Summary
Some of the worst One Piece filler arcs lack compelling characters, poor pacing, and underdeveloped storytelling, leaving fans feeling cold.
The Warship Island arc contradicts the main narrative and confuses viewers with plot holes and inconsistencies.
The Marine Rookie Arc is an inferior imitation of the acclaimed G-8 Arc, offering little charm or humor.
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Of the many divisive aspects of One Piece’s anime, the one thing most fans agree to hate is the overabundance of non-canon filler arcs unnecessary to the overarching story. While some unrelated one-off story arcs are more amusing than others, the worst often feel superfluous and underdeveloped, lack compelling characterizations, and drop the ball in terms of storytelling.
Whether they’ve featured the most detestable characters, contained unneeded recaps, ran for too long, or had dull and shallow stories, a handful of underwhelming One Piece filler arcs have left fans feeling cold over the past two decades. The worst One Piece filler arcs just don’t capture the magic that makes the world’s most famous pirate anime/manga franchise so thrilling.
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15 The Silver Mine Arc Lacks a Compelling Antagonist
One Piece Episodes 747-750
This filler arc takes place after Dressrosa while Luffy, Zoro, Robin, Law, and the samurai are en route to Zou aboard Bartolomeo’s ship. The Silver Mine Arc allows viewers to spend more time with the hilarious Bartolomeo while also setting up One Piece Film: Gold and takes off when Luffy and Bartolomeo are kidnapped by the Sweet Pirates and taken to the Silver Mine. Here, Luffy and Bartolomeo battle the Silver Pirate Alliance who are later revealed to be affiliated with Gran Tesoro, the antagonist of Film: Gold.
Like other filler arcs, Luffy eventually defeats Bill, the leader of the Alliance and returns back to Bartolomeo’s ship with Bartolomeo, continuing the journey to Zou. The arc is full of wacky devil fruits and has its funny moments, but could have done with a better antagonist. Overall, while the arc isn’t the worst of the lot, some may consider it not worth the time unless one plans on watching Film: Gold.
14 The Z’s Ambition Arc Comes Across as Dull Despite its Interesting Aspects
One Piece Episodes 575-578
Spanning four episodes, the Z’s Ambition arc is another filler arc that sets up another one of One Piece’s movies, in this case, Film: Z. The arc takes place between Fishman Island and Punk Hazard as the Straw Hats finally enter the New World. Unfortunately, they enter a dangerous sea with extreme weather conditions where they encounter a Giant named Lily who can change the size of her body through her Mini-Mini Fruit. The Straw Hats decide to help Lily, who is looking for her father, a legendary chef named Panz Fry.
Thus, the Straw Hats get involved in an ugly conflict between the Marines and the Neo Marines who go on to play a major role in the movie. Though the arc introduces many unique concepts, it also suffers from a few power scaling issues, making Luffy seem weak, much like the Fishman Island Arc that preceded it. The story also feels very slow, dragged out, and dull overall, and isn’t really necessary to understand Film: Z.
13 The Marine Rookie Arc is an Inferior Version of the G-8 Arc
One Piece Episodes 780-782
Despite being among One Piece’s shorter filler arcs, the Marine Rookie Arc sadly falls flat overall and is quite simply boring despite its interesting antagonists. While on the way to Whole Cake Island to save Sanji, the Straw Hats accompanied by Pedro, Pekoms, and Carrot infiltrate a Marine base in hopes of acquiring more food after Luffy finishes all the food on the ship. The Straw Hats dress up as Marines and enter the base but are found out very quickly. Hereafter, they begin battling Grount, Bonham, and Zappa, a rather strong trio who once served under Aokiji.
Luffy and the Straw Hats have more trouble fighting them than they realistically should, which ultimately makes Luffy look much weaker than he is at this point in the story. The arc draws many similarities to the highly acclaimed G-8 arc but only comes across as a poor attempt to imitate it, lacking any of the same charm or humor.
12 The Little East Blue Arc is Subpar Outside the Nostalgia
One Piece Episodes 426-429
The Little East Blue Arc spans four episodes and takes place in the middle of the Impel Down arc. The arc mainly serves to set up One Piece Film: Strong World and its main antagonist, Shiki, whose escape from Impel Down is briefly teased at the beginning. As the name implies, the arc follows the Straw Hats as they encounter an island that is modeled after the East Blue with Foosha Village’s windmills, a mini Baratie, Syrup Village-styled houses, and even a dojo like the one at Shimostuki Village.
