Gears the new Kaio-Ken?

MB.

Multiplying ones strength and speed at your own will, mutliple levels of the skill, huge life threating side effects, etc.

One Piece started and it seems it will end just like it's inspiration, DBZ.

Luffy will end up reaching Gear 100 (or something ridiculous) and will die of exhuastion saving the world ala Tien in the Saiyan Saga….

....or will he hit some rip off version of SSJ?

Now don't get me wrong I give Oda all the credit in the world for, well, everything that One Piece is. But it seems no matter what he always looks to DBZ for more ideas and then twists them with his own creativity.

I'd like to hear what yall think may be the final outcome of these Gears and their impact on the series. Will Luffy hit a new level of rubber man (lol)? WIll he cross devil fruits or become mechanized like franky (no chance)?

I guess I'm asking what you think Luffy's final form and final technique will be.

Kaio-Ken could be mulitplied, I doubt gears can be. One piece and DBZ are 2 very different forms, in all honesty I can't see how you can compare them. DBZ being a marshal arts manga that has energies to gain power, while in one piece its all because of the fruit, the only one who continues to train is zoro (maybe sanji but it never shows).

But to answer your question I think there will be one more gear form, a final form, at the end of the manga.

sabret00the

understanding gears as we do (being in the manga section and all) i think we can all agree that it's the naming system that saps the energy out of the techniques. it's not about luffy being able to powerup at will, it's about him putting a different spin on his powers and you know as well as i do that there's only so much you can do with rubber. at the moment luffy is in a situation where he has no choice but to master Gear 5 (the inadvertent Chibi Luffy state/Compressed Rubber State) in order to survive and after that. there's not a whole lot more you can do with Rubber. To be honest, he must've had the idea for a while but for Luffy to use it any sooner would've just been overkill. He's now reached the half way state on the Grandline and Oda has shown that a strong will alone will not guarantee your safety in the New World.

kljs

gears has limitations…..Lucchi already explained it......

so, Gears isn't the same as Super Saiyan.......

G-Greato

In my opinion there is one or maybe 2 gears to go but not more. maybe a combination of the 2nd and 3rd
But Kaio ken is something completely different. Please stop already comparing dbz and one piece there's nothing more to be compared than a little inspiration. Accept that or I'll send Zoro after you.

They're both shounen, so they'll definitely have some things in common, and those would usually be in the way the fights are thought out. But I think Gears would be the first time Luffy had to "power up" DBZ style, because other times he'd defeat the enemy using cunning instead. He didn't need to power up in the fights before the grand line, as he was strong to begin with. He beat Croc by using his weakness against him, and with Eneru he was simply lucky. So I can see where you're coming from, but one power up doesn't have to mean he will always be powering up and defeating enemies by sheer brute strength. Hopefully that won't happen.

Rai

Look at things from a different view: You think Oda will actually create more Gears?
I think they already fulfilled the intention of upgrade by themselves, and no other thing is needed. First wait for other Gears to come, then thread the subject again.

About Luffy's final attack, I was always thinking of the "all learned till today+nakama" thing, against Buggy. That's fitting the most to me.

CP9_agent

It doesn't matter how its done, it doesn't matter how minimal or outrageous it is every shonen manga will have so called power ups. Comparing it to DBZ is like comparing Star Wars to Star Trek, both are series that are in space but do them differently. I don't think that there should be any worry of OP becoming DBZ power ups because Oda has proven time and time again that he is original. If Luffy didn't power up and create new moves the fights would become stale and predictable.

l2agnarok

Dont compare DBZ to One Piece,Every shounen needs a power up every once in awhile.

Shishou

@l2agnarok:

Dont compare DBZ to One Piece,Every shounen needs a power up every once in awhile.

Wrong, all should be compared to DBZ.
In essence, DBZ is what inspired many of these mangas.

Power ups are what DBZ is known for as well.

But I feel Gears are more like Ultra SSJ and SSJ2. One of them makes you much stronger, but slower. One of them increases your strength and speed, but the strength isn't at Ultra SSJ. (Trunks showed he could keep powering up to get stronger and stronger in USSJ. To the point of even surpassing Cell's power, but not being able to hit him.)

Mr. Dimond

@kljs:

gears has limitations…..

Untill the author needs to break those limits as a plot device

Also, am I not the only one whos waiting for OVER DRIVE?! Its going to happen, and when it does itll be awesome.

Kibagami

Luffy needs something like RUMBLE BALL to mess with his body's rubber. I think they'll meet Begabank and befriend him, which eventually will lead to Begabank giving Luffy something to help him get stronger

NagaKarat

DBZ somehow has set the standard how shonen manga will be and no matter what manga came afterward be it One Piece, Bleach, Shaman King etc they will always been compared to DBZ. Even Gundam upgrades to a better form or better robot within the course of its story. I guess because DBZ is what most people have read that it is enevitable for them to compare anything else they've read of the same genre to it. And If you play RPG's (or any kind of game) the best part of playing it is levelling up and getting new form or power. Me personally, I enjoy the story for the story itself and I must say that One Piece has more depth than DBZ (which I must also admit I enjoy it very much).
As for Luffy, I'm going to enjoy whatever new form his going to come up with next because Oda always cames up with something unexpected and ridiculous,
though I must admit the powers and attack skills that the mangaka of Law of Ueki came up with totally takes the cake.

onemoment

Yeah, Kaioken and Gears are very similar–they both push the fighter to gain more strength. However, in the gears defense there is some science behind it, and I doubt that Luffy will have "gear x3" like Kaioken. Rather, the Gear 2 will get stronger over time as Luffy gets stronger.

FireFistAce 0

Kaio-Ken was a gathering of Chi, creating a strength boost. Gears is forced stimulation of Luffy's rubber body. They're a little different.

What I'm looking forward to is when Luffy starts vulcanizing himself. Then the real shit is going down.

gaara d. lucci

The Gears work only slightly differently from Kaio-ken but achieve the same result. You gain tremendous speed and strenght at the cost of your body's health (same with Lee's Gates as well). IMO, they are about the same so I think the comparison is quite valid.

bennyb

They are somewhat similar yea, but I doubt that Luffy will find a GREATER more powerful "method" than Gear, like Goku found with his SS

MB.

People who hear DBZ compaired to OP and go "eeewwww omg no no no OP is way different" need a reality check.

Anyway, gaara I think you're more on track. Lee's gears are for sure the same damn concept. Oh and the rumble ball thing is Chopper's deal so I doubt Luffy gets one.

guyleon

Gear 2 = attack power with speed boost. (in a sense = Kaioh-ken)
Gear 3 = greater attack power comes from mass boost but therefore lack speed. Probably the same as when Goku thought of "extra power" to defeat Cell, but at the same time realized its fatal weakness; see Lucci comments about how Luffy lacks speed in Gear 3 form?

I don't see it's going inter-galactic, though.