It’s no secret that One Piece has a lot of episodes, but is watching a recut like One Pace the best way to get through them? With filler being rampant in most long-running anime, it doesn’t sound like the worst idea. What’s the harm in cutting out the fluff to enjoy a story in a format that aims to more closely replicate the author’s original intent?
Toei’s One Piece includes over 90 episodes dedicated to filler. While this is still under ten percent of the total count, that remains a large sum of hours that many could consider wasted, consuming content that wasn’t even written by Eiichiro Oda himself. Others will argue that the true experience of watching this anime adaptation is to embrace it all, canon and otherwise. Some non-canon moments remain beloved by fans, after all.
That leaves us with the question: are the highlights of the filler worth watching hours of footage that is neither canon nor relevant to the story? Perhaps a bit of math will put things into perspective. If ninety-five episodes of One Piece are pure filler, and each of those episodes runs roughly twenty-three minutes, that would equate to 2,185 minutes, or about thirty-six hours.
That’s a day and a half of non-stop watching, and that’s not even taking into account the little bits of filler and time-stretching incorporated into the episodes that do follow the manga. For someone who enjoys their media at a comfortable pace, squeezing in a few episodes here and there, this probably doesn’t seem like such a big deal. However, many new fans of the series feel an urge to catch up as quickly as possible. It’s not hard to see why, with rampant spoilers online as well as the hype that follows every new episode or chapter release. That FOMO can be hard to ignore.
Related
10 One Piece Filler Episodes That Add Depth To The Main Characters
These episodes include plot points that shape the story and move forward to impact the future of certain characters.
Setting a Pace We Can Keep Up With
Runtime Comparison Between the Original and the Recut
|
One Piece |
943 Episodes |
19,964 Minutes |
|---|---|---|
|
One Pace |
449 Episodes |
11,981 Minutes |
When the Fans Take the Wheel
For those willing to trim the fat, there is an accessible solution. A fan project, titled One Pace has taken the original Toei adaptation and cut down the episodes to remove not only the anime-only scenes, but all extraneous footage. In an attempt to make the anime more closely resemble the manga in both content and pacing, the One Pace team has put in countless hours of editing to bring this project to life. Not only did they recut the original Japanese version, but the English dub, as well.
Additionally, they offer episodes with subtitles in seven different languages, though not all translations cover the entire series. For a project that earns its laborers no reward outside of praise, it’s a pretty impressive offering. With that in mind, consider donating to their cause to keep the project going.
One Pace is a fan project that recuts the One Piece anime in an endeavor to bring it more in line with the pacing of the original manga by Eiichiro Oda.
Easier to Navigate than East Blue
On the One Pace website, every arc of One Piece has been separated into its own page, and every recut episode title lists the original numbers it was edited from. This labeling makes it easy for viewers to jump back and forth from the original without getting lost. That, paired with options to either download or stream in-browser, means those with limited hard drive space need not fear, either.
There’s even a One Pace Discord channel, where fans or willing volunteers can gather to discuss the series, the recut, and more. With options for notifications upon new episode releases, it’s a way some fans primarily view the pirate epic. That might sound crazy to some, but anyone who’s watched weekly airing anime for any extended period of time knows how frustrating it can be to eagerly await a new episode, only to be fed five minutes of content stretched to fill twenty-two. Some would prefer to wait for a full meal.
Pros and Cons of the Recut
Pros:
- Saving 7,983 minutes of watch time
- Better pacing to keep viewers’ attention
- Experiencing the story closer to how Oda wrote it
Cons:
- Missing out on fun non-canon scenes
- Can only be steamed/downloaded on PC or smartphone
- Catching up faster and having to wait with everyone else
Will New Episodes Make This Cut Obsolete?
With One Piece due to return on April fifth with what we’ve been promised will be improved animation and timing, along with the upcoming remake, The One Piece, one might wonder if the recut is on pace to becoming unnecessary. While fans can only hope that Toei and Wit Studio can meet or even exceed expectations, there’s no way to know until the episodes are released.
Until then, consider One Pace as an option. Time is precious. Die-hard fans might insist on an all-or-nothing approach, but is it truly so wrong to want to experience the tale in a way that more accurately depicts the vision of its creator? The manga is certainly the best option for such an experience, but not everyone is a reader. What’s important is to just climb aboard and experience this story in whatever form that feels best. One Piece is all about the journey, after all.