Ranking the “One Piece” Anime Arcs

One Piece is about Monkey D. Luffy, a young man whose body became rubbery after eating a Devil Fruit, and his quest to find the legendary treasure called "One Piece" to become the next King of the Pirates. He sets sail on the Grand Line with his crew of misfits, the Straw Hat Pirates, embarking on a grand adventure filled with challenges, complex characters, and powerful enemies.

Series overall rating: B (86% Approval)

I started off by looking at the overall sagas and the arcs they contained. Each arc was rated out of 30 points, based off the characters, setting, pacing, plot, writing and my own enjoyment of the arc. The total points were then added together for each overall Saga and the list is ranked as follows. The Saga and it’s grade and the number of episodes in that saga; secondary are moments that stuck out from that overall saga; and lastly are some notes and thoughts I had, and why they are ranked the way they are. This ranking also includes the anime filler arcs; and is specifically for the English dubbed anime.

10. Wano Country (67%)

Episodes 890-1085 (196 total)

a.      Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance

b.      Kaido & Big Mom alliance

c.      Gear 5 & Joy Boy

d.      Dragons

e.      The SMILE fruits

f. KIDD, LAW & LUFFY alliance

g. NAMI putting her life on the line for Luffy 😭 TWICE

h. I have to mention Queen and the "Zooming, Zooming" song. Unforgettable. Just do yourself a favor and click the link. 🤣

I. This Saga is 196 episodes long! It did not need to be this long! It took me like 6 months to get through this arc and that’s why it’s rated so low. The pacing played a huge part in the ranking. Not to mention there were some annoying characters but then again, it’s OP so it's to be expected. Also the fillers weren't that great either. But given that the rating is a D+ and not an F proves that I somewhat liked this Saga.

II. With each progressing story, we see the Straw Hats get stronger with every stop on their journey. Spoiler: in this Saga, they defeat 2 Emperors of the Sea! I haven’t started the last Saga yet, but I think this is where they peak. There are some heavy hitting emotional gut punches as well. The Wano Arc is broken up into 3 Acts, and they just get better as they go on after a f*cka*s slow start. I mean the overall Arc is sad and scarily relatable, but some of the characters and the pacing were hard to put up with.

III. Luffy masters a new skill in like a week in Act II and that's where the story finally starts getting some traction; and then the origin of the SMILE fruits really messed me up. Ol' Boy really sacrificed himself, and his daughter and supporters could only laugh at his demise?! Yeah I was in tears that day, and had to sit with that for a while to process. 😅

III.I When the SMILE fruits were first mentioned in Dressrosa, I was like "Why are they called that? I bet they give you Devil Fruit Powers but freeze your face into a smile." OOH, I called it then, but I didn't know how bad it would actually be for people who ate the SMILE fruits. I can't -

IV. Act III was the best part of Wano Saga imo. Sure the pacing was frustrating, but watching Luffy take on Kaido again and again until he won? Luffy really said never back down, never what? Never give up! 😭 Mans' is an inspiration! In the end, Luffy unlocking Gear 5 was worth the wait. I cried upon hearing the Drums of Liberation the first time. Then in the end, when everything is settled in the Land of Wano, and Luffy marks it as his territory, it was good ending to that saga.

9.      Dressrosa (76%)

Episodes 574-746 (172 total)

a. Law’s backstory and CORAZON! The man that you were! 💔

b. Doflamingo is a worthy villain, and his laugh? Iconic. His walk? Unparalleled.

c. Bartolomeo; he’s nasty but such a nerd for Luffy 🫶🏽

d. “Shh… I am Lucy.”

