How Does New Fishman Island Compare to the Old?

TheOne Pieceanime is taking a break from Egghead Island and taking the opportunity to do something the show has never done before; remake an entire arc. Announced in October 2024, the show has finally started releasing the Fishman Island Re-Edition, giving fans an entirely new perspective on one of the show’s most hated arcs. Set to completely overhaul the pacing and animation of Fishman Island, thenewremake may set a strong precedent for howOne Pieceshouldbe animateddown the line.

Though only the first few episodes havebeen released, the Fishman Island Re-Edition hasalreadygreatlyimproved the original release. With faster-moving episodes andstrongeranimation, the difference between the old and new Fishman Island is like night and day.Although the remakedoes have a few of its ownproblems, the new Fishman Island is way bettercompared to the older release.

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What is Fishman Island Re-Edition?

A Second Chance At Fishman Island

The Fishman Island Arc followsOne Piece’s Straw Hats after their return to Sabaody Archipelago after the two-year skip.After some hijinx on Sabaody, the Straw Hats head to Fishman Island,where they faceoff against the New Fishman Pirates,whoare setting out to take control of the territory.While the story itself is decent, many fans criticized the pacing of the arc, especially in the anime. Although the arc is longer than most pre-time skip arcs, it doesn’t feature as much gripping content and is mainly full of fluff. Paired with a less-than-beloved new animation style, Fishman Island was a recipe for disaster.

The announcement for One Piece Fishman Island Re-Edition, besidesshowing off some of the new animations,has statedthat they will be condensing the episode count from 57episodesto 21. This is around a 63% decrease in content that was able to be cut from the arc.If this decreasewasappliedto something like Wano, the arc would go from 190 episodes to only 70, saving fans 120 episodesworth of time.

Fishman Island Re-Edition Fixes One Piece’s Biggest Problem

Faster Pacing and Better Visuals

So far, the Fishman Island Re-Edition has covered only the first part of the arc, the Straw Hats return to the Sabaody Archipelago. Already theremake has cut down the episode count considerably, condensing what was once seven episodes into three episodes.The pacing is much faster than beforeas well, with the first episode covering all of episodes 517, 518, andparts of519allin a single episode.Overall,much of the fluff has been completely removed, with scenesbeing editedmuch closer together.Now, all that’s left is the meat of the arc, cutting out long lingering scenes and unnecessary reactions.

Outside the pacing improvements tothe new Fishman Island – which is releasing during One Piece’s six-month hiatus – has drastically improved the animation. The line art has improved significantly, adding much thicker lines that help the smallerdetails andfacial expressions of charactersread muchmore easily. Additionally, the colors havebeenimprovedgreatly, making the character design stand out even more.This animation style is much closer to the stylethat the anime has currently been using in the most recent episodes.

Although it’s hard to see the difference between Fishman Island’s animation style and Egghead Island’s animation style while watching the shownormally, comparing the old and new Fishman Island arcs has shown just how muchOne Piecehas improved since the beginning of post-time skip. Paired with the newpacingthe new Fishman Island couldeasilygo from being absolutely hated to something that theOne Piececommunity finds tolerable or even enjoyable. Plus, other needlessly long arcs, like Punk Hazard, could receive this sort of treatment next, fixing one of the biggest problemsthat theOne Pieceanime faces.

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In the end, seeing the differences between one of One Piece’s most polarizing arcs and its remake is a good sign for things to come for the rest of the remake. If the episodes continue with this style of pacing, focusing on fast-paced editing and removing fluff, and animation, one of the worst arcs ofOne Piececould quickly become one of the best. However, it’s too early to make anyrealjudgments, and fans will have to wait until the rest of Fishman Island remake releases.

One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates’ ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga’s popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Seasons

20

Studio

Toei Animation

Creator

Eiichiro Oda

Number of Episodes

1116+

MyAnimeList Score

8.71

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