One Piece is one of the longest-running anime out there. It never tried to conform its stories into seasons like many other shows, and instead decided to divide them by story arcs. This lets each segment of story take as long or as little it needs to add to the overall narrative.
They also vary wildly in length, with some arcs being longer than some anime's entire runtime. The longer arcs tend to be more important to the story, but not all of them are created equally. While all of these arcs have plenty of story to tell, they aren't always super memorable.
10 Thriller Bark (45 Episodes)
Thriller Bark was a crewmate introduction arc and brought the musician Brook into the Straw Hats. While this arc pitted the Straw Hats against a Warlord, it just felt a bit strange. The zombies and use of Moria's shadow ability were interesting, but overall felt a bit flat.
Moria was a powerful antagonist for this arc, but was shown afterward that this was his peak in the series. He was immediately outshone by just about every other enemy the Straw Hats face and is regarded as almost a joke. This makes the Straw Hats victory here feel a bit hollow and ultimately became a forgettable arc.
9 Skypiea (43 Episodes)
Skypiea was an arc that began to give viewers a deeper understanding of the world of One Piece. This was mostly due to Robin and her exploration of the ruins on Skypiea and her discovery of a poneglyph. While this arc had the traditional Straw Hats take down bad ruler trend, it just seemed to have very little impact.
The incredibly powerful antagonist was directly countered by Luffy, which took away a lot of satisfaction from Luffy's victory. While the region of Skypiea was an interesting idea, the storyline of rebels fighting a dictator felt stale and bland compared to the unique storylines from other arcs.
8 Fish-Man Island (52 Episodes)
Fishman Island was the first arc after the two-year time skip and led into a fascinating world under the sea. Unfortunately, the most interesting part of this arc was seeing just how much stronger the Straw Hats had gotten over the time skip. The villains never felt too threatening, and none of the Straw Hats were challenged during their individual fights.
The main important thing that came from this arc was the introduction to the Emperor, Big Mom. To be fair, there was really no other way to do the arc after the time skip. The Straw Hats needed to dominate their first challenge in order to prove just how far they've come since the viewers last saw them.
7 Punk Hazard (47 Episodes)
Punk Hazard was an arc that kickstarted a multi-arc story. This is where the Straw Hats discovered the illegal SMILE fruits, started an alliance with Trafalgar Law and met Kin'emon and Momonosuke.
This arc was full of new plots for the Straw Hats to continue on, as well as bringing back characters like Smoker and Law. The island was also very interesting, with a surprising source of the opposite landscapes. The only real downsides to this arc were the lack of challenge for the Straw Hats and the lack of significant emotional moments. Besides those, this was a very solid arc.
6 Water 7 (35 Episodes)
The Water 7 arc accomplished several very important things, despite being mostly a buildup arc. Franky was introduced in this arc, even though he wouldn't join the Straw Hats until the next arc. The Water 7 arc had several emotional moments, but there are two that made this arc interesting and engaging.
First was the fact that the Straw Hats ship the Going Merry was "dying" and would not be able to sail much longer. The other as a direct result was Usopp fighting Luffy and temporarily leaving the crew. This is one of the biggest sources of inner-crew conflict that the viewers have ever seen, so watching it unfold hit hard.
5 Alabasta (39 Episodes)
The Alabasta arc was the first long arc in the series and was one of the better ones. This was the first time Luffy had to fight a Warlord of the Sea and was thus his strongest enemy at that point. The viewers were also introduced to Luffy's brother, Ace. This meeting was incredibly important for the plot further into the series and also gave a solid insight into Luffy's past.
As far as crew members go, this arc also had two very interesting firsts for the Straw Hats. Nico Robin was the first member to voluntarily join after being a villain and did so by her own choice. Vivi was the first significant character that the Straw Hats helped that did not afterward join the crew. This arc was a pleasant beginning to long and interesting storylines in the future.
4 Wano (50+ Ongoing)
Wano is the current arc in One Piece and is gearing up to be one of the best. It appears to be culminating in the end of several story arcs, including the samurai that have been traveling with the Straw Hats, the end of the SMILE fruit, and the fall of an Emperor.
The Straw Hats are exploring new abilities, and the country of Wano is one of the most fleshed out and unique places the Straw Hats have visited. Unfortunately, this arc has not neared its end. Without the anime viewers being able to know how the arc plays out, it can't quite make it to the top of the list.
3 Whole Cake Island (95 Episodes)
The Whole Cake Island arc is one of the best for several reasons. With the Straw Hats split up, the story was able to really focus on those that went into Big Mom's territory, rather than try to follow the entire crew. This is also the first hostile interaction with an Emperor, and is a startling reminder to both Luffy and the viewers exactly just how strong they are.
Sanji's full backstory was revealed, and he was able to come to terms with his family and his relationship with them. Luffy also learned how to see into the future during this arc, and fought and defeated his first opponent with a bounty of over 1 billion berries. This arc had great action, emotion, and storytelling, but it just didn't quite stack up with the last two arcs on this list.
2 Enies Lobby (49 Episodes)
The Enies Lobby arc was an emotional and action-packed arc. Watching Nico Robin finally lower her emotional walls and ask Luffy for help hit just as hard as when Nami asked him for help in the Arlong Park arc. Each Straw Hat also faced off against a powerful enemy, letting each of them prove that they have what it takes to be a part of the crew.
This arc is also the first time that viewers got to see Luffy's new gears, which are physical boosts that show just how far he's willing to push himself to keep his crew safe. The Going Merry officially "died" at the end of this arc, but the Straw Hats set sail with Franky and a brand new ship to take on the world. Easily one of the best arcs of the whole series.
1 Dressrosa (118 Episodes)
Dressrosa is the longest arc so far and stands above all the rest. Being over 100 episodes, this arc had plenty of time to explore any character or subplot that it wanted to. Viewers met many new characters, including a new admiral, future members of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, and Luffy's other brother Sabo. This was a huge turning point for the Straw Hats, forcing them to grow even stronger to overcome their enemies.
Luffy showed off his fourth gear, Zoro had to rely heavily on Haki, and even Usopp unlocked observation Haki. The story was incredibly deep, with the Straw Hats liberating a country from years of oppression. This arc had so much going for it, and made sure that everything got ample screen time to make this arc as strong as it was meant to be.
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