Luffy transcends the anime itself with his newfound powers.
Manga spoilers ahead!
In the previous episodes, Luffy confronted Kaidou, the Wano Country arc’s antagonist, several times. Kaidou was one of the Four Emperors in the past and is known as the world’s strongest creature. Luffy showed more and more strength with every fight, but sadly lost every one of them — the last one leaving him effectively dead.
However, the Straw Hat’s heart didn’t stop for long, as the Devil Fruit suddenly awakened in his body. Apparently, the true name of the Gomu Gomu No Mi fruit has always been Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. It is a Mythical Zoan fruit with the potential to transform its bearer into the Sun God Nika, who uses imagination and joy as his powers in battle.
We’ve got a glimpse of these powers in the previous episode. But it is certain now: the pure joy that Luffy seems to feel unconditionally now is so all-pervasive that it turns the reality around him into a hilarious cartoon!
Luffy made the climactic fight with Kaidou look like a Loony Tunes episode. The once formidable Azure Dragon was literally blown up like a balloon and used as a jump rope, begging his ridiculous enemy to behave, his eyes comically protruding from sockets. Meanwhile, the new incarnation of Joy Boy lived up to his name and sincerely enjoyed every moment of the fight.
Now, the majority of fans were left in awe of the sudden change in animation style. But, because of the way this fight was hyped up in advance, some felt it was underwhelming. In the anime itself, the new power is known as “the most ridiculous in the world”. One thing is certain: this anime episode was true to the source material.
Eiichiro Oda said that he drew this chapter of the manga as a joke and was aware that some fans might not like it. However, the mangaka’s nostalgia for traditional comic books took over. Oda says that he was never a fan of the increasing seriousness in action manga. Personally, he always adored the silly signs used to indicate characters’ moods and the grotesquely exaggerated dynamics — such as a character’s legs turning into a wheel during a frantic run. That’s why as a reference for this fight the artist literally used Tom & Jerry.
But apart from the artistic context, what does this mean for the One Piece world? From that point of view, the change in style actually marks a very logical stage of Luffy’s development. The very essence of his character is pure joy, optimism and childlike playfulness. And it has never changed, despite all the adventures and misadventures. The new persona embodies these qualities perfectly.
The destiny of the Warrior of Liberation is to bring absolute freedom and joy to everyone around him. And judging by the way you can’t stop laughing when you see Luffy's face turns into a ridiculous grimace, as he bounces off seemingly solid rocks and blows himself through his thumb like a balloon, it feels like his blissful joy of absolute freedom transcends not only anime as a medium — but reality.