The Gomu's 56 becoming Nika's 29 -- Luffy flipping the world upside down so hard he broke reality. Germa on the wrong end of experimentation, Luffy's power up once again sillier than the last, both fill me with as much joy as Kaido finding out Luffy lives.
The first Awakened Zoan of Wano...turns out to be Luffy.:yasu: Exactly 500 chapters since first introducing Awakened DFs in Impel Down. Kaido, Yamato, Orochi, Onimaru, Marco and Luffy. Devon and Sengoku between acts. Wano likes Mythicals. Luffy has shown he's mastered the Zoan power of transformation and animal puns far beyond what any Paramecia/Logia should be capable of, welcome to the Zoan club. Luffy being rubber in base follows base Kaido using dragon clouds, base Orochi surviving a beheading, base Marco having a flame body, etc. While Nika no doubt derives inspiration from countless sources like Sun Wukong, Hanuman, Olmecs being the rubber people, Aztec Lord of the Dawn, Okinawan rubber tree spirits, etc. Nika is an original god and I want to hear the in-story reason he's made of rubber.
Nika jumping in front of the moon representing the Kozuki and the prelude to the dawn. I like it. Hiyori connects Wano's past and present: Oden dancing to free the hostages leading to Wano's downfall, Joy Boy dancing to the beat of his own heart to liberate Wano. Orochi merely forced Oden into a fake Joy Boy role. The real article laughs at all problems, takes on everyone's suffering, mocks his enemies for he wishes to bring not only good outcomes but make people smile in the process of doing it. Orochi, quite the opposite really, used his fiery hatred to turn Wano into a living hell, fry Oden in oil, set the Onigashima battlefield ablaze, and ordered Kanjuro to ignite it all. It's only fitting he gets burned by his own flames. He did order Kanjuro to "lay our souls to rest" and deliver "the glorious death of the Kurozomi clan", but in the end it's a tiny pitiful ember that consumes Orochi.
Gear 5: Rubber-hose animation man. Luffy finally accessing his Zoan stat boost, then a second Awakened stat boost the Gorosei mention. Can't forget the Awakened Zoan recovery that puts him back in fighting shape. He's a living Sun radiating CoC energy that just grabbing Kaido like a god reaching down into the mortal realm knocks out nearby fodder. Exaggerated grapples, tosses, rubber reflectors, he does everything EXCEPT punch hard. Gomu Gomu no--nope, Nika just laughs in your face. It's absolutely nuts and even takes Luffy by surprise and I love it. Whether it's Joy Boy's emotions like Sabo felt Ace's anger or Nika's prankster god nature is the question to be asked. Kaido better whip out his bonk stick because only slapstick comedy stands a chance against Toonffy.
R.I.P. Gomu Gomu no mi, 1043 chapters and we barely knew ye. Thematically, I can see where the Nika DF is going. The harbinger of dawn, Sun Vs Darkness, Freedom Vs Opression, Nika being the cheeky grin of everyone who passed on their will and the letter D. In practice, Luffy has not shown anything that made killing off the Gomu Gomu necessary. He won't master Awakening and a Mythical Zoan the first time - Oda may be thinking of Luffy's future power ups here. The Gorosei call the power ridiculous. They question if stopping Nika was worth sacrificing a CP0 agent and upsetting Kaido. They don't understand why the name was changed and only react to prevent Joy Boy at the last minute. From their perspective, the Gomu users have done nothing in 800 years and the last Joy Boy was a loser. Underestimating Nika is reasonable. This gives weight to Luffy Vs Kaido for victory here changes the context.
Oda hid it right under everyone's noses.
The Gorosei use ridiculous containing Fuzake (ふざけ) meaning silly/goofy/playful.
Is Luffy's godly ability to deliver a good punch line?
The real Laugh Tale is that Luffy's entire journey has been a barrel of laughs. Luffy claiming he can fight "a bit longer" puts the conclusion right around the corner with Orochi finally down. Volume 103 might contain both BM and Kaido's defeats. As for Momo and Zunisha, it's possible they don't go into action until Kaido and Luffy pass out and Onigashima enters free fall. Only a Rocks flashback can prolong the Onigashima party now.