One Piece

What is anime?

Anime refers to a style of animation popularised by Japanese television shows. Often with larger-than-life main characters that have wide, expressive eyes, brightly coloured hair and intricately detailed backgrounds, it uses a fewer frames per second to spend more time lingering on the high-quality artwork with dramatic camera angles. Often these shows are designed to appeal to both grown-ups and children to broaden their reach.

While in Japan, anime is just an abbreviation of animation, and thus refers to all animated works, in English it is used to refer to this Japanese style of animation, although as other animation studios have imitated this style, it does not necessarily singularly refer to work from the island nation.

Where can I watch One Piece?

The original One Piece anime is a long running show that’s available to watch in many places, including on several major streaming services like Netflix, YouTube, and Crunchyroll, and even the BBC (at time of writing).

Due to the success of the original show, Netflix commissioned its own version of the show using live-action actors to capture the cinematic style of the anime in a unique way.

Is one Piece suitable for children?

One Piece is a swashbuckling adventure that follows Monkey D. Luffy on his quest to become king of the pirates. While it has strong themes of friendship and loyalty, it does feature some over-the-top, cartoonish violence and frequent alcohol consumption that may make it unsuitable for younger viewers.

Generally considered suitable for viewers who are 13+, the show can tackle some complex subjects. As the plot becomes more intense over time, it is perhaps best suited for teenagers and up.

Why is One piece so popular?

Since first airing in 1999, there has been 1,155 episodes of the anime. This has allowed it to have intricate world building and endearing and long-lasting character development that, along with the fantastical elements, bright and bold settings and gorgeous artwork, has really cemented its long-lasting popularity in the media landscape.

With such a massive fanbase, it has garnered a lot of demand for collectibles and merchandise for all ages, including soft toys, games, LEGO and more. The many and varied characters are often cosplayed and there’s plenty of dress up options for young and old alike. Likewise, when LEGO announced their One Piece sets sets, the detail in the sets and accurate representations of key moments on screen made them an instant must-have for fans.