e. Dressrosa the Country gives Du Loc from Shrek

f. Tontatta Tribe

g. THE BIRDCAGE

h. Pica’s laugh

i. “I bet you look kind.” 🥹

I. It starts off with the Punk Hazard arc, which I like enough. We get to see more Trafalgar in action. And Cesar Clown’s laugh has become a vocal stim for me. Shirororo. (His laugh is easier to copy than Perona's) BUT THEN, THEY GO TO DRESSROSA AND OMG. That one took forever for me to get through it was so boring and repetitive. Like, there was a Toy Soldier flashback that was sad… the first time it showed. Then it seemed like they played that same flashback every episode the Toy Soldier went to a new area. Like at that point it lost its emotional value and became an annoyance. And don’t even get me started on Rebecca’s costume, like it was giving Zack Snyder’s Justice League Amazonians, but seriously? The overt sexualization of women in this series is hard to ignore; but the women are often stronger, smarter, more capable and more reliable than the men despite their outfit choices so… Anyway, there are a lot of great moments from this arc, but the GD pacing. The constant flashbacks. Trebol’s ANNOYING LAUGH. But we made it through the whole saga. Even though it made us take another break…it truly wasn't the worst Saga. Thank you, next.

8.      Thriller Bark (77%)

Episodes 325-384 (60 total)

a. Brook joins the crew

b. “Nothing happened.”

c. “A beautiful lady swordsman with meat!”

d. Ghosts & Zombies

e. Usopp being "immune" to depression

f. Stealing shadows

g. Luffy "taming" Cerberus

h. "It's an old man with serious injuries!" / "That's a zombie!"

I. I can’t decide who’s laugh was more annoying, Gecko Moira’s or Dr. Hogback’s. Honestly their laughs are the reason the character ratings are so low for the Thriller Bark Arc lmao. Sad but true. Perona is a reason the characters category had a rating at all; she's a gothic baddie and her laugh made me laugh. Horo-horo-horo. I know, I'm hypocritcal. Gomenasai. Also her Devil fruit giving her little ghosts that make people feel depressed is funny but sad. Usopp being immune to that because he's always depressed is me 😅. Slightly jk.

II. I liked the spooky setting though, it was giving Halloween vibes and yk my favorite season is Fall, and I'm all about spooky szn. Cold, dreary weather. Horror movies. Spooky vibes. The Thriller Bark arc is perfect for that. And I'm not gonna lie, Brook was lowkey untrustworthy at first but I’m glad he joined the crew in the end. (Binks' Brew is a new earworm tho.) SPOILER: Canonically, Zoro dies but because he's hopeless with directions his soul just went back into his body. And I only mention this because the Boulder feels conflicted. Like it's sad, but cool?

III. There is a part of this Saga though that I hated. There's a man who's Devil Fruit allows him to turn invisible. Guess what he does with that power? (🙄) It's literally for no reason. AND THE FACT THAT SANJI WANTED THAT POWER FOR HIMSELF TO DO PRETTY MUCH THE SAME THING?! GTFOWTBS! I know it's just a show but I feel like it's the principle. If you think that's not a big deal, we can't be friends.

7.      Fish-Man Island (81%)

Episodes 517-574 (58 total)

a.      STRAW HATS’ REUNION

b. Zoro getting on the wrong ship and cutting it in half 💀 (like bro, WHAT is wrong with you? It wasn’t their fault you were napping on the WRONG SHIP) we still love you tho

c.      Luffy’s Conqueror’s Haki

d.      Fish-people; mermaids; and Surume

e.      Fighting against racism!

I. This is the first Saga post-timeskip and I did not realize how short it is until now. There is better animation, sure, but the crew lost their old designs (and color!). Some of their qualities got dialed up, even the bad ones (I’m looking at you Sanji! So annoying!) Shirahoshi is a crybaby, and while it gets old fast, she also does grow as a character and we love to see it. The main villain Hordy Jones is a racist mf, and it was so satisfying to see him get defeated. Also, the Straw Hats just show off how much stronger they’ve gotten since Sabaody. They say if you can get through this Saga, you can get through anything. They should really be saying that about Dressrosa and Wano, but whatever.

