Summary
Toei Animation’sanimated adaptation ofOne Pieceis infamous for beingone of the longest anime of all time, with more than 1100 episodes in total. This isn’t that surprising though, since the original manga byEiichiro Odahas been in serialization for over 27 years, so this is already an extensive story in and of itself.
As expected, an extremely long anime like this one has extremely long arcs, and some of them are even longer than other completed shows. This length was not just caused because the original manga was extensive, but also because of some of the decisions that were made by Toei. So whichOne Piecearc is the longest one so far?
Updated on Jun 20, 2025, by Julián Fernández Loyarte:New episodes of One Piece are still being released weekly, helping it maintain its reputation as one of the longest anime shows in the entire industry, so it’s only inevitable that a few ambitious arcs were left out of the original list. As a result, this update contains three new arcs: The Zou Arc, The Egghead Arc (which is already one of the longest arcs in the series despite currently being on air), and the Water 7 Arc. Furthermore, the Featured Image was also updated in order to better reflect these changes.
13Zou Arc
29 Episodes
The anime adaptation of theZou Arcpresents quite an interesting dichotomy: Most fans appreciate this arc because it’s relatively short, but it’s still among the longer storylines in the entire show, with a surprising 29 episodes in total. This reputation was caused, however, by the fact it takes place between two other massive arcs: Dressrosa and Whole Cake Island.
Without taking those other arcs into account, it’s easy to see why Zou Arc is so lengthy. After all,it formally introduced the Mink Tribe, their culture and their home island. Zou itself is a fascinating location with intriguing lore, and the immediate connections it has with the subsequent Wano Arc make it all the more memorable. On top of that, the anime included a few filler episodes, further extending the length of this arc.
30 Episodes
When theEgghead Arcbegan airing, most viewers might have believed that this was going to be a brief arc that would quickly set up a few things for the final saga ofOne Piece. To their surprise, however, this immediately became a surprisingly huge story with high stakes and a lot of important revelations,including the official introduction of Dr. Vegapunk himself.
If that wasn’t enough, the Egghead Arc also features epic encounters with CP0 and the Seraphim, and a fair share of updates on what other characters are doing in the rest of the world, like Cross Guild or SWORD. This ambitious story arc is already quite long, and the anime still has barely adapted half of its entire duration, so the final result is undoubtedly going to be even longer.
11Marineford Arc
33 Episodes
TheMarineford Arcisthe culmination of a lot of plot threads that have been building up since the start of the series. As a result, this is the arc that single-handedly changed everything aboutOne Piece’sworld, plot & characters.
However, while 33 episodes are quite extensive, most fans may find it to be way shorter than they initially believed, especially for an arc that features so many characters fighting against each other in a huge all-out war. This is because Marineford is just a small part of the story of theSummit War Saga, which was told across 5 different arcs.
10Water 7 Arc
35 Episodes
TheWater 7 Arcintroduced a lot of major plot beats that work together to create a gripping narrative. For starters, there’s the destruction of the Going Merry and the ensuing conflict between Luffy and Usopp, which is already quite emotional in and of itself.
However, that’s not even the only plot thread in the Water 7 Arc: There’s CP9, Nico Robin’s disappearance, references to her mysterious past, Franky, the Aqua Laguna, and much more. Therefore, it’s easy to understand why this arc ended up being so lengthy in the anime since it establishes many key elements that were later resolved during the Enies Lobby Arc.
9Arabasta Arc
39 Episodes
The moment that theStraw Hat Piratesentered the Grand Line, the seeds were planted for the inevitableArabasta Arc. This ended up being a really important event since it was the culmination of a fairly long saga and the first big arc in the entire series.
While Toei Animation added a few filler episodes with story content that was not in the manga, these not only extended the arc but also helped viewers become more acquainted withPortgas D. Ace. Regardless of that, the Arabasta Arc does feature a huge war with many different players, contributing to its length.This is a recurring trope that would later be reused for many future arcs.
8Skypiea Arc
43 Episodes
TheSkypiea Arcis quite interesting because of how different it is from other arcs inOne Piece. Aside from the brief setup that was seen in the extremely short Jaya Arc, the ruthless conflict of the sky islands takes place entirely within this one arc, from beginning to end.
This makes a lot of sense, though, since the plot of this arc is unique because it feels more like a fascinating adventure through a foreign land instead of the traditional shōnen battle arc. Not to mention that the main antagonist,Enel,is extremely powerful, so defeating him and his underlings takes a lot of time.
7Thriller Bark Arc
45 Episodes
This is yet another case of a long story that takes place almost entirely within a single arc that is not really connected to other arcs.Thriller Barkis infamous among some viewers for being positioned between the much more popular Enies Lobby and Sabaody arcs, but it slowly gained more fans over the years.
The Thriller Bark Arc is very long because it has an unexpected turn: What starts like just another story of the Straw Hat Pirates exploring an unknown island, ends up becoming a dangerous confrontation against one of the Shichibukai, which results in an amazing – albeit fairly extensive – final battle againstGecko Moria. Not to mention thatBartholomew Kumaalso appears at the very end.
6Enies Lobby Arc
46 Episodes
Nico Robinis going to be imprisoned by the World Government, and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates (and many of their allies) take off to the judicial island ofEnies Lobbyin order to rescue her. This is one of the most important plot points of the entire series, so it makes sense that it would be this long.
Every single Straw Hat gets an individual battle against the members ofCP9where they obtain a powerful new power-up, with the only exception beingUsopp. But even he gets a big moment where he shines. At the end of the day, the Enies Lobby Arc is this extensive, not just due to all of these fights, but also because of a few filler recap episodes that Toei Animation stuck right in the middle of it.
5Punk Hazard Arc
While Enies Lobby andPunk Hazardhave the same number of episodes, the latter has no filler in it, meaning that it’s technically the longer arc of the two. But this is something that won’t surprise the more seasonedOne Piecefans, as the post-timeskip era of the anime is notorious for having exceedingly slow pacing, which extends the length of the more recent arcs.
On top of that, Punk Hazard is not even supposed to be that long of an arc because it has the taskof introducing concepts and characters that will be resolved later, during the Dressrosa Arc. But it still has a good number of characters and battles, which increases its length anyway.
4Fish-Man Island Arc
51 Episodes
The slower pace of the post-timeskip era ofOne Piecewas initially felt by viewers during its very first big arc:Fish-Man Island. But the extensive length of this arc makes a tad more sense since this is where audiences get to see how strong the Straw Hat Pirates got after their 2 years of extensive training.
Fish-Man Island also introduced an entirely new location that fleshed outthe struggles of the fish-men and merfolk for the first time in the series. Not to mention, that it also features the tragic flashbacks of Fisher Tiger and Queen Otohime and the first mention ofJoy Boy. These are important plot points that make up most of this arc’s duration.
