The 10 Best Episodes Of One Piece

If there's a series that seeks to challenge the theory of diminishing returns, it's One Piece. Eiichiro Oda's monstrous epic is the highest selling manga of all time, but its absurd length still keeps plenty of people from checking it out, and that hill is only going to get steeper as we barrel toward its conclusion (eventually).

Even more of a conundrum is the One Piece anime, which is a much bigger time commitment and doesn't boast Oda's fantastic artwork as a selling point. Yet so many fans experience the story for the first time this way and fall in love regardless. There's something magical about cuddling up in front of a screen and getting lost in a world over the course of several long binges, and the strong spirit that burns just beneath the surface, even during the anime's not-so-hot days, always keeps us building to a new “best” episode. Everybody's got their favorite episodes, the ones that they feel personally attached to, and we'd love for you to share yours with us in the forums. Here are my own ten best episodes of One Piece, in chronological (but not superlative) order:



Episode 19 - The Three-Sword Style's Past! Zoro and Kuina's Vow!

It's hard to imagine in the current era, where the manga is so detailed and thorough, that there was once a time where the anime expanded on the story in really effective ways. The anime version of Zoro's flashback, which comes a little later than it did in the manga, is so good that it's the “true” version of that story in my heart. What was once a swift and blunt couple of pages is transformed into wonderful tone piece, letting us live in the Japanese countryside for an episode as we hear the story of a young Roronoa Zoro and his original rival, Kuina.

This episode also ends up being easily the most empathetic the show has ever gotten in its fascination with gender. It depicts Kuina, the prodigal child swordsman frustrated with the knowledge that when they become adults, the difference in strength between her and Zoro will increase dramatically. This is a moment for a young Zoro to take his female opponent seriously, and whatever thematic baggage is left over by her death is eventually picked up by Tashigi in the present day. This is the tender side of One Piece at its best.



Episode 67 - Deliver Princess Vivi! The Luffy Pirates Set Sail!

There's a risk of loading a list like this with all the big emotional crying episodes, but I wanted to keep my choices varied. Episode 67 is the beginning of the Baroque Works saga, the first time Vivi comes abroad as a semi-member of the Straw Hat pirates, and our first introduction to Nico Robin back when we knew her as the villainous “Miss All Sunday”.

What stands out about this episode is its great mixture of tones, from funny to serious and finishing up with a sense of foreboding doom as we're threatened by the true strength of a new enemy. Right off the bat, the direction really pops, partially because our point of view is firmly with Vivi, and we get to see the Straw Hats at their zaniest from an outsider's perspective. Compared to the episodes surrounding it, the art style cranks up a notch, and the designs really breathe under the cool moonlight with some great comedic timing. This is the kind of episode I turn to when I just want to take in some of One Piece's world.



Episode 119 - Secret of Powerful Swordplay! Ability to Cut Steel and the Rhythm Things Have!

This is another great Zoro episode that puts us in the middle of the climactic battle between the Straw Hats and Baroque Works. Zoro's opponent is Mr. 1, who isn't really a swordsman but a guy who can turn his whole body into blades. Not only does Mr. 1's Dice-Dice Fruit allow for some creativity from the anime, but this episode manages to deliver one of the coolest fights in the whole series. It's bloody, raw, and Zoro throws a house at a guy.

The episode is at its strongest towards the end, when everything gets quiet and builds up to the final blow. I'm still not sure what the “cut nothing/cut anything” swordsman philosophy is even supposed to mean, but the show sells it with so much conviction that I trust it's cool. I think this is one of the strongest directed episodes of the series, and a perfect example of the show's eye for cinematic storytelling.



Episode 151 - 100 Million Man! World's Greatest Power and Pirate Blackbeard!

Like most casual anime fans, I knew the general idea behind One Piece's story, but I didn't seriously start paying attention until the Funimation dub took over on Cartoon Network, and I kept watching for the novelty of seeing One Piece with the cast of DBZ playing all the main parts. It was only a novelty for a short time, however, and I was immediately swept up in the spirit of the series. That infectious sense of adventure doesn't come without some fun and compelling drama, and Luffy vs. Bellamy was so satisfying that it got me to jump straight to marathoning the series. This is the episode that made me a One Piece fan.

Every time I revisit this episode, I forget that it gives us not just Luffy vs. Bellamy, but also most of the Jaya arc's world-building. This is our first time meeting the Five Elder Stars, Donquixote Doflamingo, Bartholomew Kuma, and the first time we get to see old-man Whitebeard in the flesh. It's become tradition that the series will unload its most exciting exposition and big picture storytelling in the changeover between big arcs, and episode 151 is one of the earliest and most important examples of this.



