When Does ‘One Piece’ Get Good? What Episode Should You Start With?

One Piece is slowly moving forward with the anime, which is set to catch up to the manga relatively soon. The manga has provided us with some major upheavals in the recent chapters, some of which have not only rocked the foundations of the storyline so far but they have also provided us with some new epic scenes that we cannot wait to see in the anime. But is it worth it? Is One Piece that good that you should stick around for more than 1,000 episodes? In this article, we are going to tell you when One Piece gets good and which episode you should start with.

In the case of One Piece, viewers will have an easy task. Namely, One Piece is, like all of the “Big Three” shonen series, good from the very beginning. It does have a lot of episodes, but you don’t really have to wait for some later episode to start watching it because the very first episode is already quite good. So, if you want to start watching One Piece, definitely start from the very beginning and simply continue.

In the paragraphs that follow, we are going to elaborate on this answer and give you some additional information on the show’s content. You’re going to find out whether One Piece is good from the very beginning and why you should watch it from the start, but also what it is about. This is going to be your ultimate newbie guide to One Piece.

When does One Piece get good, and which episode should you start with?

One Piece was created by Eiichiro Oda as a manga, whose anime series debuted on October 20, 1999, roughly two years after the manga. Today, with more than 1,000 episodes, One Piece is one of the most lucrative and longest-running anime series, spanning the main anime series, several movies, video games, and various other merchandise. It can be said that One Piece is one of the most popular and most important anime series in history, along with Bleach and Naruto, who – together with Oda’s work – make up the “Big Three.” And while most One Piece fans have been there from the start, there might be those that have missed the 1999 premiere and would like to jump in now but seeing how the show has more than 1,000 episodes. They are confused as to when and how. That is why we are going to help you.

One Piece is a very composite narrative unit, and Oda is such a narrator that he demands focus from the public. There are numerous situations from episode X00 that take us back to episode X0, and we say: “Oh, wait… ha! So this is it!” There are numerous examples of such solved mysteries, as well as numerous examples of still unsolved mysteries, which is why watching One Piece actually requires a lot of dedication.

The adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates are numerous and diverse. They fought fish-people, regular pirates, giants, animals, monsters, hybrids, assassins, Vikings, … whatever comes to mind. Oda probably included it in one way or the other. This means that from the very start, you will have a very thrilling ride in One Piece, and if you like pirates and their adventures, One Piece is a series that delivers from the very start. Namely, from the very first episode, you see and know everything – you meet Luffy and find out about his endeavor to become the Pirate King by finding the One Piece treasure, you find out that he is collecting a crew, that there are rogue pirates and the Marines, a lot of humor, and a very specific animation style that illustrates the quirkiness of Oda’s narrative.

One Piece doesn’t really hide much, and from the very beginning, you know what you’re going to get. Okay, you cannot predict the plot and all the twists that Oda has blessed us with over the years, but the general idea of the series is something that is quite clear from the very beginning. This is why, if you like such a style, we can confirm that One Piece is good from the very beginning and that it only gets better with each episode. There is no one point where you can say – “oh, here is when it gets good,” – because it is good from the start.

Following up on that, we can also give you the second answer – you can start watching One Piece from the very first episode. One Piece is a story that grabs you from the very start, and once you’re in that quirky world, you’re not likely to get out. A story that is still active after more than 20 years and has more than 1,000 episodes has to be great; otherwise – it would not have survived for so long. One Piece is a unique work, and we can only confirm that it is truly great and that you can watch it from the very first episode, hoping that you will have the stamina and the willpower to stick with it until the very end.

What is One Piece about?

Now that you know when you should start watching the series and why we can give you a relatively spoiler-free introduction to the series so that you know what you can expect. And don’t forget, it only gets better from here.

The young pirate Monkey D. Luffy, who has eaten from a so-called devil fruit, the gum-gum fruit, and can therefore stretch his entire body like rubber, leaves the windmill village in Eastblue at the age of 17. Like countless other pirates, he sets out to find the legendary One Piece treasure left by Gol D. Roger in order to fulfill the promise he made to his great role model, Shanks: to become the Pirate King.

First, he meets the young Corby, who decides to pursue a career in the Navy and later vows to capture Luffy one day. In the aftermath, Luffy wins the first members of his straw hat gang with the swordsman and former pirate hunter Lorenor Zoro and the thieving navigator Nami. The three make an enemy of Buggy, the pirate clown, who stays on their heels later.

Usopp, the son of Yasopp, a member of Shanks’ pirate gang, joins the group, and the Straw Hat gang are given their first full-fledged ship, the Flying Lamb, by Usopp’s friend Kaya. Luffy is then able to enlist the support of Sanji, who becomes the ship’s Smutje. The Straw Hat Gang travel to Nami’s home island of Konomi, who is being bullied by a group of fish people, the Arlong Gang. Because Nami has been forced to work for Arlong, the killer of her adoptive mother Bellemere, for years, the Straw Hat gang attacks his Arlong Park base and eventually defeats him.

As a result, the Navy put a 30-million Berry bounty on Luffy’s head. Before the Straw Hat gang makes their way across the Rivers Mountain onto the Grandline, the gang makes a stop at Loguetown, the site of the birth and execution of the pirate king, Gold Roger. There, the naval captain Smoker, who is able to turn into smoke thanks to a devil fruit, almost succeeds in defeating Luffy. Without knowing it, however, he is saved by his father, Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army and the most wanted man in the whole world.

Once on the Grand Line, the Straw Hats rescue the giant whale La Boum from whalers from nearby Whiskey Peak Island and meet up with Krokus, who explains to the Straw Hat gang the importance of the log ports in navigating the Grand Line. The Straw Hats then arrive at Whiskey Peak and are apparently greeted warmly.

However, Zoro realizes that almost all of the residents are bounty hunters from the Baroque Company out for Luffy’s bounty and defeats them single-handedly. Nami promises the Princess of Alabasta, Nefeltari Vivi, to help her fight against the Baroque Works’ conquest of her country. En route to Alabasta, Vivi and the Straw Hats end up on the winter island of Drumm, where they are joined by Tony Chopper, who becomes the Straw Hat gang’s ship’s doctor.

When they finally arrive in the desert kingdom of Alabasta, they find themselves caught up in a rebel uprising. Deceived by the intrigues of the Baroque Works, the rebels believe that the king’s use of banned chemicals is to blame for the drought that has been raging there for years.

The real culprit, however, is Sir Crocodile, the current leader of the Baroque Works syndicate and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, who lets himself be hailed as a hero of the people. Luffy can only defeat him after a chase across the country. Sir Crocodile’s plans to find and use the powerful ancient weapon Pluton are foiled. He is captured by the world government and loses his position as samurai of the seas. When it starts raining again in Alabasta, the rebellion is over…

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