This list contains spoilers
Summary
- World Building: Oda creates unique islands with rich culture for the crew to explore.
- Luffy's Progression: Luffy's growth throughout the series is gradual and realistic.
- Foreshadowing: Oda drops hints early on, paying them off later to engage fans.
The biggest reason why there are still so many people who are hesitant to get into One Piece is because of its intimidating length. With the series now being over a thousand episodes and chapters long, it's no secret that learning about this wonderful world and its characters can be a real time commitment. Still, the truth is, the series isn't this long just for the sake of it, as there are some specific reasons why it needs to be this way to provide fans with the best experience possible.
One Piece: All Cover Page Story Arcs, Explained
The cover story arcs aren't part of the main One Piece story, but many of them tie into it or offer more detail on the manga's world.
When considering how ambitious the One Piece story actually is, it can be easier to understand why Eiichiro Oda has decided to take his time rather than try to rush to the finish line as quickly as possible. When all is said and done, though, having a series be this long only makes it all the more satisfying to catch up on, especially when the series in question is as fun and enjoyable as this one. That being said, these are the primary reasons why One Piece needs to be as long as it is, and how this length actually ends up benefiting the series as a whole.
Final spoiler warning for One Piece!
6 To Focus On World Building
The World Of One Piece Is Packed Full Of Unique And Memorable Islands
In order for an author to make a series feel interesting and believable, they need to make sure that they focus on building up the world and the characters that reside within it, and while most shōnen series do a good job of this, One Piece takes world-building to a whole different level. Because the Straw Hats are consistently arriving on brand-new islands, it means Oda needs to spend a good amount of time not only showcasing these areas visually, but also breaking them down in terms of their culture, history, and, of course, introducing the people who actually live there.
For many fans, these are the best moments of the story, as venturing across a brand-new locale to uncover its hidden secrets provides a welcome change of pace from the intense action scenes. These islands would just feel hollow and like little more than quick pit stops if they were skimmed over too quickly, so while it does add to the series' length, it's also needed to ensure that each area has its own flavor and aesthetic that makes them each stand out as something unique.
5 To Make Luffy's Progression Believable
The Straw Hat Captain Was Nowhere Near Strong Enough To Become Pirate King In Episode 1
Luffy may have started the story with a rubber body thanks to his Devil Fruit, but he quickly realizes that he is still far too weak to even have a chance of one day becoming the Pirate King. Because of how insanely powerful characters like the Admirals and the Warlords actually are, it means that Luffy would need to steadily grow stronger over the course of the adventure to believably catch up to them, as giving him too many power-ups in a short period of time just wouldn't seem all that realistic or satisfying.
One Piece: 5 Characters Who Betrayed Their Teachers
These students shattered their teacher's trust by betraying them and going rogue for their own personal reasons in One Piece.
Instead, Oda has been sprinkling these new transformations at a steady pace throughout the story whenever Luffy really needs them to take down the tough opponent. This way, it makes it feel as though the protagonist has naturally been growing stronger since the very beginning of his adventure, and even in the recent arcs, he's still acquiring new powers and abilities to use in battle.
4 To Feature Deep And Emotional Flashbacks
One Piece's Flashbacks Tend To Be Long, Memorable, And Extremely Emotional
One Piece's flashbacks are well known for being extremely emotional, but to ensure that fans get truly invested in a character's story and upbringing, Oda will also make sure to make these sequences long enough to avoid them becoming forgettable. This is why fans can so clearly remember the tragic backstories of characters such as Robin, Nami, and many of the other Straw Hats, who have all had a pretty tough time getting to where they are today.
It's not just the heroes of the story who will get their own flashbacks, though, as many of the villains will also have their backstory shown to the audience to help garner them some sympathy. This can be applied to main antagonists such as Doflamingo and Big Mom, but even some of the one-time goons who only appear in a single arc, too, a prime example being Senor Pink. Flashbacks like these are necessary for not only highlighting how cruel the world of One Piece can truly be, but also for fleshing out each of the characters to make them feel like real people who deserve the attention of the reader or viewer.
3 To Include Satisfying Foreshadowing
Oda Loves Dropping Nuggets Of Foreshadowing Only To Pay Them Off Much Later
Foreshadowing is nothing new in storytelling, but One Piece is absolutely packed full of it, which helps to add a lot of intrigue and mystery to the story and the wider world. However, very often, these small hints will only be paid off after a few hundred chapters or episodes, which is a clever way to incentivize fans to generate discussions concerning what these scenes could be foreshadowing, and how they will impact the story later down the line.
One Piece: 9 Gags That Aren't Used Anymore
As characters have grown and matured in One Piece, so have certain gags fallen by the wayside.
It's honestly shocking just how many future events were mentioned more than 20 years ago, only to become much more relevant in the recent arcs of the story. One such example is how Sanji mentions very early on that he's from the North Blue, until it is then revealed in the recent Whole Cake Island arc that he was actually connected to Germa, and that his father is the infamous scientist Judge. This is just one example of many where Oda drops a mysterious nugget before then leaving it alone for a good chunk of the story, which ultimately makes it all the more exciting when they are finally paid off much later.
2 To Give The Straw Hats Time To Shine
Each Member Of Luffy's Crew Gets Enough Time To Show What They're About
There are a staggering number of characters who have been introduced to the story of One Piece so far, but at the heart of the plot is the Straw Hat crew. After all, these are the characters who fans are going to be spending the majority of their time with along the adventure, so it was important for Oda to ensure that these characters felt interesting enough to warrant a space on the crew, and the way he achieved this was by putting them at the focus of a particular story arc.
For example, while there were many different factions and characters involved in the Whole Cake Island arc, it ultimately all revolved around Sanji, allowing fans to get a deeper insight into who he is and his backstory over the course of a few hundred chapters. The same can be said for Robin with Water 7 and Chopper for Drum Island, as each character is given more than enough time to prove themselves to Luffy and the fans, and while this inevitably leads to even more story arcs to get through, it's also necessary for making the main cast fun and interesting.
1 To Feel Like A True Journey
Reaching The One Piece Treasure Can't Be Done Overnight
Reaching the One Piece treasure may be the end goal for Luffy and many of the other pirates who are introduced in the story, but it's really the adventure of actually getting there that has made the series so popular. It just wouldn't make sense if the One Piece treasure could be reached in no more than a few days, since this would mean the series would need to skip a lot of the character development and crew interactions in order to focus primarily on getting to Laugh Tale as quickly as possible.
Instead, having Luffy and the gang start off in the East Blue gives them plenty of time to not only grow and mature as characters, but also connect with the audience, who will essentially be an honorary member of the crew themselves, considering how long they will spend around these individuals. It's not uncommon to hear people theorize that the One Piece is actually the adventure itself, and while that's probably not true in a technical sense, it does still hint at a big reason why the series needed to be this long in the first place: to make it feel like one big grand adventure.
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Creator(s)
- Eiichiro Oda
- Seasons
- 21
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Producers
- Yoshihiro Suzuki
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Number of Episodes
- 1122
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
- MyAnimeList Score
- 8.72
