In One Piece Chapter 790, "Heaven and Earth," Monkey D Luffy used his Gum-Gum King Kong Gun to finish Donquixote Doflamingo forcefully and instantaneously. In Episode 733, "Attack on a Celestial - Luffy's King Kong Gun of Anger," Toei Animation recreated this scene, but fans were displeased with them for dragging it out. Despite this, Oda did the same thing with Luffy's Gum-Gum Bajrang Gun against Kaido in Chapters 1048 through 1049. Now, Episodes 1075 and 1076 of the anime recreated this dragged-out scene. The difference is that the punch was canonically dragged out in the manga. The anime is copying Oda's example in this instance.

However, something about the latest depiction of Luffy's punch being slowed to a halt yet having enough force to knock the bad guy through the ground works. It's the same mistake and even drawn out for much longer, but things are different. The struggle is warranted, and the punch, despite all the cushioning, still feels like it should hit as hard as depicted. This might have to do with Wano's punch being canonically dragged out in the manga, whereas Dressrosa's was pure Toei padding. In any case, it's as though One Piece built off the mistake and made it into something viable. It's still an awkward scene in concept, but the anime did its best to present it believably.

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Why Episode 733's Punch Doesn't Work

Chapter 790 set up the clash with Luffy flying above Doflamingo and inflating his arm to the appropriate size. Doflamingo, in turn, protected himself with the defensive Spider Web and the offensive God Thread. Between the moment Luffy launched his attack and hit Doflamingo, one page passed. There were a few more pages of buildup and payoff, but the punch itself was powerful, impactful, and instantaneous.

Episode 773 stretched this moment considerably. When Luffy's King Kong Gun collided with Doflamingo's God Thread, it took the former roughly one minute and 40 seconds to break through and hit its target. In essence, the anime reworked this moment to be like a beam struggle one would see in Dragon Ball Z. The change was likely made to make the scene more dramatic. Luffy struggling with the last of his power would not only make this more of a challenge on his end, but it would also provide a moment to recontextualize the battle and the people it would influence. It also helped pad the runtime to over 20 minutes.

However, none of this was the intent of the original scene. The point was to show what a dominating force Luffy had become by instantly breaking through his opponent's guard. Depicting this moment as a struggle makes him out to be weaker than he's supposed to be. What's worse, the physics of this scene doesn't make as much sense anymore. Luffy's punch, being an unstoppable force, was supposed to be what sent Doflamingo flying into the ground so hard that it split the earth. If it spends nearly two minutes in one place after Luffy has extended his arm, it shouldn't have the momentum necessary to do what it did in the manga. Not to mention, this scene is one of many examples of Toei Animation needlessly padding out scenes. Some fans were so displeased with this presentation that they edited it to be more accurate to the manga. These edits improve the sense of power in the punch and the flow of the scene overall.

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Is Episode 1076's Punch any better?

Episode 1076's Gum-Gum Bajrang Gun faces the same stalling problem as Episode 733's Gum-Gum King Kong Gun. However, the punch took much longer than one episode. Luffy threw this punch near the start of Episode 1075, "20 Years Worth of Prayers! Take Back Wano Country." It took him most of Episode 1076 to hit his target and send him crashing into the earth. This is to say nothing of Luffy first making the fist at the end of Episode 1074, "I Trust Momo - Luffy's Final Powerful Technique." This is like a fan's joke interpretation of a battle anime where the characters take multiple episodes to charge and use their attacks, but the hyperbole is real. That said, this punch does have things that make its execution more believable. For one thing, Luffy is applying Ryuo to the Bajrang Gun to send additional energy pulsing into his fist. Even Chapter 1049's depiction of this punch has effects around the impact to indicate this.

The anime also added more to this final clash, so the force remains at the moment of contact with Kaido. Luffy reinflates his arm and whips it forward to provide further pushback. Episode 733 has some of this, too, but it's harder to believe because Lyffy's arm is continually outstretched. Another significant change to the anime is that Luffy's "final punch" isn't all one attack; there are a couple of moments where he pulls his fist back so he can throw it again. By the end of his assault, a minimal amount of force is lost and Kaido burrowing into the earth feels justified. Something also needs to be said about the context of this clash. Unlike with Doflamingo and Gear Four, Luffy's assault on Kaido is supposed to be a struggle on his end. The Emperor's resistance justifies the need for a drawn out clash rather than an instantaneous impact.

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Should This Clash Be Avoided in the Future?

While Episode 1076 made this clash work, it shouldn't have happened in the first place. Luffy's attacks were depicted as fists already extended outward and met with tons of resistance before landing. They will never be as powerful as fists thrown with appropriate windup and follow-through, no matter how well-animated. There are a few ways to avoid this awkward punch scenario. The easiest way would be to avoid making everything into a clash. If Luffy needs to throw a big, powerful punch like this again, he should be able to follow through on it with minimal pushback or interruption. The attack will have more impact as it accelerates and knocks everything out of the way.

If there needs to be a clash, the alternative would be to have Luffy send out a rapid-fire attack. The resistance he faced afterward wouldn't matter. He could keep throwing out attacks until they force their way through the resistance and hit their target. The knockback would then be caused by an accumulation of kinetic energy that becomes greater with every hit. Since he'd be using Ryuo, the pushback he meets could be from an equally powerful attack. This potential for improving Luffy's technique shows how he can get stronger despite Gear Five being his ultimate state. Even if he meets a foe who can force his attacks back, it should be fine if he eventually delivers a clean hit with good form. There may come a day when he's proficient enough with Gear Five to use a Gum-Gum Bajrang Gatling Gun.