One Piece stands as one of the best Shonen anime series of all time, but despite the cohesiveness of its narrative, the series isn’t one giant story arc. This franchise is almost like an anthology, taking Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat crew on various adventures all over their fictional world. As a result, One Piece‘s journey is often divided into sagas, each of which is broken up into shorter story arcs.
A One Piece story arc generally encompasses the overarching narrative that takes place on a single island (with a few notable exceptions). The One Piece anime has dozens of canonical story arcs, with the Egghead Island arc having just come out of hiatus. Although all One Piece arcs are enjoyable, some have proven their superiority thanks to fantastic world-building, incredible action sequences, intriguing plot development and unique, memorable moments.
Updated on May 16, 2025 by Harley Whisenhunt: One Piece may still be years away from its conclusion, but its final saga is finally in full swing thanks to the Elbaph Arc. As Monkey D. Luffy and his friends prepare for their biggest challenges yet, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the One Piece anime’s best arcs.
The Zou Arc Pushes the Straw Hats in a New Direction
Zunesha destroys Jack’s fleet and makes a large wave during the Zou Arc in One Piece.Image via Toei Animation
The New World is home to the Grand Line’s strongest and most notorious pirates, so it follows suit that the Straw Hat Pirates would encounter some of their toughest challenges in this part of the sea. However, even their wildest dreams couldn’t have prepared Luffy’s crew for the mystical island of Zou. Unlike other islands that the Straw Hat Pirates visit, Zou doesn’t technically reside on the Grand Line; instead, the location can be found on the back of the giant, ocean-traversing elephant.
Zunesha makes Zou one of the most unique locations in all of One Piece — a claim that is significantly bolstered by the fact that Zunesha and Joy Boy were familiar with each other. Altogether, Zou isn’t as interesting as the rest of the arcs in the New World, explaining its ranking at the bottom of this list. On an important note, however, this is when Sanji leaves the Straw Hats for Whole Cake Island.
The Fish-Man Island Arc Leads the Straw Hats to the New World
King Neptune, who is riding a whale, is inviting the Straw Hats to Ryugu Palace during One Piece’s Fish Man Island Arc.Image via Toei Animation
The most important turning point after the Straw Hats’ two-year hiatus wasn’t at Sabaody Archipelago, but the location they were most eager to get to next. Reaching the New World would have been impossible without going through Fish-Man Island, and the Straw Hats could also reunite with allies like Camie and former enemies like Hatchan. King Neptune and his royal family were the centerpiece of the Fish-Man Island Arc, eventually culminating in a devastating realization.
It turned out that the Mermaid Princess Shirahoshi was the incarnation of Poseidon, one of the Three Ancient Weapons from the Void Century. As Shirahoshi still hasn’t come into her powers, however, the Fish-Man Island Arc felt more like a prelude to something far more impressive. And yet, fans enjoyed the delightfully unique undersea world of One Piece. On the other hand, fans didn’t quite like the villain Hody Jones, who just seemed like a stronger Arlong.
The Loguetown Arc Showcases Luffy’s Determination
Monkey D. Dragon rescues Luffy from Captain Smoker In Loguetown in One Piece.Image via Toei Animation
With Loguetown being the birthplace of Gol D. Roger, not to mention the first location revealed during the Pirate King’s execution in Episode 1, it was only natural that the Straw Hats would make their way there. Luffy is nearly executed by Buggy on the same platform, only for a mysterious bolt of lightning to save him. Not one to count his fortunes, Luffy later engaged with Captain Smoker, whose Smoke-Smoke Fruit was enough to capture the fledgling Rubber Man.
However, an unknown man arrived with a gust of wind, the same fan that fans believe was responsible for the lightning. He saved Luffy from Smoker, and the reveal that it was Luffy’s father, Monkey D. Dragon, came much later. Zoro’s side venture ended with him finding two more swords, whereas Usopp and Sanji had their own battles to deal with, but Dragon’s presence is arguably the peak of the Loguetown Arc. Both Dragon and Smoker continued to appear throughout the series, even more so now in the Final Saga.