Episode 199 - The Marine's Dragnet Closes In! The Second Member Captured!

Ever been curious to see Mamoru Hosoda's One Piece movie, only to be disappointed by its lack of official release in North America? Have no fear, because he directed an episode that you can stream legally online!

This is the only filler episode on this list, but that's okay because the G-8 arc is by far the best filler arc in the series, worth watching even if you intend to skip most anime-only content. Even within a great mini-adventure about the Straw Hats getting split up and trying to escape an impenetrable naval base, episode 199 jumps out at you with its direction. Hosoda's animation style and Oda's designs have so much chemistry, and the whole episode moves in interesting ways that fluidly connect each shot to the next. Even before I knew it was Hosoda's work, this episode was exceptionally inventive and fun.



Episode 278 - Say You Want to Live! We Are Your Friends!

If 151 was the episode that made me a fan, 278 is the episode that made me a fan for life. This episode and the one before it are older examples of the series' “one-hour specials”, which ultimately get divided into two episodes once released to home video and streaming sites. Even as just the second half of a special, this episode is jam-packed as we conclude Robin's tragic backstory and transition into the present where the Straw Hats make their grandest gesture yet to save their friend from the corrupted World Government.

For being such a colorful and fun series, One Piece can get astonishingly sad, to the point where it's almost competing with itself to see how miserable it can get. These lows would grow tiresome if the highs weren't so gosh darn reliable, and Straw Hats' attack on the government flag followed by Robin's big “I want to live!” scene is one of the most cathartic moments you'll ever find in fiction. The Straw Hats are still underdogs at this point in the story, so their bold “never give up” attitude in the face of their greatest enemy hits especially hard. From baby Robin escaping the genocide of everybody she's ever loved to adult Robin begging for another shot at life, this episode shows the chasms that One Piece will leap to be the saddest and happiest story it can be.



Episode 396 - The Fist Explodes! Destroy the Auction!

Probably the most difficult choice to make for this list is deciding which of the many great Sabaody Archipelago episodes to choose. Should I choose episode 392, which introduces the Eleven Supernovas? Or maybe episode 400, which explores the story of Roger, Rayleigh, and what it means to be Pirate King? The closest runner-up was actually 405, which serves as the “end” of the Straw Hats as we knew them, remaining unresolved until the time-skip years later.

But I have to go with what is still one of the most commonly referenced and applauded moments in One Piece, where Luffy punches a Celestial Dragon so hard that he knocks the color off the screen. If there's one thing One Piece is incredibly good at, it's payoffs. It sets the pins up so that it can knock them down in the most bombastic way possible. The Celestial Dragons are the most heinous villains we've met in One Piece to this day, and the consequences of defying the World Government (again) are clear, yet Luffy still has to do his Luffy thing.

What really grabs me about this moment is the emphasis the show puts on Luffy's promise to Hatchan not to interfere, no matter what. You get the impression that Luffy's the kind to keep an earnest promise, but it's always interesting to see a hero get pushed beyond that level.



Episode 574 - Back to the Present! Hordy Makes a Move!

As far as I can tell, the common consensus is that Fishman Island is the worst arc of the series. I don't agree with this sentiment. I believe that it's one of the heaviest, most three-dimensional examples of fantasy-world-racism-as-metaphor-for-real-world-racism I've seen. The mid-arc flashback covering the plights of Fisher Tiger and Queen Otohime is basically a movie-length drama, and it's one of the best flashbacks of the series, for which there's fierce competition. Truly underrated.

Aside from being an exceptionally pretty episode, both halves of it—one at the tail end of the flashback and one coming out of it—are extremely powerful. Neptune mourning his wife's death, distraught that the complexity of race relations means he can't express his anger, is a great scene, as is Nami's forgiveness of Jimbei for his connection to the Arlong pirates. What makes this arc great is the push and pull between hope, cynicism, guilt, anger, and love. Even at its darkest, you only ever feel like you're halfway through whatever life's about to put you through.

As for its place in the big picture story, this episode's an important step in Jimbei's relationship with the Straw Hat pirates, and it establishes the Ryugu Kingdom's intent to join the World Government and attend the Reverie, a heavily built-up political event that's due any day now in the manga. This episode coming out on DVD recently helped remind me how much I loved it, but even since it first aired, it's always been a favorite of mine.



