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For twenty years, the anime adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s best-selling manga One Piece has been delighting fans worldwide. Last year, plenty more pirates hopped aboard with the Straw Hat crew when the One Piece live action series dropped on Netflix. If you’re one of those new fans, or an old one returning to the fold, you might want to start the One Piece anime. After all, it’s only…

Over a thousand episodes?

I’m not going to lie, that is pretty daunting, even if the live-action show was your favorite streaming series of last year. That’s why the kind folks at Popverse have put together this One Piece anime watch order, to get you through what may be the longest binge of your life in either release or chronological order. Not only will this list include the anime series, but all the animated specials and movies too.

I won’t keep you any longer; it’s a lot to get through. Let’s go ahead and begin with…

How to watch the One Piece anime in chronological order

Though One Piece anime’s 1000+ episodes are largely in chronological order, the 15 movies and multiple OVAs can be tough to slot into the story correctly. Like many Shonen anime films, most of the One Piece movies are considered non-canon, meaning that they exist at nebulous points in the series timeline. We’ve tried to place them as close as possible to where they should be, based on the characters present and their various abilities.

One thing to keep in mind is that One Piece makes liberal use of flashbacks, particularly in later arcs to allow the animators to fill time with minimal effort. This means that some portions of episodes take place earlier, but we’ve kept these with the overall chronological placing of the episode to avoid confusion.

Whether you’re a longtime Straw Hat pirate or you’ve just joined Luffy’s adventures in the Grand Line, here is the best way to watch One Piece in chronological order.

How to watch the One Piece live action series in chronological order

For the live-action Netflix show, it’s pretty simple (so far):

How to watch One Piece in release order

While the One Piece anime has plenty of flashback episodes, it can be very confusing to try to skip back and forth between episodes of the anime. That’s why it is usually better to watch it in release order, which removes the need to jump back and forth. Besides, much of the dramatic tension comes from watching the story unfold slowly.

Here is the release order for the anime incarnation of One Piece, complete with the TV specials and OVAs.

• One Piece: Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack! OVA (1998) Note that this is OVA was produced before the original anime run of One Piece and therefore has a very different animation style and a completely different cast.
• One Piece episodes 1-16
• One Piece: The Movie (2002)
• One Piece episodes 17-52
• One Piece: Adventure in the Ocean’s Navel TV Special (2000)
• One Piece episodes 53-60
• One Piece: Clockwork Island Adventure (2001)
• One Piece episodes 60-102
• Chopper’s Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals (2002)
• One Piece episodes 103-146
• One Piece: Dead End Adventure (2003)
• One Piece episodes 147-149
• One Piece: Open Upon the Great Sea! A Father’s Huge, HUGE Dream TV Special (2003)
• One Piece episodes 150-173
• Save! The Last Big Stage TV Special (2003)
• One Piece episodes 174-183
• One Piece: The Cursed Holy Sword (2004)
• One Piece episodes 184-223
• Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island Movie (2005)
• One Piece episodes 224-253
• One Piece Historical Drama Series: Luffy’s Detective Story TV Special (2005) Note that this episode takes place in an alternate reality and therefore cannot be placed in the main anime timeline.
• One Piece episodes 254-257
• Giant Mecha Soldier of Karakuri Castle Movie (2006)
• One Piece episodes 258-299
• One Piece: The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures Alabasta (2007)
• One Piece episodes 300-345
• Episode of Chopper Plus: Bloom in the Winter, Miracle Cherry Blossom Movie (2008) Note that this is a remake of the Drum Island Arc, with different characters present and a condensed plot.
• One Piece episodes 346-378
• Romance Dawn Story Movie (2008)
• One Piece episodes 379-429
• Strong World Episode 0 OVA (2009)
• One Piece: Strong World (2009)
• One Piece episodes 430-489
• One Piece 3D: Straw Hat Chase (2011)
• One Piece episodes 490-560
• Episode of Nami: Tears of a Navigator and the Bonds of Friendship Movie (2012) Note that this is an abridged retelling of the Arlong Park Arc.
• One Piece episodes 561-576
• One Piece Film: Z (2012)
• One Piece episode of Luffy: Adventure on Hand Island TV Special (2012)
• One Piece episodes 577-608
• Episode of Merry: Tale of One More Friend TV Special (2013) Note that this special is an abridged retelling of the Water 7 and Enies Lobby arcs from the anime.
• One Piece episodes 609-658
• One Piece 3D2Y TV Special (2014)
• One Piece episodes 659-705
• Episode of Sabo: The Three Brothers’ Bond – A Miraculous Reunion and an Inherited Will TV Special (2015)Note that this is an abridged retelling of the Dressrosa Arc of the anime.
• One Piece episodes 706-722
• One Piece: Adventure of Nebulandia TV Special (2015)
• One Piece episodes 723-749
• One Piece Film: Heart of Gold TV Special (2016)
• One Piece episode 750
• One Piece Film: Gold (2016)
• One Piece episodes 751-802
• One Piece: Episode of East Blue: Luffy and his 4 Crewmate’s Big Adventure (2017) Note that this is an abridged recap of each of the five main characters’ story as they prepare to enter the Grand Line. It also includes hints at future adventures and crewmates in the closing credits.
• One Piece episodes 803-850
• One Piece: Episode of Skypedia TV Special (2018)
• One Piece episodes 851-896
• One Piece: Stampede (2019)
• One Piece episodes 897-1030
• One Piece: Red (2022)
• One Piece episodes 1031-Present

