One Piece has been running along quite awhile now, and along that time it's developed some fan favorite episodes. Those are the best of the best, the moments you can't wait to get back to. The more recent arcs such as Wano and Whole Cake Island dominates this list with recency a probable reason.
Nonetheless, some of thee recent episodes of One piece feature the best animation and music the series has ever seen. Whether that is Big Mom's whole Cake Island theme song or the beautiful animation seen in Wano, it pretty easy to see that One piece is on the ascendency.
10 RETURNING THE SAKE CUP! JINBEI PAYS HIS DEBT! 8.9
The episode opens with Sanji escaping his attempted assassination by the Big Mom Pirates, via dodging Katakuri's mochi attack. Immediately after this, Luffy and his doppelgangers burst out the wedding cake, sending the whole chatteau into chaos. With Big Mom now enraged, Jimbei confronts her to once again state his intention to leave her crew. Big Mom tries to intimidate and steal years off Jimbei's lifespan using her Soul-Soul devil fruit, but fails. Jimbei states that, as a member of the future Pirate King's crew he cannot be intimated by a mere Yonko, before bowing and returning a sake cup. Big Mom retaliates with an attack and, while this is happening, Brook destroys the portrait of Mother Caramel.
9 ENDING THE MATTER! WHITEBEARD VS THE BLACKBEARD PIRATES! 8.9
Much to the confusion of Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Blackbeard strolled into Marineford witch some of Impel Down's most notorious criminals as part of his crew. An enraged Whitebeard uses this moment to settle his conflict with Teach, a man who committed the grave sin of murdering his own crew member. A severely wounded Whitebeard did some damage to Blackbeard, but this was not enough after Blackbeard's crew members joined the fight. This episode culminated in the death of the great pirate, Edward Newgate, 'The Strongest Man' in the world. In his life, Whitebeard rivaled the Pirate King, Gol D Roger and, in death, he went out inspiring a new generation of pirates, just like his rival.
8 HE'LL COME! THE LEGEND OF ACE IN THE LAND OF WANO 9.0
Otama takes a hungry Luffy back home and feeds him freshly served rice, which he indulges wholeheartedly. After this, a hungry Otama excuses herself goes to drink water to temperorarily alleviate the problem. Problem is, the waters of Wano are toxic due to waste from Kaido and Orochi's factories. When Tenguyama Kitetsu returns home to see Luffy eating Otama's rice, he is understandably upset. Otama quickly deescalates the situation, but falls ill immediately after. This is when we learn of Ace's time in Wano and the amazing things he did before we ended on Luffy informing Otama that Ace is dead.
7 GEAR FOURTH! THE PHENOMENAL BOUNCE MAN! 9.1
Luffy realizes that, if he is to beat Doflamingo, he will need to get even stronger than he was. Well then, time for you then; Gear Fourth: Bounce Man. A bit of a silly transformation that some fans, and even Doflamingo, laughed off. But, make no mistake, this is a deadly transformation, and all doubts were washed away after Luffy’s first attack. Luffy kept pounding away at a seemingly helpless Doflamingo for the remainder of the episode.
6 TO THE EAST BLUE! SANJI'S RESOLUTE DEPARTURE
This episode delves into Sanj's nightmare childhood while growing up apart of Germa 66. While shunned and imprisoned, Sanji developed a passion for cooking and a desire to see the All Blue. He hearkens to a much simpler time when he cooked for his mom and she loved it. The imprisoned Sanji finds his resolve and tells his sister that he wants to be a cook. On Germa's next mission to the East Blue to partake in a war, Reiju aids Sanji in escaping from Germa. Before he leaves, he encounters Judge, who thanks him for leaving which breaks Sanji's heart even more.
5 CHARGING INTO ENEMY TERRITORY! BAKURA TOWN- WHERE THE ENEMIES THRIVE!
One can never count on the Strawhat Pirates to settle a matter quietly and without fuss. After Otama is kidnapped by Batman; no, not that one, Luffy, Zoro and Okiku rush after her. Otama arrives in Bakura Town which happens to be one of the bases for the enemy force. Here, she meets Holdem who threatens to harm her if she doesn't reveal her mysterious devil fruit ability. Bepo, Penguin and Sachi notice the commotion that’s about to go down and report to Law so that he might intervene.
4 ONE MAN'S DETERMINATION! KATAKURI'S DEADLY BIG FIGHT 9.1
After landing a nearly critical hit on Luffy, Katakuri realizes the opening that he created to do so was due to Flampe's interference. Not happy with this, Katakuri impales himself in front of Flampe and her fan club, before removing his scarf. This act shattered the ‘perfect big brother’ image Katakuri had built up until then. Free from those burdens, as well as freshly injured, Katakuri and Luffy battle using Conquerors Haki. This renders all spectators unconscious, as expected by Luffy. In another location, Bege lures Big Mom to the wedding cake.
3 TIME FOR FAREWELL! PUDDIN'S LAST REQUEST! 9.1
While the Sun Pirates hold off the Big Mom Pirates for the Strawhats to escape, Carrot informs Sanji of Pedro's death. Meanwhile, Puddin cries over the loss of Sanji, a man she had gotten unintentionally attached to. Germa also aided the Strawhats’ escape from Whole Cake Island and they hastily withdraw as soon as the Strawhats got to safety. As a beautiful number plays in the background, the rest of Whole Cake island begins winding down. Brulee and Katakuri share a lovely moment with each other before we end on Sanji cooking for his crew.
2 A FIST OF DIVINE SPEED! ANOTHER GEAR FOURTH APPLICATION! 9.6
This episode debuts Luffy’s new gear, fourth form: Snake man. A speed gear meant to outmaneuver Katakuri's excellent observation Haki. This brings Luffy a lot closer to Katakuri, but the Sweet Commander digs deeper and finds more strength to overpower Luffy. Luffy again shatters his limits and uses a new move, Rubber-Rubber King Cobra, in an attempt to beat his opponent. This is an action-heavy episode that features good animation and solid music work. Back at Shakky’s bar, Rayleigh raises a glass as he wishes Luffy success.
1 A HEARTBREAKING DUEL! SANJI VS LUFFY PART 2 9.6
A heartbreaking episode for any true fan of the Strawhat Pirates to watch. Sanji confronts Luffy after he traveled all the way into Big Mom's territory to get him back. What happens next is a gut-wrenching beat down handed out to Luffy at the hands of one of his closest friends. With every hit, Nami screams on, but Sanji keeps attacking Luffy in hopes he will leave, believing that this will save the Strawhats from Big Mom. As Sanji attempts to cut ties, Luffy makes one last plead to Sanji which sends him into tears.