Episode 616 - A Surprising Outcome! White Chase vs. Vergo!

This is a real stand-out episode for fight animation in the series, because it's so much more physical than usual. Even with Smoker and Vergo's powers flying every which way, the impact comes down to their good ole fists. The personal investment between two marines duking it out is already pretty strong, but the great choreography and style puts it over the edge, and that alone would put an episode like this on my radar.

That said, there is a cherry on top once Smoker vs. Vergo switches over to Vergo vs. Law, with the true villain of the arc, Doflamingo, listening in from a distance. Law defeating Vergo in such an over-the-top way is given so much impact by the rest of the series. Everything in this world is connected, and if a rookie duo like Luffy and Law take down one major figure, the rest of the world reacts accordingly. The destruction of Doflamingo's S.A.D. factory is a great scene with a great speech from Law, and the consequence of that act is a tidal wave that the story is still riding to this day as the alliance tangles with Emperors like Kaido and Big Mom. To be a pirate is to change the world irrevocably, and after going through the stuff our main characters have, we have a sense of how big of a choice that really is.



Episode 808 - A Heartbreaking Duel! Luffy vs. Sanji - Part 2

And thus, the most recent episode on the list. This is another piece of a one-hour special, but the filler-heavy first half (episode 807) is almost entirely disposable. This is the fourth time, after Nami, Usopp, and Robin, that a Straw Hat has threatened to leave the crew, and frankly it's the least threatening of them all. If we were looking at just the core story as told by the manga, Sanji leaving the crew gets a smirk and an eye roll.

But this is a case where I believe the anime significantly improves on the story. The only other time that Luffy got into a serious fight with a crewmate was Usopp, and if I was watching Whole Cake Island for the first time through the anime, I would have found this episode profoundly effective. Most of the episode is just Sanji beating on Luffy and Luffy playing pacifist, but what really elevates the material is the music and performances. There are tracks I don't think I've ever heard in the show before that underscore the story wonderfully, and Mayumi Tanaka does some of her best work as Luffy out of the entire series. Much more than the fight, my favorite part is the final scene where Luffy is shouting his impassioned speech as Sanji departs and tries to hold back his tears. It's the kind of scene where the moment by moment experience is so delicate that the right piano note on the right shot will get you welling up. That's true for a lot of scenes in One Piece, but this is the first time in ages where it felt like the anime was truly trying to up its game.

Do you agree with this list?

 

I only report the news. Since I don't watch One Piece, I really wouldn't know the top 10 best episodes anyway.

 

welp ive been summoned to this thread not expecting walls of text to greet me. well allow me to return the favor of how i do best in discussions by not posting walls of text. xD

from the news tekno's posted, i noticed that whomever was the one that posted it, has a preference to zorro. well cant blame the person since its his/her preference anyway. also, SK already stated the memorable scenes of that story. i have nothing new to add to the table so ill just put details as to why i liked them as well. now that thats out of the way im now gonna agree/disagree to the posts above.

first i agree about the episode in arlong arc where nami was at her lowest and stabs her left shoulder knowing that her efforts in the past 8 years are in vain. that scene made me realize that this franchise is no joking matter and mind you it aired when i was still in elementary. it was one afternoon after school and me and my siblings watched this episode hyped to know what goofy thing luffy would do light things up here but then we were quite watching this. speechless we were alright as its something more of a psychological scene rather than plain old blood and action. just look at this scene and tell me you were not speechless when she stabbed her own shoulder many times.

then that pure silence was broken when luffy said "lets go", we (or i in my head) was like "heck yeah luffy!".

after that arc, vivi, chopper, and robin were introduced to us. sad it may be about chopper's back story, but during that time, arlong arc was still fresh to me that it didnt affect me that much about chopper. it was a tragedy kind of backstory so i think that made me less to like it (make note of this line that i made here as this would bite me hard later).

arabasta arc. *sigh* the arc that i think is at its best when it comes to introducing new powers, villains, supporting characters, plot, and action scenes. just who wouldve thought that a booger can be used an explosive!!! well the closest that we can experience is that exploding feeling when we realize we just touched a random booger out of nowhere and we dont know who its from. eeew. villains? of the arc, this cute girl is the one that i feared most of all the baroque works.

fak hek croco boy is nothing compared to when this little girl grows up. she has powers that almost at the level of doffy because she can manipulate people by emotion. doffy is more physical than hers but if she uses her green trap without your knowledge, youd be drinking tea happily watching your friends being turned to candle statue. wait.. im not here to explain the arc its the scenes damnit. well to be fair i remembered that much about her so i guess that counts as a favorite scene i guess.