6.      Sky Island (84%)

Episodes 136-206 (71 total)

a.      The Going Merry’s spirit!

b.      An ocean in the sky

c.      Luffy being a hater (i.e. "Fall off!") 🤣

d.      “Reading too much will turn you into a yucky bug! They’re called bookworms.”

e.      Zoro’s Tarzan yell

f. Zoro and Chopper!

I. This saga had more filler arcs than canon ones, but at least they were entertaining. 🤷🏽‍♀️ But honestly, the location for the Sky Island arc was cool to put it very lightly, and how they get there in the first place? A trip to imagine happening IRL. A whole other country and ocean in the sky? This saga really captures the goofy yet serious tone that is present throughout all of One Piece. The bond between Chopper, the youngest crewmate, and Zoro, one of the oldest so far, is so sweet to watch. I didn’t really gaf for the main villain, Enel, but he was very powerful ig. It’s a good little Saga that lowkey prepares you for the upcoming devastation in the Water 7 Saga.

5.      Alabasta (86%)

Episodes 62-135 (73 total)

a.      Laboon!

b.      Karoo & Vivi!

c.      CHOPPER, HIRILUK & KUREHA!

d.      “See, I told you, you should’ve posed! Now it’s too late, you’re gonna die like that!”

e. Kung Fu Dugongs

f. Nico Robin ❤️

g. Pervert camel (see ep. 97 if you're concerned)

h. Honorable shoutout to the Baroque Works members (some of them were flashy as hell)

i. Extra honorable shoutout to Mr. 0 himself, Sir Crocodile

I.      Honestly, Chopper’s backstory of being bullied for being different hit harder than it should’ve. Not to mention the fact his pre-timeskip design is just so cute! He’s a little reindeer guy who’s a little chonky, and has a cute hat and his footsteps make little noises. He, Karoo and Laboon and the dugongs are why the character ratings were so high. The Alabasta arc is why the whole Saga is rated lower than the top 4 because it lowkey dragged on. Also, this arc Luffy really said "Equal rights, equal fights" (💀). But this is the Saga where Nico Robin joins the crew.

4.      East Blue (88%)

Episodes 1-61 (61 total)

a.      We meet Zoro and Nami

b.      Chou-chou

c.      Usopp and the Black Cat Pirates

d.      Sanji and the Baratie 👩🏽‍🍳 (he's relatable OK!?)

e.      “Luffy… Help me.” 🥹

f.        Loguetown

I.      It’s a good intro to the story. The first time I cried during the series is when we learned Chou-Chou’s backstory, and that was episode 6. We also get introduced to Sanji and this pre-timeskip version of him is my favorite. Overall, it’s rating is Numba 4 (barely) just because of the pacing in the Arlong Park arc. Like, I love you Nami, but that arc seemed to drag on. Plus, Arlong was a little b in the grand scheme of things. Mans got taken out by a ROOKIE pirate crew. Anyway, if YOU REALLY WANTED to see what OP is about, check out the live-action version on Netflix. The first season is 8 episodes and will take roughly 7-1/2 hours and it sums up this Saga well enough (they don't have Chou-chou) that you could skip these first 61 episodes, that takes roughly 20.33 hours. 🤷🏽‍♀️

3.      Whole Cake Island (89%)

Episodes 747-889 (143 total)

a.      Zou and the Minks

b.      Charlotte Katakuri 🫶🏽

c.      Baby Sanji 💔 MY SHAYLA

d. Totto Land

e.      Big Mom's backstory

f. Gotta shoutout Brulee too, she's so funny, I love her

g. I also have to mention Reiji (my bb 🥹); Ichiji, Niji and Yonji (they had their humanity stripped away by their father. They can never make me like you Vinsmoke Judge. If I catch you, if I catch you, Judge! 🥊)

I.      Honestly, I was surprised by how much I loved this Saga but I'm not mad at it. The Reverie Arc was one that I didn't really care for, but there is some important context there ig. One of the main components of this Saga was the Zou and Whole Cake Island Arcs in general; mainly it was the characters. The Minks are so cute and so strong. GARCHU! And of Big Mom's 85 kids (💀) that were featured, the ones we seen were pretty cool. Evil, sure, but still cool.

