Board 8 > Is starting the One Piece anime worth it?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I know its absolutely massive and still not over. So Im looking at a giant commitment. I know nothing about the show besides the main characters name.

Is there still some good moments of payoff so far?

Has it gotten stale at all?
---

I would say no, but I really hate the art style
---

the pacing falls apart after a certain point (it might have recovered since then but I don't know.) anyway, I say yes even if you don't fully catch up, there are tons of great parts.
---

what I did was start with the manga and around halfway (I think somewhere around chap. 400) I picked up the anime at episode 260. the manga is a lot easier to go through and you will find out if you actually enjoy One Piece or not.
---

Anime is good for a good while until just after an arc checked Ennies Lobby. After that the budget couldn't handle the switch to HD and the pacing drops to 1 chapter an episode or less. That's when to switch to the manga.
---

LapisLazuli posted...

Anime is good for a good while until just after an arc checked Ennies Lobby. After that the budget couldn't handle the switch to HD and the pacing drops to 1 chapter an episode or less. That's when to switch to the manga.

This is about right. Once the pacing dies it's just not an enjoyable anime anymore.

But before that, it's an epic.
---

no

I would say its worth it for the amount of content you get
---

No. NOOOOOOOO!
---

Also, Enies Lobby is the pinnacle of the show. Really fucking good.
---

After a while you want to switch to the manga. Or start with the manga already.

It's pretty good though. There is no better shounen than it, hands down.

youd love it but its a huge commitment and the pacing is trash after episode like 300 so
---

Yeah, the anime starts great, but it started to catch up to the manga and then the pacing went to hell. Either go with the manga until the end of Enies Lobby and switch to the manga or just go full manga, I say.
---

So after Enies Lobby, I should switch to Manga?

Also, dub or sub?
---

I don't even remember what my life is like pre-One Piece

probably full of sadness
---

INCEPTlON posted...

So after Enies Lobby, I should switch to Manga?

Also, dub or sub?

Yeah. Watch until episode 325. Then manga.

I prefer subs, but if you like dubs, make sure you stay away from the 4Kids one. There is a second one that is better, I think.

I mean, you can try watching the anime if you want, but eventually you'll get bored with the terrible pacing. For me Marineford arc (in the 400s) was when it became unbearable.

I get why the pacing is too much for people, but it's never bothered me and is still the most enjoyable thing I watch every week. Plus I'd rather have what they do than months/years of filler like Bleach and Naruto did.

its roughest patch was the timeskip until the end of dressrosa, but it's been really good ever since Zou. They brought back a bunch of people that worked on the anime back in the older days.
---

Problem is that the Japanese have a problem with the concept of seasons. They believe they are obligated to add a new episode every week until the show is cancelled.

Anime are always faster than manga. So anime based on manga always catch on them and run out of material.

Until 2007 or so, the default solution for that was filler. You make up non-canon stories over and over until the manga gets far enough, then you do an arc, then go back to filler, rinse and repeat.

The Naruto's 1,5 year filler hell happened and I think they realized that had to stop.

Then they started doing in-episode filler. You add a bunch of filler scenes in the middle of the canon and keep showing every character reacting to everything that happens, in order to inflate the content and make the anime-manga ratio 1 chapter/episode.

That's what OP started doing, and never stopped. And it's terrible. Marineford had the same two jokes repeated every single episode.

A few years ago the Japanese started to realize seasons are a thing and you can stop airing new episodes every 6 months, so some new anime do that, like Hero Academia and Attack on Titan. Took too long, though.

INCEPTlON posted...

So after Enies Lobby, I should switch to Manga?

Also, dub or sub?

Yes.

Whatever your preference normally is. Dub is fine even if I personally prefer some of the sub voices more (especially crocodile).

I still love watching it and my wife just started this summer. Got through over 400 episodes before needing to take a break.
---

I'd also look up where the filler arcs and movie tie in eps are so you can skip them.
---

Maniac64 posted...

I'd also look up where the filler arcs and movie tie in eps are so you can skip them.

Most of OP's early filler episodes aren't that bad tbh.

INCEPTlON posted...

So after Enies Lobby, I should switch to Manga?

Also, dub or sub?

This is what I did. Personally I went sub.

Maniac64 posted...

I'd also look up where the filler arcs and movie tie in eps are so you can skip them.

This is definitely worth doing too.
---

The boss Luffy stuff was rad and that's basically what the wano arc now is
---

One of my friends still watches the anime along with me every week but he also refuses to read the Manga because he considers them anime spoilers and I've had fun just seen his reactions to things as they happen the first time
---

OP filler is generally skippable, though the one right after Skypeia is real good. It lasts a few episodes like a mini arc, I forget the name.
---

G8
---

Also after G8 there is the Davy Back Fight arc which is canon mixed with filler.

Then another filler arc.

