Best One Piece Filler Arcs

One Piece is a story that's been coming together for decades. To keep the anime from outpacing the manga, and also making room for interesting "what if?" Scenarios, filler arcs are relatively plentiful in One Piece's animated adaptation. These filler arcs range from simple episodic adventures to content that adds context to the anime's many movies.

Related

One Piece: 5 Best Non-Canon Devil Fruits

One Piece has some truly terrifying Devil Fruits, even outside of the canon material.

Posts 2

By  Kenneth Rasmussen

What makes One Piece special among anime is its massive overarching story that progresses slowly but surely, as its main character, Luffy, grows. Luffy's relationships with himself and his crew are what hold the plot together, so they should work in filler arcs that don't add to the overall story as well, and according to IMDb, they often do. Which is the best One Piece filler arc?

Updated August 5, 2024 by Mark Sammut: For the most part, One Piece filler arcs seem to be a thing of the past. Nowadays, the anime prefers to slow things down to avoid catching up to the manga, a decision that can be fairly divisive. Each filler arc's rating has been updated, and summary have also been added.

An Overview Of One Piece Filler Content

With roughly a thousand episodes (and counting) to sit through, One Piece's sheer size makes the anime a daunting task for people to take on. Eiichiro Oda's manga is a true epic; a series that spans decades and tells a grand tale of ambition, adventure, and resilience. Through the Straw Hats' travels, they experience plenty of highs and lows; tears are shed and laughs are had.

Since there is so much canon content to go through, the filler arcs can feel like they just add to the bloat without contributing enough to justify their existence. Consequently, newcomers to the series might prefer to just skip over the filler material altogether. In order to make that process easier, here is a breakdown of all the filler arcs in the anime along with their respective episodes. Recaps and the Boss Luffy Historical Special episodes will also be included.

¹ Final episode transitions into canon content.

² Final episode is based on manga panels, albeit stretched out in the anime.

18 Boss Luffy Historical Specials – 5.7

Jarring Distractions

• Episodes: 291-292, 303, 406-407

The Boss Luffy Historical Specials are a unique type of One Piece filler since they don't even pretend to be canon. Debuting in the 2005 special episode called "End-Of-Year Special Project! The Detective Memoirs of Chief Straw Hat Luffy" before showing up sporadically in the main series, these storylines teleport the Straw Hats into Edo period Japan. These episodes are extremely jarring as they come out of nowhere and stop the anime's pacing dead in its tracks.

Skipping out on these interludes does not lessen the One Piece experience in any way; however, they are mildly entertaining distractions in their own right. When they first aired, it was neat to see Luffy and company in a historical Japanese setting. Nowadays, these episodes can't even claim to have that going for them since the Wano arc scratches that itch in a far more satisfying way.

17 Cidre Guild Arc – 5.9

Just A Waste Of Time

• Episodes: 895-896

This filler arc follows a standard formula that's been the norm for One Piece since it started. The crew's ship needs something, so they stop at a mysterious island and end up having to defend themselves while there. This is the lowest-rated filler arc on IMDb with an average score of 6, which is strange because it doesn't do anything blatantly wrong.

The reasoning behind this poor rating is most likely because of its placement. The Straw Hat Crew ends up in this predicament between the Whole Cake Island and Wano arcs. These two arcs have been built up since the beginning of the time skip so breaking up their pacing probably didn't sit well with fans.

16 Little East Blue – 6.3

A Nostalgic Trip Lacking Substance

• Episodes: 426-429

Little East Blue serves as a nostalgia check as well as a reminder of all the progression the crew has made. It doesn't have much to show as a filler arc, but it does lead directly into the events of the film One Piece: Strong World.

The crew finds an island that's essentially a recreation of their home, East Blue. They enjoy themselves until they're confronted by a group of pirates who they have to defeat. Except for nostalgia for the East Blue days, this arc does not have much going for it; that said, it is cute and relaxing.

15 Silver Mine Arc – 6.3

More Bartolomeo Is A Good Thing

• Episodes: 747-750

The Silver Mine arc does a few interesting things. During the arc, viewers get the necessary information for the One Piece: Gold film and nice character moments featuring Bartolomeo. Bartolomeo departs after the Dressrosa arc in the manga, but he's also one of the funniest and most beloved characters in the franchise, so it is nice to see more of him.

