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Straw Hat Pirates' captain, Monkey D. Luffy
Monkey D. Luffy (Image via Studio Pierrot)

In what order must you watch One Piece to avoid fillers

Stuart RayBy Updated:5 Mins Read Anime

Filler arcs are a constant plague to watchers of long-running shonen that One Piece is, especially when the same appear to cover up the show-time when the manga catches up to the anime. The visual adaptation of Oda’s epical manga is no exception, and though it has over a thousand episodes, several of them remain skippable.

However, the fillers of One Piece have even been regarded as enjoyable in certain cases, such as in the G-8 Arc. Despite the enjoyability or lack of it, these fillers are scattered throughout the entire span of the anime, and it might be daunting to filter through them all.

But don’t worry, we have you covered. We have compiled a list of the filler episodes you can avoid as well as the right order in which you can watch Eichiro Oda’s magnum opus. So, let’s jump right into it.

While One Piece boasts several many filler arcs, some of them are a must-watch to get the full experience of the series

One Piece begins in East Blue, with the dreams and aspirations of a young boy named Luffy. This spans into a form of modern epic spanning across islands and countries filled with popular characters as Luffy becomes the freedom fighter (albeit unintentionally so) that a world suffering from anarchy and tyrannism needs. Initially, along his way, he is joined by several crewmates from across each of the different arcs (and hence islands/locales), including:

  • A bounty hunter aiming to be the world’s best swordsman (Zoro) from Romance Dawn (Episodes 1-3)
  • A girl aspiring to be the first one to draw a world map (Nami) from Orange Town (Episodes 4-8)
  • A teen hoping to be a brave pirate like his father (Usopp) from Syrup Village (Episodes 9-18)
  • A chef aiming to find his utopic water world filled with secret ingredients (Episodes 19-30)

These four arcs are followed by the Arlong Park Arc (Episodes 31-44) and Logue Town Arc (Episodes 45, and 48-53). Buggy’s Crew Adventure Chronicles takes place in between Logue Town, going from Episodes 46 and 47. The aforementioned arcs make up the East Blue Saga, which ends in Chapter 100 of the manga before the crew moves into the Grand Line. Here, they add more crew members to their team, including:

  • A transforming reindeer hoping to cure every disease in the world (Drum Island Arc)
  • A mysterious woman on the run from the government (Alabasta Arc)
  • A cyborg shipwright seeking to sail his ship to the final horizon (Water 7 and Enies Lobby Arcs)
  • A singing skeleton hoping to see his friend (Thriller Bark Arc)
  • A fish-man hybrid seeking to liberate his people from the racist gaze of the world (Marine Ford and Fishman Island Arcs)

From here on, the arcs occupy different sections of different Sagas. As such, the canonical arcs take the form of the following.

Arabasta Saga

  • Reverse Mountain Arc (Episodes 62-63)
  • Whisky Peak Arc (Episodes 64-67)
  • Koby and Helmeppo Arc (Episodes 68-69)
  • Little Garden Arc (Episodes 70-77)
  • Drum Island Arc (Episodes 78-91)
  • Arabasta Arc (Episodes 92-130)

Sky Island Saga

  • Jaya Arc (Episodes 144-152)
  • Skypeia Arc (Episodes 153-195)

Water Seven Saga

  • Long Ring Long Land Arc (Episodes 207-219)
  • Water Seven Arc (Episodes 229-263)
  • Enies Lobby Arc (Episodes 264-290, 293-302, 304-312)
  • Post-Enies Lobby Arc (Episodes 312-325)

Thriller Bark Saga

  • Thriller Bark Arc (Episodes 337-381)

Summit War Saga

  • Sabaody Archipelago Arc (Episodes 385-405)
  • Amazon Lily Arc (episodes 408-417)
  • Straw Hat’s Separation Serial Arc (Episodes 418. 421. 453-456)
  • Impel Down Arc (Episodes 422-425, 430-452)
  • Marineford Arc (Episodes 457-489)
  • Post-War Arc (Episodes 490-491, 493-516)

Fish-Man Island Saga

  • Return to Sabaody Arc (Episodes 517-522)
  • Fish-Man Island Arc (Episodes 523-541, 543-574)

Four-Emperor’s Saga

  • Punk Hazard Arc (Episodes 579-589, 591-625)
  • Dressrosa Arc (Episodes 629-746)
  • Zou Arc (Episodes 751-779)
  • Whole Cake Island Arc (Episodes 783-877)
  • Reverie Arc (Episodes 878-889)
  • Wano Country Arc (Episodes 890-894, 897-906, 908-1028, 1031-ongoing)

Filler arcs

In that regard, filler arcs take the form of the following arcs and hence episodes:

  • The Warship Island Arc (Episodes 54-61)
  • Post-Alabasta Arc (Episodes 131-135)
  • Goat Island Arc (Episodes 136-138)
  • Ruluka Island Arc (Episodes 139-143)
  • G-8 Arc (Episodes 196-206)
  • Ocean’s Dream Arc (Episodes 220-224)
  • Foxy’s Return Arc (Episodes 225-226)
  • Ice Hunter Arc (Episodes 326-335)
  • Spa Island Arc (Episodes 382-384)
  • Little East Blue Arc (Episodes 426-429)
  • Z’s Ambition Arc (Episodes 575-578)
  • Caesar Retrieval Arc (Episodes 626-628)
  • Silver Mine Arc (Episodes 747-750)
  • Marine Rookie Arc (Episodes 780-782)
  • Cidre Guild Arc (Episodes 895-896)
  • Uta’s Past Arc (Episodes 1029-1030)

Among these, we do recommend some arcs to be watched, such as the G-8 Arc. While it does not contribute anything canonically, it does prove for an enjoyable watching experience and is the original point for several in-universe memes (like the ‘Condoriano’ meme). Similarly, other arcs like Z’s Ambition and Uta’s Past are segways into several films which are not canonical but prove to be skippable whether you want to watch the film or not.

What do you think of our list? Do you like any arc or saga over others, or do you think the fillers are even necessary to experience One Piece in its essence? Let us know down below in the comments.

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Stuart loves anime, writing, and writing about anime. Someday, he hopes to illustrate his own manga from his novel!