And then a 2 episode arc, followed by a big saga (water 7)

If this sounds too complicated it's because you should probably just watch everything between skypiea and W7. It's easier that way.

One Piece filler is pretty good by filler standards.
---

ZeldaTPLink posted...

Maniac64 posted...

I'd also look up where the filler arcs and movie tie in eps are so you can skip them.

Most of OP's early filler episodes aren't that bad tbh.

Battleship island and rainbow mist are better off skipped at the very least. And that one about stolen memories.

Though you do get a half filler half cannon episode to end battleship which is kind of annoying.
---

Definitely worth it the first 250 episodes or so have tons of great moments
---

swirIdude posted...

One Piece filler is pretty good by filler standards.

True. But there are so many episodes that being able to skip a few dozen is nice.
---

Worth it, and go sub
---

Give it a shot to see if you like it and then switch to the manga when it gets the worst pacing of any anime ever

Oh and don't skip the two Coby training episodes. It might seem like filler, but it's canon.
---

Just see everything up to 325 really. The fillers aren't that bad to be worth all that micro-managing.

Technically the pacing issues start DURING Enies Lobby, but that arc is so good that nobody cares.
---

Maniac64 posted...

ZeldaTPLink posted...

Maniac64 posted...

I'd also look up where the filler arcs and movie tie in eps are so you can skip them.

Most of OP's early filler episodes aren't that bad tbh.

Battleship island and rainbow mist are better off skipped at the very least. And that one about stolen memories.

Though you do get a half filler half cannon episode to end battleship which is kind of annoying.

The first two episodes of the Battleship Arc are also canon because they explain the Calm Belt and why ships have to go up Reverse Mountain.

Absolutely watch One Piece. It's such a highlight really, it's just pure fun. As people have said, once you're past Enies Lobby, read the manga or check out One Pace (a fan-made Dragonball Kai-esque cut of One Piece).
---

Echoing the folks who say watch up until Enies Lobby and then switch to the manga. The pacing problems are IMMEDIATELY apparent and really hurt, plus the general quality of the animation goes to absolute shit not long after. (Still baffles me how the #1 manga of all time, an absolute living legend of the genre, has an anime that now feels like it's being shoved off to the interns. Like for how venomous people in Japan get over quality issues like this I'm surprised there haven't been riots in the streets to get One Piece away from Toei.)
---

What could they do about it? They havent ever put the show on a break so its either horribly slow pacing or massive filler and its probably easier/cheaper to do the former. There are usually 45~ chapters a year or so with the average chapter not even having enough content for an episode unless you give it terrible pacing or pad the shit out of it. They arent just gonna stop airing it for 6-12 months for there to be enough new material for like 12 episodes. This sorta thing is what happens to a lot of long running shounen series though these days thankfully a lot arent following this ancient formula

I'm still shocked they don't make all the cover arcs into episodes.
---

I'm still on the timeskip (dubbed) and I'm still ok with the pacing to be honest lol
---

then again after all the cool music, voice acting, animated action and all that shit that goes on at the same time I think it's crazy people can switch from teh anime to the manga mid way through and get the same enjoyment

I certainly can't do it for a series like this. Action shows need that stuff for me.
---

I wouldn't say I get the same enjoyment. Definitely prefer watching the anime and looking forward to doing so with my wife as she continues on.

But the pacing and wanting to know what happens next when the manga is a good bit ahead made me switch. And man is it easier to catch up reading it instead of watching it.
---

swordz9 posted...

What could they do about it? They havent ever put the show on a break so its either horribly slow pacing or massive filler and its probably easier/cheaper to do the former.

Putting it on break would be the ideal solution!

Back in the days when One Piece started, Japan was still in a mode where if you ever stopped airing your show for even a week you likely wouldn't get your time slot back... but that mode of thinking is an absolute relic now that anime has moved to fully embrace a seasonal format. Just look at modern shonen like MHA and how much their production value skyrockets just from being able to take half a year or so to refill their coffers and actually put effort in to the production. Seeing how much the new model has improved every other modern anime, I don't know why One Piece is so firmly stuck in this outmoded approach.
---

On the flip side while I think the seasonal format is fine I sometimes found myself forgetting everything that's happened when they take too long in between Seasons like Attack on Titan did
---

Breaks would help the quality, but OP would need a lot of them because it could easily last another ten years or more.

For a great case of an anime that switched over from the old style to the seasonal approach, look no further than Gintama! It's just about to end after having a lengthy initial run and then coming back six times, lol.
---

NowItsAngeTime posted...

then again after all the cool music, voice acting, animated action and all that shit that goes on at the same time I think it's crazy people can switch from teh anime to the manga mid way through and get the same enjoyment

I certainly can't do it for a series like this. Action shows need that stuff for me.

I would honestly say you get a better feel of movement and life from the art of the manga than from the actual animated series nowadays. That's just Oda's raw talent.
---

A well drawn manga vs a budget anime, I wonder.
---