joyboy was the original holder of this Devil Fruit (if not Nika himself) and is reborn in Luffy. His body is perfectly malleable with the property of rubber, to do whatever ridiculous thing he wishes. That’s definitely evident here with how insane Luffy makes his body look, and manipulates Kaido in the same way.
Gum-Gum Giant
After Luffy uses the Gum-Gum Escape Rocket to disappear into clouds, he returns to view as a giant. His attempt at stomping Kaido doesn’t go well, and he bites Luffy instead, but it leads to some wild fighting. While Luffy stays in the semi-giant form, he and Kaido collide as the Emperor pulls off his Ragnaraku ultimate move. This collision clears the skies around them, then sets up the episode’s best gag.
When Luffy’s head comes crashing through the roof of Onigashima’s Skull Dome it takes everyone inside by surprise. The eye-pop gag from him is already a hilarious bit. But then making everyone else get the eye-pop before crashing together is over the top funny. It really makes it pop that Luffy looks ridiculous even in the context of One Piece’s world. The fight overall is just wild but this is also where Luffy starts to initially run out of energy.
Luffy’s Resolve
He bounces back after a moment when Momo and Yamato check in on him, heart beating louder this time. It’s fantastic animation that really makes Luffy’s transformation feel weighty and natural. The way he doesn’t power up all at once like some Super Saiyan but instead slowly spreads through his body from his heart is an amazing detail. Luffy even notes when he gets going again that this was the beat he was looking for. The music that kicks in is perfect for the ass-kicking he delivers to Kaido right here, and the animation goes into overdrive.
Looney Tunes
The animation and sound design team for this episode really took the inspiration of Looney Tunes to heart. Luffy spins his legs to speed away like Roadrunner, and the sound effects with it, while the road piles up behind him, are hilarious. It’s just like Kaido says, he’s like a comic strip, but the classic cartoon sound effects just make it so much better.
Then the ridiculous hit he takes, which semi-permanently turns his face into a flattened version with a massive nose spike stands out more. The helicopter noises as he revs his arms like a propellor to take off? It’s beautiful. That’s all that can be said, it’s simply beautiful.
Differences Between Manga and Anime
It’s kind of surprising that the animators took some liberty and gave Luffy a few more attacks. When he was initially swallowed by Kaido in the manga, Luffy went into the Gum-Gum Escape Rocket almost immediately. The added scenes of him bouncing around through Kaido’s belly were a great show of power. When Luffy pulled up the ground into an arch above Kaido, just to ricochet down the inner walls into Kaido was also just so much better to see in animation.
One Piece Episode 1072: Final Thoughts
Seriously, it’s amazing just how much this episode delivers on the Gear Five experience. While Luffy’s initial awakening episode seems disappointing in hindsight, it was all worth it since this was the end result. There was a lot of love and care put into every frame of One Piece’s Episode 1072, and it’s going to be one that’s on best of all-time lists for decades to come.
One Piece is available to stream on Funimation, Crunchyroll, and Netflix in the United States. New episodes are simulcast with Japan on Saturdays at 10 pm EST.
