Imagine you’re having a cream-filled croissant, and realize you like the regular ones more. Filler episodes in One Piece are like that, and many prefer to skip them to focus on the main story.
With such sheer volume, a question pops up for viewers: how many filler episodes does One Piece have?
Fillers are fairly common in almost every popular manga adaptation. These are added to release episodes without going astray from the main story dictated in the manga.
You’ll be surprised to know that One Piece only has roughly nine percent filler episodes in anime. For comparison, Naruto and Naruto Shippuden combined have an average of 40% filler episodes.
If you’re starting or rewatching One Piece, and need to know where the fillers are, here’s a quick breakdown.
How many filler episodes does One Piece have? All filler episodes and their numbers
One Piece is an ongoing anime series that has a total of 1,102 episodes at the time of writing. Among all these, only 98 of them are filler episodes.
What’s special about One Piece is that some filler arcs or episodes are somewhat connected to the canon storyline.
To assist you in identifying the filler episodes and arcs, we have marked every one of them with a plot summary.
- Warship Island Arc (Episode 54-60): Luffy and crew rescue a girl named Apis. (Nothing important here, you can skip this.)
- Mid-Arabasta Arc (Episodes 98,99 & 102): These episodes take a brief pause from the serious arc to set the lore of the island. (Only a few laughs here and there, so you can skip it.)
- Post-Arabasta Arc (Episodes 131-135): The story takes place after the Arabasta Arc, where the Straw Hat Pirates discuss their individual dreams. (If you wish to learn more about each character, you can watch it.)
- Goat Island Arc (Episodes 136-138): Straw Hat Pirates end up on an unknown island trying to run from Marines. (The story isn’t so great, so feel free to skip.)
- Rainbow Mist Arc (Episodes 139-143): A back-to-back filler arc in One Piece, where the gang takes their fight against a dictator named Ruluka. (It is not connected to the next coming Jaya Arc, so skipping is okay.)
- G-8 Arc (Episodes 196-206): Luffy and his crew get stuck inside a Marine base and look for a way out. (Parts of it are a canon, so don’t skip this.)
- Ocean’s Dream Arc (Episodes 220-224): A mysterious man makes the crew forget each other. (The story is based on the One Piece game, so you can skip it.)
- Foxy’s Return Arc (Episodes 225-226): The Straw Hat Pirates meet their nemesis Foxy once again. (These are mixed canon episodes, so watching them is recommended.)
- Straw Hat’s Backstories Arc (Episodes 279-283): One Piece anime has come a long way after putting on sails. This arc focuses on the backstory of each character once again. (If you wish to skip, it won’t be a crime.)
- Straw Hat and Buggy’s Adventure Arc (Episodes 291-292 & 303): Buggy and Luffy are shown in Edo Era Japan for Great Mochimaki Race with traditional Japanese clothing. (Non-canon to the main story, so you can skip it.)
- Post-Ennies Lobby Arc (Episodes 317-319): Straw Hats visit Water 7 island after Ennies Lobby Arc for a fun enjoyable time. (Lighthearted episodes which are fun to watch, but skippable.)
- Ice Hunter Arc (Episodes 326-336): On the way to Florian Triangle, Luffy and crew decide to help members of a damaged ship only to find out they are bounty hunters. (A rare moment where you get to see bounty hunters. If you are not interested, then skip.)
- Spa Island Arc (Episodes 382-384): After Thriller Bark Arc, visit Spa Island to relax a bit after a long adventure. (These One Piece episodes have many fan service moments, so skipping is your decision.)
- Boss Luffy Arc (Episodes 406-407): This arc is also set in Edo Era Japan, where the crew participates in a race to win one million Berries. (The pacing of the story is slow and boring to some extent, so you can skip.)
- Little East Blue Arc (Episodes 426-429): The crew arrives on a strange island that looks like East Blue. (This is a small filler arc before the Strong World movie. You can watch it.)
- Specials before Marineford Arc (Episodes 457-458): These episodes show the past of Ace and Luffy, and some snippets of how Marines function altogether. (This is an interesting arc. Feel free to watch them.)
- One Piece and Tokiro Crossover 1 (Episode 492): The Straw Hats and a few characters from Tokiro collaborate to save their comrade from Cocoalas. (Feel free to skip it if you’re not a Tokiro fan.)
- Luffy’s Past (Episode 499): This episode focuses on Sabo, Ace, and Luffy’s past, and shows their connection to Gol D. Roger. (This is an important filler for the lore, so don’t skip this one.)
- Straw Hats Reaction (Episode 506): The Straw Hats get to know about the true face of Marineford. (This is not exactly a filler, so do not skip the special episode.)
- One Piece and Tokiro Crossover 2 (Episode 542): The second crossover between Tokiro and One Piece brings more beloved characters from both animes. (Skip it, unless you’re a fan of both animes.)
- Z’s Ambition Arc (Episodes 575-578): The first One Piece filler arc after the time skip, shows the New World and Neo-Marines. (In case you plan to watch One Piece: Z movie, then you have to watch these episodes to get context.)
- One Piece, Dragon Ball, and Tokiro Crossover (Episode 590): The ambitious collaboration of three anime classics for one big episode. (If you’re not interested, then skip it.)
- Caesar Retrieval Arc (Episodes 626-628): Caesar gets kidnapped after Punk Hazard Arc, and Straw Hats wishes to retrieve him. (It’s not an important arc, but it sheds light on Caesar as a villain.)
- Silver Mine Arc (Episodes 747-750): Luffy and Barto try to escape after being kidnapped by the Silver Pirates and kept in a fortress. (This is a prequel to the film OP: Gold. Don’t skip it if you’re going to watch it.)
- Straw Hats Rescue Operation (Episodes 775): The Straw Hats explore the region of Zou after the main story. (This is a mellow episode after a long serious arc, so you can either watch or skip it.)
- Marine Rookie Arc (Episodes 780-782): Luffy and his crew run out of food as they sail to look for Sanji on Whole Cake Island. To resupply, the crew raids a Marine base in disguise. (It’s a decent filler, but you can watch it for the laughs.)
- Cidre Guild Arc (Episodes 895-896): Luffy and crew meet up with Boa Hancock again to fight off the bounty hunter group known as Cidre Guild. (These One Piece episodes are considered fillers that are very enjoyable.)
- Uta’s Past (Episodes 1029-1030): These episodes share the past of Uta, who is a big part of One Piece: Red Movie. (If you’re going to watch the movie, then it is best not to skip these episodes.)
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