Should I watch One Piece?

I don't know what tag to use for this, sorry if I used the wrong one.
I feel like I wanna start watching One Piece but I don't know, obviously I could just start watching and say for myself, but I'd rather know than guess. I keep getting clips on reels and stuff and it looks good, but I also hear it has pacing issues and takes ~100 episodes to get good. I know people who are die hard fans are gonna defend it, but can I have some honest opinions, without spoilers?

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N7CombatWombat2025-12-30 01:08

>but I'd rather know than guess.

The only way you're going to know is to watch it yourself. We aren't you, we don't know what's going to be good for you.

Vanvez2025-12-30 01:10

Yeah, I get that, but still, I'd like to hear what people have to say

Satai45612025-12-30 01:21

One of the most watched shows and that since decades. If it weren't any good people would have stopped long ago. But it gets more and more popular. Not sure what else you wanna hear, or expect to hear.

muzlee012025-12-30 01:11

My honest opinion is that reading the manga will provide a much more enjoyment

Vanvez2025-12-30 01:13

Yeah, I can see that

zenonidenoni2025-12-30 01:12

OP is already good from the beginning. Episode 100++ is where it becomes legendary.

You can watch One Pace if you're really concern about the pacing. Just enjoy it. It's truly worth the time & effort.

Distinct-Raccoon-7392025-12-30 01:28

Honestly I watched normal pacing until a little before dressrosa

Salty1452025-12-30 03:54

There’s a certain degree of “good” something must be in order to stick with 1000+ episodes.

Early OP isn’t really it.

StrawHatCook2025-12-30 01:12

This is too long of an anime to get a decent opinion on it. Most people that watch it will say it’s the best. The people that don’t just aren’t interested. The haters watch to hate.

Do you man.

user738482028472025-12-30 01:16

I’ve heard the manga is well paced

undead_tortoiseX2025-12-30 01:21

The OP anime does have pacing issues, but it ebbs and flows. Yes it is extremely long, but half of the reason it hits as hard as it does is because of the world building and emotional investment you have in the characters.

If you’re between shows and don’t know what to watch, just watch the first arc of OP.

Then take a break and watch something else, and later come back and watch 2 more arcs, then take another break. After that you might just binge the whole thing.

The nice thing about a long show is that you won’t be worried about running out.

Vanvez2025-12-30 01:25

That makes sense. I guess I'm so used to binging things in one go that I've convinced myself that if I start I have to keep going to the end as fast as I can just to satisfy that

undead_tortoiseX2025-12-30 01:27

You can also watch One Pace if you watch on PC primarily. It’s a fan edited version that cuts out filler into long chapters that matches the manga.

Vanvez2025-12-30 01:29

Unfortunately PC isn't an option, it'd be on my TV

undead_tortoiseX2025-12-30 01:36

All good. Without going into spoilers, the only other thing I would say is that OPs strength is it’s characters. Each arc you get to know someone new in depth and well as one of the main crew members usually.

This is why the length of the show increases the enjoyment. You really get to know these characters, so seeing them grow and succeed pays off extremely well.

There’s also a TON of setups. That guy you saw 300 episodes ago? He’s back and turns out he is super important. Same for the mysteries of the world. They are set up early and aren’t forgotten.

grazi132025-12-30 02:31

You can download the One Pace episodes onto a flash drive and watch on the TV, it's what I did.

Ssquad2025-12-30 01:22

Yes.

SolomonBlack2025-12-30 01:24

No.

One Piece is a legend for all the best reasons but even if the anime was similarly the best there ever was it the sheer time commitment of 1000+ episodes is not something anyone should be recommending just casually.

But One Piece is not the best animated. The truth of the matter is that up until Wano Country the animation was no more then average quality for its time and goes through years (Dressrosa and Whole Cake) of being pretty badly animated too. On TOP of being badly paced because they tried for 20 years to keep One Piece on the air constantly so stretch everything to try and make 1 chapter into 1 episode.

READ One Piece.

Or if you have some like ideological objection to original mediums then find a recap series on youtube or something to get you up to modern times.

grazi132025-12-30 02:33

Yuck I can't believe you recommended watching a recap series to spoil the whole story lol

SolomonBlack2025-12-30 07:04

If you are committed to doing something badly I'm not going to have you lose... months... a year... of your precious leisure time trying it to still not even be where communities like r/OnePiece are because they follow the manga.

Also Ace's donut is like knowing that Vader was Snape's father before they killed Rosebud. The only spoilers are on Elbaf and you have to read them.

grazi132025-12-30 10:12

I'm sorry you hate the anime so much you think it's a waste of time... One Pace was extremely enjoyable for me, the music, sound effects and voice actors are all great parts of One Piece that you don't get with the manga. Is the manga better? I'm sure. Is the anime a waste of time? So far from it, it's laughable to suggest so.

marcegearsolid2025-12-30 01:27

Also known as sunk-cost fallacy, the anime. But you do you

Crunchymau52025-12-30 01:28

Either read the manga or wait for the new series at this point. Jumping in now on the original series is a huge undertaking , 1000+ episodes, and has some really bad pacing issues that make bingeing not as enjoyable. The new series should have much better pacing since they don't need to worry about catching up to the manga and probably a better experience for people looking to get into it.

