One Piece -

One Piece is one of the most impressive manga and anime ever created and almost every manga and anime fan will have heard of it. Created by Eiichiro Oda, the One Piece manga was first published in 1997 in serialized form in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in Japan. It’s popularity as a manga prompted an anime adaptation which was released in 1999 which is still going and most recently has been produced as a live action TV series by Netflix in 2023.

One Piece focuses on Monkey D. Luffy, a young man made of rubber after he ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, a ‘Devil Fruit’ that gives the consumer supernatural powers. Luffy sets off on a journey from the East Blue Sea to find the King of the Pirates’ ultimate treasure, the ‘One Piece’. Luffy sets sail as captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and along the way he recruits a crew, somehow. First, he is joined by Roronoa Zoro, a swordsman and former bounty hunter, followed by Nami, a thief and navigator, then Usopp, a sniper and compulsive liar and storyteller. Once these characters are assembled they manage to acquire a ship, the Going Merry, which they use to travel to a floating restaurant called the Baratie. Here they finally meet Sanji, a passionate cook, who joins them on their quest. From this point forward the crew have many adventures, meet many villains and escape the clutches of ‘The Marines’ who patrol the seas trying to capture pirates of any kind.

One Piece has been one of those series that I avoided for many, many, many years. First, I wasn’t convinced by the visuals. The characters looked simple and they weren’t aesthetically pleasing for me. The other main reason was that there are SO MANY EPISODES! And manga chapters of course. The anime series currently consists of over 1,100 Episodes (ongoing), 4 OVAs, 14 TV specials and 15 movies – as of June 2025. That’s a lot of time and investment going into a series that I wasn’t really interested in. Since my original decision not to watch One Piece I’ve watched a lot of other Shōnen anime and redrawn some of the manga panels, which has made me appreciate the artwork and style of the manga – there are some really incredible illustrations to be found there. These two things made me grow more interested in One Piece and then came along Netflix’s live action version. I usually hate, as a rule, live action versions of any cartoon. Mainly because they end up being rubbish, the characters are watered down versions of themselves, and the storyline is often weak. However, after a lot of research into how the live action version of One Piece would be created, considering whether the storyline and characters would be true to the manga, I decided this was where my One Piece adventure would begin.

One Piece – live action trailer

In comparison to the anime, the first season of the live action One Piece is only 8 episodes long, however the episodes length are 49 to 63 minutes long. The 8 episodes correspond with 47 episodes of the anime, which are normally about 22 minutes in length (including intro music, recap and ending music). I was able to watch the live action version of One Piece easily and at my own pace – although because I enjoyed it so much, I watched it all in two sittings. After this I did consider pausing my One Piece adventure as the next season isn’t released until 2026, however I am a curious person by nature and really wanted to compare the live action version to the anime, and so my One Piece adventure started again.

The story of One Piece is an epic masterpiece. Eiichiro Oda has truly made a captivating world for fans all across the globe. The characters are well designed with complex background stories that are explained well enough that it doesn’t confuse the viewer. The places that the ‘Straw Hats’ adventure in are well designed and have their own uniqueness to them. The world which has been created for One Piece is amazing. Even though I am only just over 100 episodes into One Piece, I am thoroughly enjoying it. The story is full of positivity, friendship and adventure. The fight scenes are well designed and choreographed. The series as a whole is very engaging.

As is usual for a series created in the 90s the animation studios occasionally cut corners due to budget, like missing out fights or story plots that they feel are unnecessary, however the popularity of the live action series has prompted a One Piece reboot called The One Piece. Netflix has gained the rights to produce The One Piece and this reboot is to follow the manga series much more accurately and leave out some of the ‘silliness’ of the current animation. This will appeal to an older audience than the original anime and definitely appeal to those fans who have read the manga since it began. I’m very much looking forward to joining that adventure too!

The One Piece trailer

PS. There is also One Piece LEGO coming out this summer!

One Piece trailer (Egghead Arc – WARNING SPOILERS)

Where to watch One Piece

BBC iPlayer: Episodes 1 to 1088

Netflix: Episodes 1089 and on going

Lexémon’s star rating

Things You Should Know:

One Piece is age rated 12 in the UK. However, most episodes have PG video rating but some episodes have a 15 video rating.

This is because of the following content according to the IMDB:

Sex & Nudity: Mild

Violence & Gore: Moderate

Profanity: Mild

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking: Moderate

Frightening & Intense Scenes: Moderate

One Piece – live action is age rated 15 in the UK.