Anime has become quite popular over the past few years. Some may attribute its success to the Internet and its supposed “meme-able” nature. Anime, however, has been a large phenomenon for decades that unfortunately has not gotten enough praise. Many dismiss shows such as Dragon Ball Z or Naruto because they think that they’re just dumb kid shows. In reality, anime is merely a way of presenting a story. The stories that anime can tell are almost limitless, with crime thrillers such as Death Note or stories exploring the horrors of warfare like in Attack on Titan.
Anime actually surged in popularity when quarantine hit in 2020 as then, millions of people needed the entertainment to feel occupied. One Piece, one of the most popular anime of all time, is definitely one of those shows that will keep people occupied as it has now reached its one-thousandth episode.
One Piece is based on the manga written by Eiichiro Oda which started in 1997 and still goes on to this day. It follows the adventures of an up-and-coming pirate named Luffy who wishes to become the King of the Pirates by finding the long-lost treasure of the last Pirate King Gold Roger, known as One Piece. During his travels, he uses his elastic abilities to defeat formidable foes and also collects a rag-tag group of other adventurers, including the lazy swordsman Zoro, the stubborn navigator Nami, the compulsive liar Usopp, and many more characters.
The show and the manga have gained a cult following over the years and now it has officially reached its one-thousandth episode or “log” as the animators call it. The manga already reached its one-thousandth installment earlier this year in January, but it took the anime until Thanksgiving week to reach theirs.
One Piece has been highly praised for reaching this milestone and the 1,000th episode has gotten almost no negative feedback since its release. Many theatres across the world actually played the episode for groups of die-hard fans to see them on the big screen. The internet has been flooded with videos of hundreds of fans singing the theme song and cheering over epic moments together in these theatres.
One Piece’s 1,000th episode is special for a multitude of reasons. For one, the opening song they generally use now – titled “DREAMIN’ ON” – was replaced with a remade version of the show’s first opening from 1999 titled “WE ARE!” Though many opening theme songs have been used for the show, none were as iconic as this first one, so many fans were looking forward to seeing the new version of the famous opening. Another major factor, of course, is just how much of an achievement the show has reached. Not many shows have ever reached this milestone before. It truly shows the dedication and commitment the show’s writers, animators, and actors have when it comes to making One Piece what it is today.
As of writing this article, the anime is at episode 1,002 and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. However, Eiichiro Oda has stated in some interviews that the manga the show is based on is getting closer to its “final stage.” This also means that the anime itself is close to its end, as well, as the show and manga are both still in the same arc of the series.
The show is currently in its ninth saga titled the “Four Emperors Saga”, which also happens to be its longest so far (both for the anime and manga). The major arc of this saga is the Wano Country Arc which started in episode 890 in 2019. Though it seems like there’s not enough time to watch this massive series, watching One Piece doesn’t have to feel like such a daunting task.
The show, though there are many canon arcs, has many “filler” arcs that are not based on anything from the manga it is based off. These arcs are not mandatory to watching One Piece overall so skipping them will not mean you will miss any important information. Some episodes, however, are a mix of canon scenes and filler scenes not important to the overarching story. It’s your choice whether or not you watch these episodes but they won’t pertain to the rest of the series as much as other episodes.
One Piece’s achievement of 1,000 episodes shows the dedication of countless writers and animators. The series shows no signs of stopping any time soon, so stay tuned for even more adventures on the high seas.