The Punk Hazard Arc Has Events with Far-Reaching Impacts
Trafalgar D. Water Law using the power of his Ope Ope no Mi Devil Fruit to levitate Smoker’s ship in Punk HazardImage via Toei Animation
During the Punk Hazard Arc, the Straw Hats encounter an island with a unique climate – half the island is filled with incredible heat and lava while the other half is full of freezing snow due to a battle that took place between Admiral Aikanu and Admiral Aokiji. While exploring the island, Monkey D. Luffy, Usopp, Nico Robin, and Roronoa Zoro come across what is eventually revealed to be Kin’emon’s legs.
CBR Exclusive · One Piece Quiz WHICH ONE PIECE LEGEND ARE YOU? Set sail — Quiz sequence initiated ⚓ The Grand Line stretches endlessly before you. Across its treacherous waters, legends are born — forged in Devil Fruit power, unbreakable will, and the fierce loyalty of a crew that would sail into any storm. Twenty questions. One legendary result. Your adventure begins now. 🌊
🍖Luffy
⚔️Zoro
🗺️Nami
📖Robin
🍳Sanji
01
The Going Merry is ready to leave port. What’s your first move? 🚢 How you set sail says everything about who you are at sea.
02
A Marine warship is blocking your route. You: 🏴☠️ Crisis response reveals your true pirate nature.
03
You find a Devil Fruit on the table. What do you hope it is? 🍈 The fruit you crave is the power you were always meant to have.
04
What is your one, unshakeable dream? 🌟 Every great pirate sails for something deeper than treasure.
05
The Thousand Sunny docks at a new island. First stop? 🏝️ What you do first in port reveals your deepest priorities.
06
Your greatest weapon aboard the ship? ✨ Every Straw Hat has one thing that makes them irreplaceable.
07
What’s your natural role when things get tense? 🪝 The pressure moment is where your true function reveals itself.
08
Honest confession — what is actually your biggest flaw? 😬 Even the greatest pirates have one thing they’re still working on.
09
A crewmate is in serious danger. You: 💪 How you protect the people you sail with is who you truly are.
10
Halfway across the Grand Line. What keeps you going? 🌟 Not the crew’s reason. Yours. The private one.
11
You lost the fight. The crew is watching. Now what? 😳 How you rise after falling is what separates legends from passengers.
12
Your bounty poster just went up. What’s on it? 💰 The World Government describes you the way your enemies see you.
13
Free day on a peaceful island. What actually happens? 🌴 How you rest is a window into what drives you when no one’s watching.
14
What does your crew actually say about you behind your back? 📋 The people who sail with you see the version you can’t.
15
Which Haki do you feel most aligned with? 🔮 The Haki you master reflects the deepest truth of who you are.
16
What does it truly mean to you to be a pirate? 🌊 Not Garp’s definition. Not the Marines’. Yours.
17
In a hundred years, what will they say about you? 🎬 The Void Century has room for one more name. What does yours mean?
18
A Warlord of the Sea is blocking the path forward. You: 👀 Warlords don’t intimidate legends. They reveal them.
19
The crew celebrates a big victory. Your contribution? 🎉 How you celebrate says as much as how you fight.
20
You reach Laugh Tale. The One Piece is real. What do you do? 🔥 Twenty questions. One truth. No turning back now.