yeah right the goodbye scene where vivi says her farewell was something new to the crew collecting that happened. i expected her to join the crew at first but then what she reasoned out was good enough for me as to why she cant go. luffy was understanding enough about it thats why its also my favorite scene of the arc. we have this secret member of a royal lineage has a nice right to it.

i said plot earlier and thats because when robin was introduced, i feared and adore her at the same time. this arc introduced many villains that in the long run we loved and cherished. like SK said, mr.2 and mr.3 are the likeable despite what they did in the past. now im curious as to what happened to mr. 2 that would lead to one of my favorite scenes.

water 7, was i think the longest arc that we can pick many favorite scenes or even a whole episode. we had to deal with the fight of luffy and yusop, franky, the merry scene of merry, cp9, inies lobby, robin’s story, and lets not forget robin's wish.

the crew fight between luffy and yusop was not my favorite but it was a turning point in the story to introduce a new character. It was memorable to look back since yusop got that boat as a parting gift from his childhood friend. During that time, it was like civil war for team luffy and team yusop. If you ask me, I would’ve joined yosop with this fight. Im loyal to merry which bring us to the next favorite scene or episode. ill now just call the episodes as scenes here now as I only clearly like the scene that the whole episode.

oh merry. just why the heck does one boat made fans cry. titanic is shit compared to the scene of this inanimate object. unsinkable ship my ass. this is that boat that if we had a choice we would gladly trade to sink titanic again just to see this baby float again. damn me. seeing the crew have their final moment with her made me cry. yes i cried. anohana only managed to made me teary but not this boat. this boat is OG in the feels department. this right here is a scene most fans would go to and remisce not for the happy thoughts but for the teaching that an effin boat if you put a good name on it and made it talk yould develop attachment to it. then burn the damn thing.

remember that note I told you? now here comes noobs’ hypocrisy xD. we now entered my favorite characters field. robins back story. her tragedy made her my favorite. that longing feeling of wanting to see your mother for a long time only to be given that kind of meetup on a short period of time was just too cruel.

If SK hated the hat change of chopper, I too hated oda for approving her post time skip character design. Just look at her h air, face, eyes especially her eyes, and her fakin skin. well enough of that, knowing her back story just added depth to her “I want to live” wish. that made the scene memorable and a favorite of mine as well.

my next favorite part was when swipper kidnapped magellan and mr.2 was able to go with luffy to marine hq.

how i wish that was the case. let it be known, at least in this thread, the sacrifice mr.2 made is the most honorable deed a pirate can do to another pirate. i salute to you mr. 2 you are one of the villain that we first feared but then loved. that deed of yours was one of my favorite scene in this franchise.

post time skip episodes really do have less memorable scenes compared pre time skip but it still has its fair share. i have 2 favorite scenes in dressrosa. one is sabo’s return and the father daughter scene or kyros and rebecca.

again here comes my hypocrisy. I despised lucky break moments (well its this thing that I call when a character is in a deep shit like impossible level deep then a miracle happens). knowing that ace’s fruit was made as the reward for the champion, even knowing that it’s a trap for luffy, luffy was determined to get it no matter what. the pinch here is that what to do after getting the fruit. he was in a dilemma as to who he can trust the fruit then came sabo. I was like “saboooooooooo! where you been man!” then rest is history. It was a break i let pass because brotherhood man.

next is about the touching scene of rebecca running to kyros not to lose him again. those exchange of words after years being close yet so far finally ended. Kyros endured a lot just to see her daughter become happy even giving her a false story just so the citizen wont know her real father. what made it more memorable was that the people already knew of them and acted like they didn’t know. Though this was destroyed when kyros was transformed into a toy soldier, it was such a relief that the people’s memories returned when sugar was defeated.

now my last entry but not the least is in the last arc that I saw.

the loyalty and faith of the minks in zhou. that one brought me chills. after that much torture and struggle, they didn’t break. Even the feuding leaders didn’t let their rivalry get in the way just to defeat the other. It was a chance for either of them to destroy the other by telling the truth about the ninja. even the week ones! they didn’t cracked and betrayed the ninja. that just reminded me of the Japanese in the pacific islands during ww2.

lets see here, better review for some typos

well that was long than expected… I didn’t expect id be able to write this much lol. oh well, that’s what you get when you are subscribed to the longest running modern shounen anime.
@Supernatural-Knight and @Teknoman X look what you made me do.