II. Then we move on to Sanji's backstory that gets further explored; his childhood was so miserable omg. (💔) I definitely cried for him. And it lowkey made me forgive him for being so annoying, he just wants to love and be loved in return! And Germa 66 AKA the Vinsmoke Family. Reiji, my sweet girl, you deserve sm better! 😭 But also, them being so nonchalant and cracking jokes when they're in actual mortal danger while Judge weeps like the sad, frail old man he is? The beautiful irony. Also, this one made me feel sorry for the main villain Big Mom somehow? Only when she was a little kid though... Then she got scary. The wedding cake looked so good too, oml. (I'm gonna recreate it soon!)

III. Totto Land also gave Beauty & the Beast vibes with talking trees and animated objects, though how they came to be that way will make you side-eye Big Mom even more. It was very fairytale, fantasy-ish and idk I just really liked it. I definitely would not want to live there though, absolutely no way. Especially not if I was to marry Charlotte Katakuri. That would just be the worst. 😏

2. Water 7 (97%)

Episodes 207-324 (118 total)

a.      Meeting “SUPER” Franky

b.      “Zoro got stuck in a chimney!”

c.      “You better have thought about how we land this thing!" / "Of course I have! We fall.” 🤣

d.      Gear 3

e.      “Shoot down that flag.”

f.        “I want to live!” 😭

g.      Chopper’s monster point

h.      The buster call

i.        Saying goodbye to the Going Merry

j.        Introduced to the Thousand Sunny

k. CP-9 gets an honorable mention here

I.      I think at this point it’s given that if you’re from the One Piece universe, you have a tragic backstory. Does that stop me from getting emotional about these characters though? Absolutely not! And this whole saga put me through the wringer. The ranking is just below Summit War's though because as funny as Foxy and his arcs are, he and his crew are just as annoying. Water 7 and Enies Lobby are both superior arcs though. Nico Robin is me; I love her so much. ❤️

1.     Summit War (98%)

Episodes 385-516 (132 total)

a.      EPISODE 405! 💔

b. Sabaody Archipelago

c. Luffy punching tf out of a celestial dragon!

d. Boa Hancock and the Kuja Pirates

e.      Sneaking into Impel Down & starting a riot

f. Buggy's ponytail

g.      BON CLAY! 😭

h.      When Luffy and Ace fought together

i.      “Thank you… for loving me.”

j. “The one piece! The one piece is real!”

I.      The final Saga before the timeskip! It starts off super strong with the Sabaody Archipelago arc, where get our first looks at Trafalgar Law 🫶🏽 and Eustass Kid 🫶🏽; Episode 405 punched me in the gut. It continued on to Amazon Lily where the Kuja Pirates reside and they cheered me up... and also made me lowkey sad. But Boa Hancock is an absolute icon; her delulu feeds my delulu. Then the Impel Down arc was so funny then ended tragically yet still hopeful. Buggy and Mr. 3 are an iconic duo and we’ll leave it at that. It leads up to Marineford and this arc proceeded to kick my kneecaps and break what was left of my heart. It was slightly remedied with the Post-War arc, but I ended up taking almost a 4-month break after this to take in and reflect on the pre-timeskip era. (And grieve!)

After finishing Wano Saga, I needed a break. So I haven't started The Final Saga yet as of 1/15/2026, but I'm excited to get back to it. I miss the shenanigans of the Straw Hats, I miss my crew. Also I seen some spoilers of what's to come and I'm both dreading it and am impatiently waiting for it.

If you guess my favorite character, you can get a 20% discount code. Email me your guess. 😅

Until next time, またね. Giigaawaabaamin.