Besides the nostalgia, the arc doesn’t have much else to offer and follows a pretty cookie-cutter format as the Little East Blue comes under attack by the Amigo Pirates who are eventually defeated by the Straw Hats. The arc also takes place right as the Impel Down Arc is about to take off, becoming an unwanted diversion that fans would rather skip over.
11 The Rainbow Mist Arc Was Incredibly Slow Despite Its Interesting Story
One Piece Episodes 139-143
Spanning 5 long episodes, the Rainbow Mist Arc, also known as the Ruluka Island Arc, takes place after Alabasta while the crew is headed to Jaya. While being chased by the Marines, the Straw Hats arrive at Ruluka Island, where they meet a scientist named Henzo who is researching a mysterious concept called the Rainbow Mist, which the Straw Hats eventually find and enter. Inside, they come across Henzo’s childhood friends who have been stuck in the mist for fifty years.
When the Straw Hats re-emerge from the Rainbow Mist, the Marines who were chasing them at the beginning arrive at Ruluka and turn out to be the children who were stuck in the mist, who ended up back in the past when they left the mist. Despite the interesting time-travel aspects and the touching story of the Pumpkin Pirates, this arc simply feels much longer than it needed to be. Moreover, the arc is preceded by two just as forgettable filler arcs, namely the Post-Alabasta Arc and the Goat Island Arc, which makes for a particularly long stretch of filler that is quite painstaking to get through and takes away from the enjoyment.
The Rainbow Mist Arc is also the last arc that was dubbed by 4Kids.
10 The Post-Alabasta Arc is a Lackluster Followup to One of the Series’ Best Stories
One Piece Episodes 131-135
Following what many consider to be one of the best main story arcs in One Piece, the five-episode filler arc that follows Alabastapales in comparison. The Straw Hats sail to their next port and tell stories about themselves and the adventures they went on before becoming Straw Hats. Unfortunately, with poor pacing, awkward execution, and Luffy’s lack of testimony, the arc leaves a lot to be desired.
While the filler arc has nothing to do with the main narrative and the personal anecdotes the crew relays do not advance the story in any substantial way, viewers at least get to learn a little more about the goals and histories of Nami, Chopper, Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro. Still, coming on the heels of the exciting action in the main Alabasta arc, the follow-up feels a bit limp.
9 The Warship Island Arc Contradicts One Piece Canon
One Piece Episodes 54-61
One Piece’s first filler arc, the Warship Island arc, has slightly more depth than the tired and trampled ones that take place down the line. Still, many fans felt the story of The Straw Hats rescuing a girl named Apis and assisting her with returning a dragon to its village had too many plot holes, an overhyped villain that never paid off, and confusion relating to the Punk Hazard and Alabasta main arcs.
Contradicting the main narrative by having the Straw Hats claim they’ve never seen a dragon 500 episodes later in Punk Hazard, Zoro also claims he can cut through anything in Watership Island, but proves the opposite later in Alabasta. Between these inconsistencies and Luffy’s lame showdown with Eric, it’s one of the most confusing shonen anime arcs on record.
8 Goat Island Arc Ranks Among One Piece’s Most Forgettable
One Piece Episodes 136-138
Directly following the Post-Alabasta filler arc was One Piece’s Goat Island arc. The Straw Hats arrive at Goat Island and help a quirky old man named Zenny and his herd of goats, which help Luffy and his crew fight off a Marine attack. While the arc does not advance the main story in any meaningful way, the droll interplay and witty banter between Zenny and the crew are fairly amusing. Despite a few genuinely funny exchanges between Zenny and the goats attacking the Marines somewhat memorable, the storyline of the arc itself is pretty forgettable and is easy to skip without missing the larger and more significant plot points.
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7 Caesar Retrieval Arc Has a Solid Setup But Disappointing Payoff
One Piece Episodes 626-628
Tied for the second-shortest filler arc, One Piece’s Caesar Retrieval arc finds the already-kidnapped Caesar Clown being abducted from the Straw Hats as they sail to Dressrosa. The Straw Hats must team with the Heart Pirates to defeat Doflamingo and Kaido to get Caesar back.
Despite a solid setup, very little happens during the arc, leading to the villain using his Devil Fruit on himself in a total cop-out of a conclusion. Although the arc provides some development for Law’s relationship with the Straw Hats and some decent action with Luffy and Chopper pursuing Captain Breed, the three episodes are fairly standard and do not add much to the overarching narrative.
