Summary

The One Piece anime suffers from tedious pacing, excessive flashbacks, and filler content in major battles.
Some iconic battles, like Luffy vs. Doflamingo and Luffy vs. Kaido, lost their impact due to unnecessary elongation in the anime.
Toei Animation's adaptation of Luffy's battles pales in comparison to the manga, affecting major character moments negatively.

The One Piece anime is quite divisive because, even though getting to see Eiichiro Oda’s magnificent story in animated form is undoubtedly wonderful, Toei Animation has made some questionable decisions that resulted in many fans seeing the anime as the inferior version of this lengthy pirate adventure.

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Posts 1

By Suzail Ahmad

Naturally, the fights are a big part of One Piece that were made worse by the anime’s many flaws, as some of them suffer from tedious pacing, extensive durations, repetitive uses of flashbacks, and more. This has led many fans to prefer the manga versions of these battles, with the following six being some of the most outrageous examples.

6 Luffy Vs Foxy

It’s A Lot Less Annoying Without All The Needless Filler That Came Before It

Afro Luffy vs. Foxy in Volume 33 of the manga.

Chapters 314 to 317 (Manga) Episodes 217 to 219 (Anime)

The Long Ring Long Land Arc is already quite controversial among fans for a number of reasons, and the anime version certainly didn’t improve its reputation. By adding filler episodes and removing the most important parts (like Admiral Aokiji’s sudden appearance at the very end), the anime made it all the more tedious and irritating to watch, and the final match between Monkey D. Luffy and Foxy was the climax of this unappealing arc.

However, their battle just works better in the manga, not only because it lacks all the unnecessary filler that was added in the anime, but also because Oda’s style of comedy just works better with his particular art and paneling. On top of that, Foxy disappeared from the manga for over 20 years after his initial defeat, whereas the anime kept featuring him in boring filler arcs almost immediately after the Long Ring Long Land Arc came to a close.

5 Luffy Vs Doflamingo

The Glorious Ending Of This Important Fight Was Completely Ruined In The Anime

Luffy swiftly defeats Doflamingo with a powerful King Kong Gun.

Chapters 780 to 791 (Manga) Episodes 721 to 734 (Anime)

The animated adaptation of the Dressrossa Arc is infamous for its multiple stretched-out scenes and slow pacing, and it’s even considered the breaking point for many fans who decided to switch from the anime to the manga afterwards. The climax of the entire arc, the intense battle between Luffy and Donquixote Doflamingo, suffered the most from these glaring issues.

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By Rei Penber

The entire encounter is brimming with slow scenes, annoying recycled flashbacks, and even some lackluster animation, but the worst part was Luffy’s finisher: his King Kong Gun. What, in the manga, was a powerful final attack meant to illustrate how Luffy was much stronger than Doflamingo, was turned into a bizarre and unnecessary power struggle in the anime. This not only undermined the original purpose of this epic scene, but also made the ending of the fight much less interesting to watch.

4 Luffy Vs Charlotte Katakuri

The Animated Version Is Just Way Too Long

Luffy and Katakuri fight in the cover of Volume 89 of the manga.

Chapters 878 to 896 (Manga) Episodes 850 to 871 (Anime)

There’s no denying that Luffy vs. Charlotte Katakuri is one of the most legendary fights in all of One Piece, to the point that it’s extremely exciting in both the manga and the anime. Unfortunately, Toei’s common weaknesses made the animated version of their clash a tad less engaging than the original illustrated one.

The animation and music are of a high quality, but it all comes down to its excruciating length. This battle just goes on for way too long and, as expected, it was artificially extended by repetitive flashbacks, filler content, and the occasional tediously paced scene. The manga version of Luffy and Katakuri’s encounter was already quite lengthy, but Toei took it to a whole new level and made the fight longer to an unnecessary extent.

3 Luffy Vs Kaido (Kuri)

This Ruthless Beatdown Had All Of Its Impact Removed

Kaido defeats Luffy with a single Raimei Hakke.

Chapters 922 and 923 (Manga) Episodes 912 to 914 (Anime)

The first time Luffy and Kaido clashed during The Wano Country Arc was a heartbreaking moment in the One Piece manga. After so much buildup, the Strongest Creature managed to defeat the protagonist with one quick but ruthless Raimei Hakke attack, proving that they were at completely different levels of power. This was a tough but necessary moment that set up Luffy’s future development for the rest of the arc.

However, the anime completely butchered the core aspects of Luffy and Kaido’s initial fight to extend its length. From showing the audience how Luffy ran up to Kaido’s location (and thus, removing the impact of his first surprise attack) to extending the length of the Raimei Hakke and making it seem that Luffy had a small chance of resisting this devastating attack that would ultimately render him unconscious, the anime removed a lot of what makes this fight significant to the overall story.

2 Luffy Vs Kaido (Onigashima)

One Of Luffy’s Most Important Moments Was Covered In Shining Lights

Luffy attacks Kaido with his advanced Conqueror's Haki attack.

Chapters 1010 to 1013 (Manga) Episodes 1028 to 1033 (Anime)

Luffy and Kaido fought several times during the Wano Country Arc, and some of these battles were quite good, while others left much to be desired. One of these clashes resulted in one of Luffy’s biggest character moments: after training and learning to use Conqueror’s Haki throughout the entire arc, he finally figured out how to infuse his attacks with it to deal some major damage to Kaido.

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By Rei Penber

This was a monumental moment in the manga, especially because Oda’s impeccable art managed to convey how powerful and satisfying each one of Luffy’s punches was. Unfortunately, the anime ruined this epic moment by using unnecessary particle effects to portray Luffy’s Conqueror’s Haki, which resulted in bright lights that blocked out the action. This was both frustrating and disappointing, and not even the use of the classic song “We Are” as the background music of this fight was enough to save it.

1 Kozuki Momonosuke Vs Kaido

An Epic Clash Between Two Dragons Was Brought Down By Lackluster CGI Animation

Dragon Kaido confronts Luffy while he's on top of Dragon Momonosuke.

Chapters 1025 to 1042 (Manga) Episodes 1049 to 1069 (Anime)

Kaido’s dragon form is as majestic as it is intimidating, so it makes sense that it might not be easy to animate. That’s why the animators at Toei occasionally used alternate techniques to bring him to life during the extensive Wano Country Arc, like using a 3D model. This isn’t a problem when it’s utilized sparsely, but it ended up looking atrocious when it was the main focus of an entire fight.

This is what unfortunately happened when the anime adapted the fight between Kaido and Kozuki Momonosuke in their dragon forms. Most of the time, both of them were portrayed via ecstatic 3D models that not only looked bad, but also didn’t properly convey the emotions of these two characters' intense rivalry. This was extremely disappointing because this battle was a real treat in the manga, where getting to see these two legendary titans clashing with impressive attacks was satisfying and exciting.

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