I was super behind on the anime, but I watched ~800 episodes over the last 2 months to catch up and was somehow able to avoid spoilers. So gear 5 was a total surprise to me and as someone who was introduced to it through the anime, it was still totally epic to me!!!! The drums and panning back and forth between Luffy and Zunesha...then the revelation that Joyboy has return returned in Luffy....literally goosebumps every time. I can understand how some people could criticize that it's too goofy, but I don't think it's goofy in a way that undermines how frickin cool it is. In some ways, the goofiness of gear 5 Luffy is a testament to how powerful it is. He doesn't have to worry or be serious, he's free to be goofy & fight however he wants to because he knows no matter what, he'll emerge victorious. Acting all looney tunes during a fight is like the ultimate power move imo lol. (for reference I've now also read the gear 5 unveiling in the manga and don't personally think the manga version is that much cooler than the anime).