6 Cidre Guild Arc is One Piece’s Shortest (and Most Forgettable) Filler Arc
One Piece Episodes 895-896
With just two episodes, One Piece’s Cidre Guild arc is the shortest filler arc in One Piece and is extremely forgettable as a result. The arc is about Luffy fighting the Cidre Guild bounty hunters with Boa Hancock after trying to buy soda for the Thousand Sunny. Beyond the short runtime, one of the main reasons the filler arc fails to resonate is that it does not take place between two main Arcs as most do.
Instead, the Cidre Guild Arc took place while the Wano County Arc was still ongoing, which left many fans bewildered as to what the point was. While the Cidre Guild Arc does tie into the One Piece: Stampede movie, its lack of context otherwise hurts its effectiveness.
5 Boss Luffy Historical Special Arcs Are Just Confusing & Alienating
One Piece Episodes 291-292, 303, 406-407
As tangential and unrelated as filler arcs come, the Boss Luffy Historical Specials are fun enough on their own but have no real bearing on the larger One Piece canon. Set in an alternate universe in Japan’s Edo period, the filler episodes feel wildly out of place and usually end up confusing and alienating viewers.
For instance, the first two episodes aired right in the middle of the Enies Lobby Arc, which disrupted the flow of the main narrative and confounded audiences in the process. Moreover, while it’s entertaining to watch the Straw Hats explore an alternate historical epoch, the Wano County Arc went into much further depth in the depiction of Samurai culture and ended with much more satisfying results.
4 Spa Island Arc is Obnoxious & Boring in Equal Measure
One Piece Episodes 382-384
Set right after the fan-favorite Thriller Bark Arc was One Piece’s Spa Island arc, where the Straw Hats’ vacation on the titular Spa Island is interrupted by the return of the Foxy Pirates. Despite some solid HD animation, the short-lived filler arc was forgettable at best and downright terrible at worst.
With a leisurely pace to go with the Straw Hats’ restful downtime, not much happens in the story other than encountering the extremely obnoxious Foxy and his mates Porche and Hamburg. While it’s nice to see Brook included in his first filler arc, the jokes don’t land, the plot falls flat, and the new character introductions are as unpleasant as they come.
3 Ice Hunter Arc is Slow as a Glacier
One Piece Episodes 326-335
Set between the awesome Enies Lobby and Thriller Bark Arcs was One Piece’s Ice Hunter arc, which is infamous for its slow pacing. With roughly one episode of story material stretched over 10 slogging chapters, the second-longest filler arc in One Piece saw the Straw Hats sailing from Water 7 through The Florian Triangle to reach a winter island, where a band of bounty hunters steal the Thousand Sunny’s flag.
For most anime fans, the beauty of filler episodes is how short and sweet they are, allowing for a slight diversion before delving right back into the main cannon narrative. The Ice Hunter simply turned off fans who had to wait months for the inconsequential filler arc to finish.
2 Ocean’s Dream Arc is Nothing But Boring Recaps
One Piece Episodes 220-224
Much like the repetitive Post-Enies Lobby Arc, One Piece’s Ocean’s Dream arc is nothing but a series of unnecessary recaps that simply regurgitate what’s already been seen. While other lackluster One Piece filler arcs attempt to tell wholly original stories, the Ocean’s Dream arc does none of that and just takes its story cues from the One Piece video game, Ocean’s Dream. Due to the characters waking up with amnesia, the whole plot concerns the Straw Hats regaining their memory and retelling their past histories, so it has nothing new to add towards advancing the main storyline, making it an arc more than worth skipping.
1 Foxy’s Return Arc is One Piece’s Worst Arc Bar None
One Piece Episodes 225-226
Of all the One Piece filler arcs, the one that stands out as the worst is One Piece’s Foxy’s Return arc. Set after the repetitive Ocean’s Dream arc, the plot finds the return of Foxy the Silver Fox, a character who had already overstayed his welcome in the anime’s extended version of the Davy Back Fight.
Worse yet, Foxy is somehow made the star of his own side story in which fans are meant to conjure sympathy and root for his success, but it failed entirely, and the resulting Davy Back Fight was not only supremely underwhelming, but it also did nothing to help viewers understand the wider One Piece mythos. The end result makes Foxy’s Return One Piece’s worst filler arc.
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One Piece
Created by: Eiichiro Oda
First Film: One Piece: The Movie
First TV Show: One Piece
Cast: Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura, Kappei Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Hirata, Ikue Ôtani, Yuriko Yamaguchi
Video Game(s): One Piece: Unlimited World RED, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, One Piece: World Seeker, One Piece Odyssey
Character(s): Monkey D. Luffy, Roronora Zoro, Nami (One Piece), Nico Robin, Usopp (One Piece), Vinsmoke Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Franky (One Piece), Jimbei (One Piece)