One Piece has a filler problem, but it is not as big as you might think. Of the show’s 1,157 episodes, only 97 are filler, which works out to about 8% of the series. That is far better than most anime of its era.
A new ranking breaks down which episodes you can skip entirely and which ones are worth keeping. The list is a useful road map for anyone catching up on the anime now that it has entered its final saga.
The Numbers Behind The Ranking
The ranking compares One Piece to its biggest peers from the same time period. Bleach is far worse, with 45% of its episodes classified as filler. Dragon Ball Z sits at 13%. One Piece’s 8% puts it at the low end of the comparison.
The ranking credits Toei Animation’s approach. Instead of padding out episodes between major arcs, Toei introduced smaller filler scenes inside canon episodes. That meant the show could stretch its material without adding whole filler arcs.
The move to a seasonal release schedule has pushed the show closer to a fully canon run. The ranking calls the seasonal model “the most organic fix for this problem.”
Which Filler Arcs Are Worth Watching
Not all filler is equal. Some arcs are so good that fans insist they are canon. The G-8 Marine Base arc, episodes 196–208, falls into this category.
In that arc, the Straw Hats land the damaged Going Merry in the middle of the impenetrable G-8 Marine base. The ship is captured, and the crew goes undercover as Marines to find a way out. The ranking calls it “a secret treasure” of One Piece.
Each member gets a chance to shine. Sanji’s cooking wins laughs. Robin’s infiltration skills pay off. Usopp’s lying keeps the story moving. Luffy’s lack of subtlety creates some of the biggest laughs of the series. The ranking describes the arc as a “compelling story of cat and mouse” as the Straw Hats avoid total capture.
The Arcs You Can Skip
The ranking is not kind to every arc. Some names come up again and again as filler that is best left behind.
- The Warship Island arc ruined the pacing by pushing back the Straw Hats’ entrance to the Grand Line.
- The Silver Mine arc and the Cidre Guild arc both disrupt canon for mindless action and stories that add little to the overall narrative.
- The Spa Island and Foxy’s Return arcs are especially infamous for bringing back the divisive Foxy, who is widely misunderstood as not canon to One Piece.
The ranking singles out the Cidre Guild arc as especially bad, since it interrupts the Wano arc at the beginning. The Spa Island and Foxy’s Return arcs are described as doubling down on everything people hated about Foxy, making him less popular with fans.
Recap Episodes Get A Harder Pass
Not all non-canonic content is filler. One Piece has recap episodes to keep the animation schedule moving, but the ranking notes that fans have a harder time giving them a pass. That problem got worse in 2025, when five recap episodes broke up the momentum of a 33-episode batch.
The ranking is explicit that the recaps were clearly needed to free up time and resources for the animators. The first recap preceded the beginning of the Kuma flashback, which the ranking calls “incredible.” Still, the recap begged the question of why they bothered. The ranking frames the seasonal model as the stronger answer.
One Piece’s anime is in its final saga, and the discourse around every episode suggests fans rarely need a recap of the previous week’s events. Yet the ranking notes that the lore drops of the upcoming Elbaph Arc will send viewers’ heads spinning. It will be interesting to see whether the anime slows its pacing to let audiences process what they see.
The Elbaph Arc Tests The Pace
Elbaph is tied to multiple key players in One Piece’s story, and it is the first true battleground of its greatest heroes and villains. The ranking notes that the arc has been going great, with just enough space for tantalizing mystery moments.
The Elbaph arc is part of 26-episode seasons. The ranking calls the results “sustainably well-animated” and focused on telling the story. The only bittersweet note is that fans will no longer have the weekly promise of new episodes ad infinitum.
Every Project Now Runs On Source Material
One Piece is not in danger of ending too soon. The ranking points to several projects that keep the source material central.
| Project | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Heroines adaptation | Gearing up for a new adaptation |
| Live-action series | More episodes coming |
| East Blue Saga from WIT Studio | Newly-recreated arc |
| Seasonal model | Fully canon seasons |
All of these projects are focused on their source material and not over-staying. The ranking points to the seasonal model as the stronger answer for the recap problem.
The Filler List As A Snapshot
The ranking’s numbers are a snapshot of the show’s history. With 8% filler across the series, the list documents a time when the show needed to balance canon with filler.
The ranking itself is a useful tool for anyone who wants to skip the bad filler while keeping the good. It is a reminder that even a show with a massive episode count has a clear pattern, and that the worst episodes are not always the ones you would expect.
The ranking’s verdict is simple: the anime is in its final saga, and it is now running on fully canon seasons. That is good news for anyone who wants to see what comes next.
See the video the story is built around at Screen Rant.
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