⚓ The Grand Line has made its judgement ⚓ YOUR ONE PIECE LEGEND
Your scores are revealed below! The character with the highest number is your One Piece counterpart. Read their profile to discover your true pirate destiny. 🌊
🍖 Luffy
⚔️ Zoro
🗺️ Nami
📖 Robin
🍳 Sanji
You don’t understand the word impossible — not because you’re naive, but because you genuinely never accepted that it applied to you. You charge into every situation with the full force of your personality, your body, and your heart, and somehow the universe rearranges itself to accommodate you. You don’t lead through command; you lead through being so completely, recklessly yourself that everyone around you becomes a better version of who they were. You eat too much, feel too loudly, and care too deeply. The world calls it recklessness. Your crew calls it home. 🍖
You have made exactly one promise and you have organised your entire existence around keeping it. Stoic to a fault, terrifying in combat, and somehow always facing the wrong direction — you are the immovable foundation that the whole crew leans against when everything else shakes. You don’t ask for recognition. You don’t need it. The work is its own reward. The sword is the path and the path is the sword. You will lose a thousand times before you reach the top, and you will get back up every single time. That is not stubbornness. That is who you are. ⚔️
You are sharper than anyone in the room and you know it — but you also know exactly when not to show it. Pragmatic, resourceful, and carrying more than you ever show on your face, you are the reason the ship reaches anywhere at all. Every route was planned by you. Every impossible weather reading, every near-catastrophe avoided — that was you. The world tried to take everything from you once, and you built something extraordinary out of the wreckage. You love the people you’ve chosen fiercely, quietly, and without much ceremony. The map isn’t finished. You’ll get there. 🗺️
You spent so long being hunted for what you know that you forgot — briefly, painfully — that you were also worth loving for who you are. You carry the weight of erased history in your memory and the quiet certainty of someone who has survived what should have been unsurvivable. Calm where others panic, perceptive where others miss everything, and in possession of a dark humour that still catches people off guard. You don’t trust easily, and when you do, it is the most complete and devastating loyalty imaginable. You want to know the truth. You deserve to live to read it. 📖
You have principles carved so deep they function like a skeleton — invisible, structural, and the thing holding everything else upright. You cook for people because food is love expressed at its most honest. You fight for the crew because protecting them is the most natural thing in the world. You are elegant, occasionally absurd, capable of extraordinary tenderness and absolutely terrifying combat in the same five-minute span. You came from darkness and chose light so deliberately and so completely that it became your defining act. The sea called and you answered. All Blue is out there. You’ll find it. 🍳
Finding Kin’emon, and eventually Trafalgar D. Water Law, leads to the eventual alliance between Law and the Straw Hat Pirates. This, in combination with their kidnapping of Caesar Clown, disrupts not only Donquixote Doflamingo’s operations but also that of King of the Beasts Kaido. Thus, the Punk Hazard Arc triggers a series of events that results in the Straw Hats and their allies taking down a Warlord and two Emperors.
The Syrup Village Arc Brings Sogeking Usopp into the Crew
Merry stands in front of the Going Merry in One Piece’s Syrup Village ArcImage via Toei Animation
Usopp might be the biggest coward in the Straw Hats, even when taking Nami and Chopper’s timidity into account. But there’s no doubt that he was always meant to be part of the crew that would find the One Piece. Nami, Zoro, and Luffy arrive at the titular Syrup Village in the East Blue Saga, where they meet Usopp for the first time. Despite exhibiting his cowardice right off the bat, Usopp impresses Luffy enough to receive an invitation.
Usopp’s backstory also links him to his father Yasopp, a member of Shanks’ crew. And now that the Straw Hats are on the same course as the Red Hair Pirates, especially with their recent entry to Elbaph, fans are hoping for a reunion that’s been postponed for years. The villainous Kuro isn’t really as troublesome as later antagonists, but Usopp’s determination to save his beloved Kaya rubs off on the Straw Hats. Most importantly, however, the Syrup Village arc is where they find their first ship: the Going Merry.
The Elbaph Arc Is Quickly Becoming One of the Anime’s Best Arcs
The One Piece anime’s current arc — the Elbaph Arc — is still early in its story, but in only a handful of episodes, the Straw Hat Pirates’ adventures in the Land of Giants have set a new bar for the series’ production value. With Toei Animation officially switching to a seasonal release format for One Piece in 2026, all eyes have been on the anime adaptation’s increased production value, which has already spawned several breathtaking scenes despite there being relatively little action in the Elbaph Arc’s opening salvo.
