Eiichiro Oda's Original One Piece Sketches Reveal Why Gear 5 Luffy Is Always Laughing

One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda reveals the lore-accurate reason why Gear 5 Luffy is always laughing in original sketches from Road to Laugh Tale 4.

One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda’s original sketches of Gear 5 Luffy reveal why the character is always laughing.

A translated sketch from Oda reveals that Luffy is always laughing because “the more he laughs, the stronger he gets.” The sketch comes from the One Piece supplementary volume Road to Laugh Tale #4, which was released in July 2022. The volume included several sketches and explanations surrounding Luffy and his connection to the Sun God Nika, as well as a list of the highest bounties in the series, with Luffy, Trafalgar Law, and Eustace Kidd coming in joint sixth place with three billion berries.

In Oda’s original sketches for Gear 5, he wrote that about Luffy’s power

“The more he laughs , the stronger he gets” pic.twitter.com/45KIlGvl7D

— Pew (@pewpiece) January 31, 2024

Luffy’s latest form reflects the ultimate freedom, saying as much in the iconic Gear 5 episode when he yells, “I can do everything I want to do!” Oda has previously stated that he similarly seeks the freedom to write the final saga how he pleases. When opening up on the pressure of writing One Piece, he said, “I keep worrying about whether they’ll find this interesting or not, so I’m making the story more and more thrilling. And about that, I think I’ll fail if I become too bold; I’m afraid that someone will say to me: ‘This is boring.’ But I think I’ve reached a point where I can do whatever I want.”

Luffy’s Gear 5 Form Is About Both Freedom and Checking His Powers

While Luffy’s Gear 5 form represents freedom in the narrative sense, another recently resurfaced interview suggests that the form exists to apply some much-needed brakes to the character. Oda revealed why Luffy was the most annoying character to write, and that he takes steps to ensure that Luffy can’t quickly defeat villains in front of him. The latest One Piece Chapter 1105 introduces a credible threat to the Straw Hats, which was arguably only allowed to grow to this point due to Luffy’s inability to stop being silly for a moment.

Luffy’s shenanigans will continue in One Piece Chapter 1106, whose official preview can be viewed above. The chapter drops on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. It’s expected that Oda will then take a break week afterward. VIZ Media licenses the series in North America, where it can be read via the Shonen Jump or MANGA Plus apps.