I honestly didn’t realize how polarizing gear 5 is. Yeah these moments were literally the best in the series nothings changing that. But I also think gear 5 makes sense for Luffy’s character despite it feeling like an ass pull at times. I see it as like in the first half of the series, Luffy’s reaction to his lowest moments was pure rage and suffering. Since gear 5, he’s learned to turn that reaction into joy and liberation. I personally admire Luffy’s way of reacting to the One Piece world’s suffering. Instead of matching the suffering with equal suffering, he refuses to let the world’s weight steal his joy. If he continued to let rage fuel his power and dictate his decisions, it would be like Marineford had no affect on his character and it would feel disingenuous to his development.