callaoshipoglucidos2025-12-30 01:29

Check out One Pace

xdarkskylordx2025-12-30 01:29

Don't listen to anyone that says it takes 100+ episodes to get good. 25-ish episodes should give you an idea of the show's atmosphere and 40-ish episodes should tell you the scope of the story. If you didn't like anything by then, chances are high that the rest would feel like a slog to you except for certain scenes. It does ramp up as the story progresses, but you are the one that decides how steep that slope is when it comes to enjoying it.

lvaldi2025-12-30 01:30

Don't watch one pace. If you go through the first 53 episodes and still not vibe with the characters and story then its fine to drop.

abandoned_idol2025-12-30 01:30

It's not the first 100 episodes that have bad pacing.

It's about episodes ~700-1100 where the pacing becomes exponentially slow (black hole time dilation pacing).

But it IS true that episode 1-1070 have relatively cheap production values (due to the weekly adaptation).

The Toei anime adaptation only turned seasonal just now in 2026. Still slowly paced, but supposedly better direction and filling it up with new lore/details.

You should also know that studio Wit will be creating a second adaptation, and it will be seasonal (covering the first story arcs).

I am not die hard, but I AM a big One Piece fan (everyone who has seen it is a fan, good writing after all).

I'd recommend waiting for the studio Wit seasonal re-adaptation. Once that finishes airing, read the manga up until the point where the Toei anime reaches episode 1071, and then continue from there via the Toei anime.

It IS the best anime story ever, and the worst anime adaptation ever, so you're not really missing out.

Just thinking about One Piece makes me want to strangle studio Toei. (Nothing personal against them, just me venting)

One Piece fans are very frustrated by the gatekeeping and will use deceit in order to persuade you to watch the shitty adaptation, beware.

Dramatic_Complex_6722025-12-30 01:36

I really like One Piece but you have to understand that it's a long one. I did watch it by Googling to get the filler list so I knew which ones to skip. That helps cut out the unnecessary bits. 100 episodes is less than 10% of the story. It takes a long time to understand the intricate nature of the story. For me, I really started really getting into the story during season 4 (which is a couple hundred episodes in).

No one on reddit is going to be able to answer if you're going to like it or not. I will say that there's a reason that this anime and manga have been at the top for decades. The characters are extremely memorable and distinct. The world building is top notch. The plot has been meticulously woven to tell the story of a epic adventure that will bring multiple stories and mysteries together.

I've been watching anime for 3 decades, it's my favorite one.

Mitsuyan_2025-12-30 01:51

I'm late I'm late has anyone said it yet? No? Okay. [Watch the damn anime.](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/i1vl8l/a_rant_watch_the_damn_anime/)

grazi132025-12-30 02:28

Absolutely you should start it, but only watch One Pace. I would not recommend the regular show to anyone. One pace literally cuts the watch time by 40%. That's 400 episodes cut. Insane lol.

But yeah, as someone who was overwhelmed to start 2 years ago, once I got going I started absolutely loving it, and it's one of my favorite anime watching experiences. Just the ability to come home, and throw on a seemingly endless supply of a show I love, for a year straight, was magical.

Playest_42472025-12-30 02:31

Absolutely, if you are worried about the length just get to the end of Arlong Park. From there you will know if it's worth it for you.

AffectionateNeat57062025-12-30 03:10

Watch it. Go from Episode 1. It won’t feel like a pain to watch. The first 100 episodes are still really good. You get to see a lot of how the characters and the world are.

Don’t worry about watching all of the episodes. Just watch some of the episodes and see if you want to watch more.

LongjumpingShip36572025-12-30 03:49

If you want to experience One Piece read the manga the anime has horrible pacing with it literally not even adapting a full chapter an episode most of the time. For context the average anime adapts 2-3 chapters an episode.

The anime also doesn't adapt the canon cover stories for some reason.

Salty1452025-12-30 03:54

You tell me.

Only way to know is to try.

Derallerechtere2025-12-30 15:55

You already know the answer

bruh_thecatman2025-12-31 18:52

Do you want to? If you're just doing it because it's one of the 'standard shonen' shows, don't. You're much better off investing your time on other series that you're genuinely interested in.

I tried to get into it but it was a steeeeep catch-up (I only made it to the 100s) and burnt myself out and this was when there were only 800ish episodes out. Nowadays I just watch random clips from the anime for the recent fights. I don't have any context for them but they look cool.

Vanvez2025-12-31 19:15

No, I like shonen. I just wanted to see some opinions because when I just randomly see stuff about it, it has some mixed opinions, and even in this comment section, it's still a little mixed. I think I'm mostly just intimidated by the length

bruh_thecatman2025-12-31 19:36

I would say the length is the biggest barrier to entry for the series. If you have the stamina and patience for it, dive in. Otherwise, there are probably other shonen you could choose from. Naruto and Bleach ran alongside OP, until they ended, so those are good options too (lengthy, but not to the extent of OP).

Chainsaw Man, Dragon Ball (Z) are others I would recommend.

Vanvez2025-12-31 19:45

I've seen Bleach and Chainsaw man and enjoyed both.