Summary
One Pieceis a story that’s been coming together for decades. To keep the anime from outpacing the manga, and also making room for interesting “what if?” scenarios, filler arcs are relatively plentiful inOne Piece’sanimated adaptation. These filler arcs range from simple episodic adventures to content that adds context to the anime’s many movies.
What makesOne Piecespecial among anime is its massive overarching story that progresses slowly but surely, as its main character, Luffy, grows. Luffy’s relationships with himself and his crew are what hold the plot together, so they should work in filler arcs that don’t add to the overall story as well, and according to IMDb, they often do. Which is thebestOne Piecefiller arc?
Updated Jul 03, 2025 by Mark Sammut:For the most part,One Piece filler arcsseem to be a thing of the past. Nowadays, the anime prefers to slow things down to avoid catching up to the manga, a decision that can be fairly divisive. Each filler arc’s rating has been updated, and summary have also been added.
An Overview Of One Piece Filler Content
With roughly a thousand episodes (and counting) to sit through,One Piece’s sheer size makes the anime a daunting task for people to take on.Eiichiro Oda’s manga is a true epic; a series that spans decades and tells a grand tale of ambition, adventure, and resilience. Through the Straw Hats' travels, they experience plenty of highs and lows; tears are shed and laughs are had.
Since there is so much canon content to go through, the filler arcs can feel like they just add to the bloat without contributing enough to justify their existence. Consequently, newcomers to the series might prefer to just skip over the filler material altogether. In order to make that process easier, here is a breakdown of all the filler arcs in the anime along with their respective episodes. Recaps and the Boss Luffy Historical Special episodes will also be included.
IndividualOne Piecefillerepisodes have not been included in the table. However, the following episodes are pure filler and don’t incorporate canon material: 98, 99, 102, 336, 492, 542, 590, and 907 (which will be released on August 03, 2025).
54-61¹
131-135
136-138
139-143
196-206
220-224
225-226
279-283
291-292; 303
317-319²
326-335
382-384
406-407
426-429
457-458
575-578
626-628
747-750
780-782
895-896
1029-1030
¹ Final episode transitions into canon content.
² Final episode is based on manga panels, albeit stretched out in the anime.
Click on the above filler arc to jump directly to its entry.
18Boss Luffy Historical Specials – 5.7
Jarring Distractions
The Boss Luffy Historical Specials are a unique type ofOne Piecefillersince they don’t even pretend to be canon. Debuting in the 2005 special episode called “End-Of-Year Special Project! The Detective Memoirs of Chief Straw Hat Luffy” before showing up sporadically in the main series, these storylines teleport the Straw Hats into Edo period Japan. These episodes are extremely jarring as they come out of nowhere and stop the anime’s pacing dead in its tracks.
Skipping out on these interludes does not lessen theOne Pieceexperience in any way; however, they are mildly entertaining distractions in their own right. When they first aired, it was neat to see Luffy and company in a historical Japanese setting. Nowadays, these episodes can’t even claim to have that going for them since theWano arcscratches that itch in a far more satisfying way.
The Boss Luffy Historical Specials are at least more entertaining than the Chopper Man side stories (episode 336 and a small part of episode 279).
17Cidre Guild Arc – 5.9
Just A Waste Of Time
This filler arc follows a standard formula that’s been the norm forOne Piecesince it started. The crew’s ship needs something, so they stop at a mysterious island and end up having to defend themselves while there. This is the lowest-rated filler arc on IMDb with an average score of 6, which is strange because it doesn’t do anything blatantly wrong.
The reasoning behind this poor rating is most likely because of its placement.The Straw Hat Crewends up in this predicament between the Whole Cake Island and Wano arcs. These two arcs have been built up since the beginning of the time skip so breaking up their pacing probably didn’t sit well with fans.
16Little East Blue – 6.3
A Nostalgic Trip Lacking Substance
Little East Blue serves as a nostalgia check as well as a reminder of all the progression the crew has made. It doesn’t have much to show as a filler arc, but it does lead directly into the events of the filmOne Piece: Strong World.
The crew finds an island that’s essentially a recreation of their home, East Blue. They enjoy themselves until they’re confronted by a group of pirates who they have to defeat. Except for nostalgia for the East Blue days, this arc does not have much going for it; that said, it is cute and relaxing.
