One Piece is celebrating! For months, fans of Eiichiro Oda's legendary series have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Monkey D. Luffy's new transformation for the anime, called Gear 5. For a long time, fans have insisted that this would be a shocking moment for the entire industry and that this transformation “would break the internet”. On the night of August 6, 2023, the episode 1071 The anime premiered in Japan, and everyone immediately went to watch it on the anime streaming platform, Crunchyroll. But there were so many people who wanted to see Gear 5… That the servers went down and the website started to malfunction!

One Piece “broke the internet” with Monkey D. Luffy's Gear 5!

This was reported by the user on Twitter @newworldartur (and many other fans of the series): When they went to Crunchyroll to watch the long-awaited episode of One Piece, they discovered that the website was not working properly. You'd expect One Piece fans to be outraged and angry about this malfunction, but in fact the exact opposite happened. They were happy (mostly) because it meant the episode had met one of their expectations. There were so many people who wanted to go see it that it not only broke the internet... If not, it also broke Crunchyroll's servers!

It must be made clear that this is nothing new. Every time there is a major premiere in the anime industry that is streamed on Crunchyroll, the site experiences server issues for several hours. This has happened in the past with the premiere of the latest season of Shingeki no Kyojin
or the premiere of the anime of Chainsaw Man. However, these are relatively new series. The fact that a series as old and long as One Piece still have such legendary moments that everyone wants to see them is a testament to the creativity and talent of Eiichiro Oda and the team at Toei Animation. when adapting the material.

Why is Luffy's Gear 5 so important in One Piece?

But if you're not very familiar with One Piece you might be wondering What is Gear 5 and why is it so important in the industry? Well, explaining all of this in detail would be time-consuming and full of spoilers, but to summarize briefly: It is due to many reasons. First of all, we must keep in mind that we are talking about the transformation of Luffy, who is one of the 3 most iconic protagonists of Shonen anime (along with Goku and Naruto). When such an iconic character receives a new power, it makes sense that it is an event that will attract attention from all over the world, regardless of whether they are fans of the series or not.

In the context of the series, Gear 5's appearance is one of the most shocking moments in history. It's the revelation of the true nature of Luffy's Devil Fruit, the natural progression of his growth as a character, and the moment when the Wano arc is completely changed when he finally finds a way to conquer the villain. kaido, with whom he has been fighting for several episodes and who had already managed to defeat Luffy on 3 different occasions. After all, Gear 5 had already been a memorable moment in the manga when it was revealed over 2 years ago.

Another reason why Gear 5 is so beloved is because of the abilities it gives Monkey D. Luffy. This awakening of his Devil Fruit turns our protagonist into a cartoon character who can basically do whatever he wants with his rubber bodyHis imagination is his only limit. Not to mention that he can also turn anything he touches into rubber. It's a fun and creative power, different from what we're used to seeing in the protagonists of this subgenre. Shonen.

Fortunately, users have reported in the last few hours that crispy roll is working better, in case you want to go watch the episode yourself. And if you're interested in watching One Piece just for the Gear 5 popularity boost, we can't recommend it (although it's a shame you started with such a big spoiler). Don't be intimidated by the 1,000+ episode length. The fact that you managed to “break the internet” after more than 20 years on the air is the perfect proof of how good this series is.

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