Longest Arcs In The One Piece Manga

Key Takeaways

• Long One Piece story arcs are justified by multiple unfolding events and characters, often exceeding 100 chapters.
• The Marineford Arc, for example, is crucial due to its war setting and established plot points, despite its 31 chapter length.
• The Punk Hazard Arc at 46 chapters marks the beginning of the Dressrosa Saga, introducing key players and themes.

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is not only a world-renowned and extremely influential manga about pirates, but it is also infamous for being incredibly long since it has been in serialization for over twenty-seven years. This is quite an ambitious story, and the same can be said about its many story arcs.

After all, arcs in One Piece are often comprised of numerous characters, locations, and events all unfolding at the same time, so it’s only inevitable that they would end up taking a huge number of chapters to write, with the final count sometimes even exceeding the 100s. There’s no doubt that One Piece has some of the most extensive story arcs in the medium, and these are some of the most impressive examples of their huge lengths.

Updated November 13, 2024 by Julián Fernández Loyarte: As the One Piece manga continues its serialization, some of its most recent story arcs have managed to surpass previous ones in length. When the original version of this list was written, the Egghead Arc wasn’t completed, but now that this part of the story is over, this article has been updated with its new proper placement. Two more entries for arcs that were missing from the original article were added: the Marineford Arc and the Water 7 Arc.

12 Marineford Arc

31 Chapters

The Marineford Arc is one of the most important story arcs in the entire One Piece manga, as it’s the conglomeration of every single plot point that was previously established, not to mention that it’s entirely set in a huge war where most of this world’s important figures are fighting against each other. When taking all of this into consideration, it makes a lot of sense as to why it’s so extensive.

However, most fans may be shocked to realize that the Marineford Arc is not as long as they thought, and with 31 chapters in total, it just barely made it onto the list. This surprising length is due to two reasons. Most of the arc is made up of action scenes (which usually take a few pages in the medium of manga) and it works as a follow-up to the Impel Down that came before it.

11 Punk Hazard Arc

46 Chapters

Most fans believe that One Piece arcs began to extend their length a lot more after the time skip, and the Punk Hazard Arc is one such case, seeing as this is one of the very first story arcs that is set after said crucial moment.

However, its length of 46 chapters is entirely justified by the fact that this is the beginning of the already extensive Dressrosa Saga, so the Punk Hazard Arc is where most of its key players and prominent themes are introduced: Caesar Clown, SMILE Fruits, Trafalgar Law’s alliance with Luffy, the plan to take on the Emperors of the Sea and more.

10 Thriller Bark Arc

48 Chapters

While most arcs usually are just a small part of a bigger Saga, the Thriller Bark Arc is notorious for being relatively self-contained. In 48 chapters, Eiichiro Oda manages to tell the story of the Straw Hat Pirates’ encounter with the Warlord of the Sea, Gecko Moria, and his eccentric crew.

Inspired by classic horror movies, this arc features dark moments, creepy locations, and fascinating creatures like zombies and ghosts. Not to mention that, since Gecko Moria steals the shadows of many relevant characters to make his army of zombies grow, the ensuing battles against him end up being surprisingly long, especially after the inclusion of the powerful ancient giant known as Oars.

9 Fish-Man Island Arc

51 Chapters

After a brief reunion on the Saobody Archipelago, the Fish-Man Island Arc is the very first big arc that takes place after the time skip, and the stakes in it are quite high. Not only have the Straw Hat Pirates been wanting to visit this location for many chapters, but they also arrive just in time to deal with the appearance of Hody Jones and his New Fish-Man Pirates.

Fish-Men and Merfolk have been a huge part of One Piece’s lore way before this arc, but Eiichiro Oda saw it as an opportunity to further expand on these races and the horrible discrimination that they face on the surface. That’s exactly why he took his time to write about the backstories of Queen Otohime, Fisher Tiger, and Jinbe, who would later join Monkey D. Luffy’s crew.

8 Water 7 Arc

53 Chapters

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the legendary Enies Lobby Arc wouldn’t be as exciting as it is if it wasn’t for the Water 7 Arc that came before it. Even if its main purpose was to set the stage for the story arc that followed it, it still had to juggle multiple plot threads at the same time, which not only managed to pull off seamlessly but also explains its surprising length.

In the Water 7 Arc, the titular location (with its respective geography and history) is introduced, Franky and his family get involved with the Straw Hat Pirates, Nico Robin leaves the crew, Usopp gets into a fight with Luffy and CP9 tries to assassinate Iceburg. That’s quite a lot of stuff to get through in just 53 chapters.

7 Enies Lobby Arc

56 Chapters

The Enies Lobby Arc is arguably one of the most important and popular in One Piecesince it made a huge impact on the world of the series and the fate of its protagonists. It would be much longer if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s meant to conclude the various plot threads that were already set up by the arc that preceded it, the Water 7 Arc.