Related

6 Best Handheld One Piece Games, Ranked

These fruit-loving pirates have appeared on portables far and wide. Here are some of the finest handheld titles from the gaming side of One Piece.

Posts 1

By  Tristan Jurkovich

Luffy and Bartolomeo get swept up in chaos and end up having to work in a silver mine and fight their way out to escape. The plot is pretty standard but the character moments are what make it worth the time spent.

14 Straw Hats In Water 7 – 6.3

Following One Of The Best Arcs With Three Episodes Of Filler

• Episodes: 317-319

This "arc" just about qualifies as its three episodes are standalone, and the final one eventually transitions into canon content. That said, the stories are somewhat connected, with them focusing on the Straw Hats helping out mostly random people in Water 7. The result is three fairly boring chapters that follow up one of the greatest One Piece arcs, and the drop in quality is so notable that it makes these episodes seem worse than they are (and they are terrible in a vacuum).

Out of the three, Zoro's daycare is comfortably the worst, and these 20 minutes are arguably the swordsman's lowest point in One Piece. In the grand scheme of things, a filler that came out nearly two decades ago is irrelevant, but Zoro never seemed less cool than when he was playing babysitter.

13 Ice Hunter Arc – 6.5

Overstays Its Welcome

• Episodes: 326-335

Compared to other long-running shounen series like Naruto and Bleach, One Piece's filler arcs tend to be short. At least, fans do not have to sit through multiple months of pointless fluff. The Ice Hunter arc is a rare exception, as the saga lasts for an agonizing ten episodes.

The story centers around a group of bounty hunters, the Accino family, who steal the Thousand Sunny's flag. Naturally, this leads to a chase, a couple of fights, and a lot of humor. If this arc was about half as long, it would fare much better; as is, it is a slog to get through.

12 Foxy's Return Arc – 6.5

Too Much Foxy

• Episodes: 225-226

It isn't difficult to understand why Foxy returning would warrant low ratings from fans. Foxy is cunning sneaky and overall evil so seeing him again wasn't exactly what fans had in mind. Not only did he reappear, but he had his own little side story as if fans were supposed to root for him.

This arc has one of the most time-filler atmospheres of all the storylines in One Piece. The reasoning for this is mostly because it doesn't really serve to help viewers learn anything. One Piece's massive world is alive and can operate without the main characters, so good filler arcs usually show this side of the world. Foxy's Return arc doesn't do this in any meaningful way.

11 Goat Island Arc – 6.5

Perfectly Watchable Filler With Entertaining New Character

• Episodes: 136-138

Following the Alabasta arc, One Piece set off on a string of filler episodes stretching across multiple storylines. Stuck in the middle between the Post-Alabasta and Ruluka Island arcs, the Goat Island episodes tend to get overshadowed. While not the most memorable story in the series, this arc works well as a three-episode diversion with a fun new character in Zenny.

Zenny's banter with the Straw Hats is genuinely amusing, as is the character's backstory. The Goat Island arc might not be world-changing, but it is a fine way to spend an hour.

10 Spa Island Arc – 6.6

The Obligatory Filler Spa Episode(s)

• Episodes: 382-384

After the Halloween-themed chaos of the Thriller Bark arc, the Straw Hats earned the right to enjoy a day in the sun. The Spa Island arc involves the Foxy pirates, a mysterious notebook, and a lot of goofing off. The story leaves a lot to be desired, as do the new characters introduced. Foxy is also a rather polarizing figure, as he is a non-threatening antagonist whose comedy high jinks tend to be very hit-and-miss.

For all its flaws, Spa Island does at least boast great animation. One Piece had made the jump to HD by this point, so this filler story looks visually pleasing.

9 Caesar Retrieval Arc – 6.7

Harmless Filler With Some Decent Humor

• Episodes: 626-628

Caesar is one of the most important side characters in all of One Piece who becomes the center of attention for multiple arcs because of his connection to Vegapunk and his scientific knowledge. After the events of Dressrosa, the Straw Hats continue escorting Caesar since he's their captive and leverage against Doflamingo and Kaido.

This arc further shows off the relationship between Law and the Straw Hats, which had been developing since Punk Hazard, Caesar's original arc. Other than that, it's a pretty standard filler with funny moments.