“On August 6th, 2023, Luffy will get to his “PEAK” in anime episode 1071. Epic MANGA ONE PIECE’s chap.1044 is going to be finally delivered as ANIME!! chap. 1071「Luffy’s Peak – Attained! Gear Fifth」”, that’s what announced in the teaser. I honestly never saw this much hype from just a 30 second teaser. It hasn’t even been a day and it yet reached 3 million views on YouTube alone. With that being said, here’s my thought.
As a One Piece enthusiast and enjoyer of the anime media, I like to get the same feeling as the manga readers get, which is being surprised at the right moment as the author, Eiichiro Oda intended. You’ll never know when he might do a reveal or pay off a buildup. He always keeps the audience anticipating all the time. These surprising moments are what kept me going on One Piece. Now the anime has a different idea which I think never cared for the fans or what Oda intended. Toei only cares about money. If they deliver a well animated episode or a whole movie, then they did it for the money. There are tons of surprising moments that are ruined by the anime as they push ahead and reveal certain aspects that are yet to be disclosed. But NO! The anime wants to reel in customers with its previews, leaks, trailers, & what not to keep the hype going despite it spoiling almost everything. Next episode preview is the worst example and the trailers do a lot more disservice in this aspect. And now, they pushed all boundaries. Even as someone who tries to stay away from all the advertisements, it’s impossible to avoid (unless you ditch the internet for good) since some of it will make it to your feed and show you full frontal.
For months, fans have been wondering what Luffy’s new form would look like in anime ever since the manga chapter came out. Fans and artists have been drawing their own interpretations and sharing online which basically increased the curiosity more. In One Piece: Film Red they teased a little bit without spoiling too much, which is surprisingly the best thing Toei has ever done. It foretold that the episode where Luffy goes GEAR5 is drawing near.
The point is, don’t do unnecessary announcements that involves crucial moments, it will spoil the fun no matter the hype. I won’t link the trailer, you can find it everywhere anyways. I recommend you not watch it if you have no idea what I discussed about here. I personally will wait a bit longer so that my brain forgets what my eyes caught a little glimpse of.
Thanks for reading. ~♡~ Y’all take care.
Cover picture credit: @Derxon2