One Piece Anime Vs Manga – Which is the Best Way To Start?

One Piece is a very long series, both anime and manga are over 1000 chapters/episodes. But for any newcomer, it will be a big question to choose which medium to start it. I will address my take on this after both reading and watching the series.

No Spoilers ahead

Pacing of Anime Is An Issue

Anime currently spans more than 1000 episodes while Manga is also around the same. In fact, the 1000th episode of Anime is the 989th Chapter in Manga. Early on, pacing in Anime was fine. As the series progressed and Anime was in the danger of catching up entirely, the pacing become slower.

But I would still say up to pre-timeskip, the pacing is quite good even though it should have been faster in an ideal scenario. After Timeskip, the real problem starts, and the pacing becomes even slower. And the filler content in the middle of the scenes becomes more sloppy and actually makes certain scenes entirely different than Manga.

The current arc is much better in everything, padding content is actually better than most arcs. But the pacing is still an issue at times.

Peak Moments are Better In Anime Than Manga

In anime with OSTs and top-tier VAs, the peak moments in the story are better. This is actually one of the better things in Anime, the peak moments most of the time elevate the source material and do justice to Manga. Have seen many become interested to consume One Piece after watching such great moments on Youtube.

Lack Of Cover Stories In Anime

This is probably one of the biggest flaws of Anime objectively. Cover stories are a canon part of Manga where Oda writes some side story that becomes relevant to the main story most of the time. And Anime doesn’t adapt Cover stories after doing it for the initial few stories. Some plotlines don’t fully make sense because of this.

Weekly Reading Is Better In Manga

This is my experience in consuming the series. When I binge-watched anime the pacing didn’t bother me that much, but after catching up it was really tough to watch anime weekly. Pacing issues were really felt and the content they expanded seems not based on Oda’s vision.

Also, the weekly Manga reading feels more satisfactory in general compared to Anime.

Spoilers Problem In Anime

Manga is the original source of the series and as a result, when a big revelation comes, it will be spread through social media or Youtube. It becomes insanely tough to ignore them once you start watching the series. A single Youtube suggestion can spoil some of the biggest mysteries of the series.

So it is better to catch up to Manga than Anime.

Manga Community

This depends on the person. But there is so much to talk about in One Piece in general. Themes, mysteries, symbolism, theories, foreshadowing, etc are greatly discussed in the One Piece community on Social media and Youtube. If you want to be part of the community or just want to hear some of the themes or meanings behind the series, it is necessary to read Manga. Community is built with Manga rather than Anime.

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The best way is probably to start the series is by watching Anime to get the feel of the Voice Acting, OST, goofiness, etc. Once you get that feel, you can switch to manga and only catch the best moments in Anime.
Anime isn’t a bad adaptation by any means but Manga is way superior and also close to Oda’s true vision for the story.