15Silver Mine Arc – 6.3
More Bartolomeo Is A Good Thing
The Silver Mine arc does a few interesting things. During the arc, viewers get the necessary information for theOne Piece: Goldfilm and nice character moments featuring Bartolomeo. Bartolomeo departs after theDressrosa arc in the manga, but he’s also one of the funniest and most beloved characters in the franchise, so it is nice to see more of him.
Luffy and Bartolomeo get swept up in chaos and end up having to work in a silver mine and fight their way out to escape. The plot is pretty standard but the character moments are what make it worth the time spent.
14Straw Hats In Water 7 – 6.3
Following One Of The Best Arcs With Three Episodes Of Filler
This “arc” just about qualifies as its three episodes are standalone, and the final one eventually transitions into canon content. That said, the stories are somewhat connected, with them focusing on the Straw Hats helping out mostly random people in Water 7. The result is three fairly boring chapters that follow up one of the greatestOne Piecearcs, and the drop in quality is so notable that it makes these episodes seem worse than they are (and they are terrible in a vacuum).
Out of the three, Zoro’s daycare is comfortably the worst, and these 20 minutes are arguablythe swordsman’s lowest point inOne Piece. In the grand scheme of things, a filler that came out nearly two decades ago is irrelevant, but Zoro never seemed less cool than when he was playing babysitter.
13Ice Hunter Arc – 6.5
Overstays Its Welcome
Compared to otherlong-running shounen serieslikeNarutoandBleach,One Piece’s filler arcs tend to be short. At least, fans do not have to sit through multiple months of pointless fluff. The Ice Hunter arc is a rare exception, as the saga lasts for an agonizing ten episodes.
The story centers around a group of bounty hunters, the Accino family, who steal the Thousand Sunny’s flag. Naturally, this leads to a chase, a couple of fights, and a lot of humor. If this arc was about half as long, it would fare much better; as is, it is a slog to get through.
12Foxy’s Return Arc – 6.5
Too Much Foxy
It isn’t difficult to understand why Foxy returning would warrant low ratings from fans. Foxy is cunning sneaky and overall evil so seeing him again wasn’t exactly what fans had in mind. Not only did he reappear, but he had his own little side story as if fans were supposed to root for him.
This arc has one of the most time-filler atmospheres of all the storylines inOne Piece. The reasoning for this is mostly because it doesn’t really serve to help viewers learn anything.One Piece’smassive world is alive and can operate without the main characters, so good filler arcs usually show this side of the world. Foxy’s Return arc doesn’t do this in any meaningful way.
11Goat Island Arc – 6.5
Perfectly Watchable Filler With Entertaining New Character
Following the Alabasta arc,One Pieceset off on a string of filler episodes stretching across multiple storylines. Stuck in the middle between the Post-Alabasta and Ruluka Island arcs, the Goat Island episodes tend to get overshadowed. While not the most memorable story in the series, this arc works well as a three-episode diversion with a fun new character in Zenny.
Zenny’s banter with the Straw Hats is genuinely amusing, as is the character’s backstory. The Goat Island arc might not be world-changing, but it is a fine way to spend an hour.
10Spa Island Arc – 6.6
The Obligatory Filler Spa Episode(s)
After the Halloween-themed chaos of the Thriller Bark arc, the Straw Hats earned the right to enjoy a day in the sun. The Spa Island arc involves the Foxy pirates, a mysterious notebook, and a lot of goofing off. The story leaves a lot to be desired, as do the new characters introduced. Foxy is also a rather polarizing figure, as he is a non-threatening antagonist whose comedy high jinks tend to be very hit-and-miss.
For all its flaws, Spa Island does at least boast great animation.One Piecehad made the jump to HD by this point, so this filler story looks visually pleasing.
9Caesar Retrieval Arc – 6.7
Harmless Filler With Some Decent Humor
Caesar is one of the most important side characters in all ofOne Piecewho becomes the center of attention for multiple arcs because of his connection to Vegapunk and his scientific knowledge. After the events of Dressrosa, the Straw Hats continue escorting Caesar since he’s their captive and leverage against Doflamingo and Kaido.
This arc further shows off the relationship between Law and the Straw Hats, which had been developing since Punk Hazard, Caesar’s original arc. Other than that, it’s a pretty standard filler with funny moments.