While the Elbaph Arc is just getting started in the anime, it’s shaping up to be the most significant arc in all of One Piece. When it’s all said and done, there’s no telling how intense the conflict in the Land of Giants will be — or who it will include.
Baratie Introduces a New Member of the Straw Hat Pirates
Sanji smokes a cigarette during One Piece’s Baratie Arc.Image via Toei Animation
When Monkey D. Luffy and his crew begin their journey in the East Blue, they quickly realize their ship won’t be able to function without one important role: a cook. This ultimately leads them to the Baratie, a floating restaurant that is home to Sanji, Chef Zeff, and several other hot-tempered cooks from the East Blue. Watching Luffy convince Sanji to join the Straw Hats will always be a memorable One Piece moment, eclipsed only by Sanji’s heartbreaking farewell to the Baratie.
Although the Baratie Arc is early in One Piece‘s narrative, it lays the groundwork for several key relationships — Sanji and Zeff, Zoro and Mihawk, and Nami and Arlong, to name a few — that play a major role in later arcs. This, coupled with the dramatic action that takes place while the Straw Hat Pirates are at the restaurant, easily qualifies the Baratie Arc as one of the best sections of the East Blue Saga. In terms of the overall narrative, however, the Baratie Arc can only go as high as #20 on this list.
The Return to Sabaody Arc Reunited Luffy’s Crew in a New Era
The Straw Hats celebrate their reunion on the Thousand Sunny during One Piece’s Return to Sabaody Arc.Image via Toei Animation
Timeskips are utilized in a variety of anime series, but arguably no franchise has handled this concept better than One Piece. The two-year timeskip that follows the death of Portgas D. Ace completely changes the landscape of the series, opening the door for the highly-anticipated reunion of the Straw Hat Pirates in Sabaody Archipelago.
Watching the Straw Hat Pirates make their way back to the last location they were together is almost therapeutic, and it signals that each member of Luffy’s crew is ready for the challenges of the New World. Overall, the Return to Sabaody Arc may be brief, but it’s one of the most impactful and carefully-handled sections of the entire series. From this point on, the vastly stronger Straw Hats would be spending all of their time in the New World.
The Romance Dawn Arc Sets the Tone for the Whole Series
The East Blue saga (and therefore the entire One Piece narrative) begins with the short yet exciting Romance Dawn Arc. This arc is simple and much more lighthearted than what comes later in the series, but it also has a thrilling sense of endless possibilities, since Luffy could go absolutely anywhere from here.
In the Romance Dawn Arc, the Gum-Gum Fruit is introduced, Roronoa Zoro makes his memorable debut, and Luffy motivates a young Koby to pursue his own dreams. Romance Dawn is simple, hence its low rank among the best One Piece arcs, but it still sets the tone for the franchise well. It’s a great warmup for what is to come while establishing many series staples, from Luffy’s effort to recruit new crew members to Luffy’s habit of exploring islands and defeating numerous enemy bosses.
The Drum Island Arc Reflects the Tyranny of Oppressive Regimes
Hiriluk’s flag waves in the wind during One Piece’s Drum Island arc.Image via Toei Animation
Nami’s unexpected sickness prompts the Straw Hats to find a doctor, which takes them to Drum Island. The tyrannical Wapol’s regime showcases how the cruelty of rulers cause the suffering of citizens, a microcosm of the bigger problem that is the World Government. Kureha, an accomplished doctor, takes Nami under her care. This is when Chopper comes into the picture as Kureha’s medical student, who grudgingly develops a bond with the Straw Hats.
Chopper had always been cautious around strange humans, as they tended to abuse or attack him. And yet, Luffy dismissed Chopper’s hesitation and proudly claimed that he would become the Straw Hats’ official doctor. The Drum Island Arc demonstrates one of Luffy’s most notable traits: his ability to make allies out of nearly anyone. This is the same feature that Dracule Mihawk would later highlight as the reason for Luffy being the most dangerous man in the world.