In 56 chapters, the Enies Lobby Arc makes readers get attached to Franky, fully develops Nico Robin’s character, cements her as a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, and establishes CP9 and the World Government as their new enemies, all while presenting multiple fights that are some of the most creative and memorable in the entire series. And it all concludes with the tragic death of the Going Merry.

6 Arabasta Arc

63 Chapters

The Arabasta Arc is the very first big arc in One Piece since it was written as the exciting conclusion of the entire Arabasta Saga that began the moment the Straw Hat Pirates entered the Grand Line. The conflict between Luffy’s crew and Sir Crocodile’s Baroque Works is an intense one, as the fate of an entire country depends on it.

Because of these high and complex stakes, it only makes sense that the Arabasta Arc would end up taking so many chapters, especially when considering the fact that every single member of the Straw Hat Pirates got involved in their fight against a specific Baroque Works agent. Luffy even fights Crocodile on three separate occasions, which makes his eventual victory over the Warlord of the Sea all the more satisfying.

5 Skypiea Arc

66 Chapters

The Skypiea Arc is quite special because it feels very different from the usual One Piece adventure, and it’s barely related to piracy at all. As a result of these crucial differences, it is logical that this arc would end up being so extensive, as it establishes the existence of the various Sky Islands and slowly develops their culture and politics.

On top of that, Enel is a very powerful villain at that point of the series, which results in a huge battle against him and his four priests that takes up plenty of chapters. Lastly, the flashback of Mont Blanc Noland and Kalgara’s tale is not only emotional, but it’s also essential to understanding the major themes of this arc. The Skypeia Arc is anything from filler, and those who have read it in its entirety certainly appreciate its good qualities.

4 Egghead Arc

68 Chapters

After the extremely long Wano Country Arc, One Piece fans were hoping that the following arc was going to be a short breather, similar to the Zou Arc that was set after Dressrosa. However, the recently concluded Egghead Arc defied all expectations and didn’t let readers rest for one second, since it’s filled to the brim with crucial events and huge plot points. Who would have guessed it would end up becoming one of the longest arcs in the entire manga?

The Egghead Arc began with the anticipated introduction of Doctor Vegapunk and his six satellites, but, unbeknownst to most readers at the time, Eiichiro Oda saw this character as the perfect excuse to tell the story of Bartholomew Kuma and Jewelry Bonney, which is as sad as it is extensive. To top it all off, this was also the first time that the Five Elder Stars appeared outside of Mary Geoise and showed off their dangerous transformations. At the end of the day, the Egghead Arc had an enormous impact on the overall plot of One Piece and readers are surely going to feel its repercussions until the end of the series.

3 Whole Cake Island Arc

78 Chapters

If there’s something in which Eiichiro Oda excels, it’s seamlessly mixing many different characters, plot points, and themes into one big arc without it feeling overwhelming or confusing. And the Whole Cake Island Arc is an excellent example of this useful writing talent.

The first real appearance of Big Mom and her crew, the plan to steal her Road Poneglyph, the introduction of Germa 66, Sanji’s second backstory, and the mission to rescue him all take place within this one arc, and everything ends up working surprisingly well. To top it all off, the Whole Cake Island Arc also features the climactic clash between Luffy and Charlotte Katakuri, which is also really long, but it’s so engaging and amazing that its length doesn’t really matter.

2 Dressrosa Arc

102 Chapters

The Dressrosa Arc is supposed to be a parallel to the Arabasta Arc, since this is also the conclusion of a long Saga that is centered on the Straw Hat Pirates helping a troubled kingdom by taking down their oppressive monarch who is also a Warlord of the Sea, with this arc’s antagonist being the villainous Donquixote Doflamingo.

But it’s evident that Eiichiro Oda took everything that he learned while writing the Arabasta Arc and multiplied it because the Dressrosa Arc features many more characters, fights, and plot points than its inspiration. Luffy’s fight against Doflamingo also takes up a lot of chapters, but its conclusion is extremely satisfying, mostly thanks to the introduction of his new Gear 4 form. The anime adaptation of this arc is infamous for being excruciatingly long, but the manga version is much more manageable.

1 Wano Country Arc

149 Chapters

The Wano Country Arc is notorious, not only for being the longest One Piece arc but also because it’s one of the longest story arcs in all manga. This was inevitable though, because it was slowly set up over many years, so Eiichiro Oda needed to take his time to deliver on a lot of promises. This results in an arc that is so long, that it’s even separated into three Acts, with brief intermissions between them.

Wano itself is quite a fascinating location that needed a lot of meticulous development to flesh out and all of its inhabitants, from the honorable Scabbards of Kozuki Oden to the evil Kaido and his Beasts Pirates, are complex characters that could easily star in a separate manga of their own. The climactic final battle, the Raid on Onigashima, is longer than most other arcs in the series, but it’s ultimately all worth it because of how amazing, satisfying, and emotional Kaido’s defeat is. It’s evident that Eiichiro Oda really enjoyed writing Wano over the course of four years, and its extensive length was definitely worth it.