Again, it’s far simpler for the live-action series, which has only one season to date, told in roughly chronological order.

Where can I watch One Piece?

As one of the most popular anime series of all time, the streaming rights to One Piece are more valuable than pirate treasure. While you can invest in DVDs, it is probably more cost-effective to stream the episodes.

You can find every episode of One Piece in Japanese with English subtitles on Crunchyroll in most regions, with new episodes added within a few days of the original broadcast. Since July 2023, Crunchyroll has also had the English dub of One Piece, but only in select territories. Fans in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa can watch the dub – everyone else will need to wait a bit longer.

If you don’t have a Crunchyroll subscription, you can catch every episode of One Piece on Netflix. Again, this is only available in the subtitled version and will depend on where you live. Fans in the UK will only have the latest episodes starting with One Piece season 21 to stream on Netflix.

The One Piece live-action series however, is exclusive to Netflix, rated TV-14. Oh yeah, that reminds us…

Is One Piece’s anime for adults?

In general, One PIece in both anime and live-action form is for a PG-13 audience, with most of the violence skewing cartoonish and the sexual content almost absent save a few jeuvenial jokes. If you want more information on this, though, head to Popverse’s One Piece age rating guide.

Do I need to watch the One Piece movies?

Need is a strong word here. Many of the One Piece movies are very cool and rank among the highest grossing films in Japanese history. They are certainly worth watching if you are a fan of the anime and want more adventures with Luffy and the Straw Hat crew. However, because they are generally considered non-canon, you can easily get the whole story of One Piece without watching the movies.

This isn’t an unusual thing for Shonen anime. Both Naruto and Dragon Ball used their theatrical films to tell side stories or focus on other characters without risking the pacing of the main show.

How much longer will the One Piece anime last?

It might seem like One Piece will continue forever, but all stories must eventually end. Eiichiro Oda has indicated multiple times that the manga is in its final saga. At Jump Fiesta in December 2022, he also said that it would end “in its own time” and wouldn’t be rushed. With more than 1000 chapters already published in Luffy’s story, it might still be several years before he finally achieves his dream of becoming king of the pirates.

Not content with just having their own live-action adaptation, Netflix are teaming up with Studio Wit to produce an adaptation of Oda’s manga from the very beginning. Titled The One Piece, this new anime will adapt the early chapters of One Piece while the original anime from Toei is wrapping up the final chapters. However, with the benefit of hindsight and a more humane schedule for its animators, it might be able to fix many of the pacing and quality issues that crop up in the anime’s long run.

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