Synopsis
One Piece follows the story of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy who wants to become the King of the Pirates. He eats a magical fruit that gives his body rubber powers but makes him unable to swim. Luffy forms a pirate crew called the Straw Hat Pirates and sails across the sea to find the legendary treasure called One Piece. During his journey, he fights powerful enemies, helps people, and makes many friends. The story is about adventure, friendship, dreams, and never giving up.
Background
The anime had a hiatus from October 13, 2024, to April 6, 2025.
The airing time was Wednesdays 19:00 between October 20, 1999 – March 2001. The airing time was changed to Sundays 19:30 between April 2001 – December 2004. The airing time was changed to Sundays 9:30 between October 6, 2006 – October 13, 2024. The airing time was again changed to Sundays 23:15 on April 6, 2025.
Several anime-original arcs have been adapted into light novels, and the series has inspired 50+ video games as of 2023.
In June 2004, One Piece was licensed in North America by 4Kids Entertainment, which partnered with Viz Media for home video distribution. As One Piece proved unsuitable for their target demographic, 4Kids Entertainment censored the show to meet their standards, and, in December 2006, they stopped its production. In April 2007, Funimation took over the series licensing, providing an uncut version that remained faithful to the original release.
In Japan, the anime’s first 574 episodes were released exclusively on DVD by Avex Pictures from February 21, 2001, to December 4, 2013. Blu-rays also became available with the DVDs starting on January 8, 2014. In North America, Viz Media released the anime on DVD between February 28, 2006, and June 26, 2007. Funimation has re-released and continued the series since May 27, 2008. From March 23, 2021, the DVDs were accompanied by Blu-rays as well.