Every 'One Piece' Filler Episode That Can Be Skipped Without Missing the Story

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is a manga series that has stood the test of time, first published in 1997, then adapted into an anime in 1999, and most recently into a live-action adaptation, which is about to release its second season. Standing tall as one of the best-selling comic books of all time and one of the most popular and enduring anime series, getting into One Piece can feel overwhelming to any newcomer, especially with the anime. 25 years’ worth of episodes can seem like a lot. At the time of this writing, there are 1,145 episodes of One Piece, covering over 100 volumes of manga, and it is still ongoing.

Luckily, the series includes “filler” episodes, which can make the total episode count feel more manageable. The production schedules of anime series sometimes require the adaptation to create their own original content, especially if the manga they are adapting is still ongoing and the studio doesn’t have chapters to use as story material. This has happened several times with Toei Animation’s work on One Piece throughout the years. Below is a compiled list of the various filler arcs that aren’t in Oda’s original story and are thus optional. While these arcs don’t impact the larger, complex plot of One Piece, they can still make for entertaining viewing.

‘One Piece’ Filler Episode Guide

Toonami

To keep things simple, we’ve compiled a list of every filler episode in the table below. This spans over 25 arcs, beginning with the Warship Island Arc all the way to Uta’s Past Arc. Even if these arcs don’t alter the main plot, skipping them means missing some enjoyable episodes. If you haven’t read the manga, you likely won’t realize these episodes were deemed “filler” in the first place, though they ultimately can be skipped.

It’s also worth noting that there are feature films set in the One Piece universe, though they aren’t necessarily canon to either the anime or the manga. There are a couple of exceptions to the rule, such as One Piece Strong World, a film that introduced a new character created by Eiichiro Oda, who has since also appeared in the manga. Another example of this is One Piece Film Red, which features the character Uta, who was also designed and created by Oda, making it worth a watch.

There are also remakes of arcs from the manga, adapted into several movies, and one entire season that remakes the “Fish-man Island” arc, which originally aired in 2011. Consisting of 57 episodes, the arc was remastered in late 2024 with new animations and tighter pacing, scaling the story back to 21 episodes and keeping it more in line with the Manga’s pacing, making it a more enjoyable experience.

The Pacing in ‘One Piece’ and Alternatives

Toonami

Because pacing is a frequent topic in One Piece, an optional viewing method called One Pace exists. This is a fan project that recuts the original anime, frequently removing filler scenes to quicken the series’ pace, which can be found here. Fortunately, this includes everything that’s in the manga, with some additional anime scenes as well. A One Pace guide on Reddit notes the project removes roughly 140 hours from the original anime, not including the time saved by skipping filler episodes. Of course, this viewing method is entirely optional, and you can choose to watch the standard anime and skip the filler using the guide above.

While the overall episode count excluding filler is still hefty, removing these arcs helps the overall story flow better. This is especially true of certain episodes that interrupt the middle of important and manga canon arcs. Still, filler episodes also have their merits: most feature the entertaining dynamics of the Straw Hat crew that make the series so great to begin with, and could also be a refreshing change of pace for those who have only read the manga. However you decide to approach viewing One Piece, the episode filler guide should help trim the count or keep you aware of what’s to come in the massively popular anime. One Piece is streaming on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Netflix.

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

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  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

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  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)