Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is a fantastic adventure story, no matter how you experience it, but some versions are better than others. The story of the Straw Hats searching for the legendary treasure is always enjoyable, but many dedicated fans believe the manga offers a richer and more satisfying journey than the anime adaptation.
Toei Animation has significantly improved the quality of the One Piece anime in recent years, and they deserve recognition for it. However, the story is still more compelling in its original manga format, offering a better overall experience. While the manga doesn’t have the color and sound effects of the anime, its strengths more than compensate for those differences. Unlike some popular series like Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan, which gained massive popularity because of their anime adaptations, One Piece was already strong on its own.
One Piece’s Manga Doesn’t Stretch Out Its Scenes
This is a Problem Only an Anime Adaptation Could Have
Image via Toei Animation.
Even for dedicated fans, getting through the entire story of One Piece takes a significant amount of time. The anime version makes it even more challenging, and is known for its slow pace. Most anime adapt about 2-3 chapters of the manga per episode, like My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen. However, One Piece does things differently, resulting in an anime that feels unnecessarily long, even without considering any added filler content. The manga doesn’t suffer from this problem.
It’s frustrating for One Piece fans because the anime often drags out the story, stretching a single chapter of the manga into an entire episode. This creates a lot of episodes that don’t add much to the main plot, making it a long and tedious experience to watch only the canon material. This issue stems from Toei Animation’s decision to keep One Piece continuously airing, unlike many newer anime. While fans might have to wait for new episodes of shows like Demon Slayer or Jujutsu Kaisen, those episodes at least deliver a lot of content. Unlike most anime where fans can skip filler, One Piece viewers are stuck with the slow pacing.
One Piece’s Manga Has No Filler Content
Filler Can Be Fun, But it Also Hurts the Pacing
Image via Toei Animation. The One Piece anime includes some enjoyable filler episodes that many fans appreciate. Unlike filler in other anime, these episodes tend to fit reasonably well with the main story. While dedicated One Piece viewers might even enjoy these extra adventures, others may not be so enthusiastic. Ultimately, watching filler takes up more time that could be spent on other shows or reading the One Piece manga.
Unlike anime, manga rarely includes filler episodes or storylines. This is largely because manga publishers, especially for popular series in magazines like Shonen Jump, can’t risk losing readers with weak, non-essential content. Anime adaptations often add filler to avoid overtaking the manga’s storyline. This is particularly common with the popular “big three” shonen series – One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach – with Naruto being a prime example of a series with significant amounts of filler. Many fans prefer these series in manga format because the original artwork by creators like Masashi Kishimoto, Tite Kubo, and Eiichiro Oda deserves to be showcased without being overshadowed by filler content.
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One Piece’s Manga Doesn’t Suffer From Dated Animation Quality
The Anime Hasn’t Always Looked As Good as It Does Now
It’s understandable that older episodes of One Piece don’t look as good as the newer ones, considering the anime has been running since 1999. Toei Animation shouldn’t be criticized for this – the show has significantly improved its animation quality over the years, especially in recent arcs like Wano and Egghead Island. While the current animation is excellent, going back to watch the earlier East Blue Saga can feel a bit rough due to the difference in style.
The first episodes of this show weren’t in high definition or widescreen, and the animation was less detailed. Early episodes of popular anime like Naruto and Bleach had similar limitations, though it wasn’t as noticeable. When comparing the manga to the anime, the early chapters of the manga for these series might look a bit different, but not necessarily worse. The artists’ styles simply developed and improved over time – it’s a natural part of their artistic growth, not a sign of outdated production. In fact, it’s interesting to see how the art style of someone like Mr. Oda has changed and become more refined.
One Piece’s Manga is Further Ahead in the Story
Manga Readers Are Waist-Deep in the Epic of Elbaph
Image via Shonen Jump. Anime adaptations are a huge benefit not only for fans of manga like One Piece, but for manga and light novel readers overall. While anime can make series like One Piece, Demon Slayer, and Solo Leveling visually stunning and attract new audiences, manga readers still have a unique advantage. They can feel proud of being early supporters, and importantly, they get to experience the latest chapters before anyone else.
Fans who read the One Piece manga are currently experiencing more of the story than those who watch the anime. As of early 2026, manga readers are already deep into the exciting Elbaph arc, witnessing major battles with the God Knights and learning about the history of Loki and Rocks D. Xebec. While the anime is just beginning to hint at the Elbaph arc, with a likely April start, manga readers will still be significantly ahead. Ultimately, manga fans will discover the secrets of the One Piece treasure and see how the story ends long before anime viewers.
One Piece’s Manga Has Bonus Content Like SBS and Chapter Cover Pages
These Stories Are Fully Canon and Often Quite Interesting
Image via Toei Animation. For viewers primarily interested in the main storyline, the differences between the One Piece manga and anime aren’t significant. However, dedicated fans will likely prefer the manga because it includes extra content. The anime delivers the story in episodes and films, while the manga expands on it. It’s common for manga to offer additional details, like author’s notes, similar to the special touches found in volumes of Bleach.
The One Piece manga offers more than just the main story – it includes insightful commentary from the author, interviews with Eiichiro Oda, and the popular SBS section where he interacts with fans in a fun and unique way. Plus, each chapter features beautifully illustrated covers that tell their own side stories, almost like a separate manga within the series. These covers add extra layers to the One Piece world and often feature glimpses of characters from the past, like the villain Enel, hinting at future events.
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2026-02-06 05:05