One Piece's serialization in the Shonen Jump back in 1997 marked the start of Eiichiro Oda's extraordinary success in the weekly magazine. Shortly afterward, an anime adaptation for One Piece was announced by Toei Animation which just completed its 20 years earlier this year.
Although the One Piece anime is a largely faithful adaptation of Eiichiro Oda's manga, there are quite a lot of differences between the two, however small they may be. That's not to say that the only one of the two is a valid source, however. It just means that the anime takes its liberties that Eiichiro Oda completely approves. Here are 5 ways in which the One Piece anime is different from the manga, and 5 in which it is the same.
10 Different: Extended Fight Scenes
With the One Piece anime slowly catching up to the manga, chances of it running out of material to adapt increase significantly. Thankfully, the dedicated staff at Toei Animation decide to tackle this problem by expanding the fights in the anime. Although this hasn't always been the case, it can be observed more often now than ever.
At Whole Cake Island, several fights, including the likes of Luffy vs Katakuri were extended in the anime. At Wano Country, we saw the same phenomenon come into play once again, with fights like Zoro vs Hawkins and Shutenmaru vs Jack getting extended.
9 Same: Luffy's Journey
Although there are minor differences between the One Piece anime and the manga, the story is essentially the same. The changes make little to no difference to the main plot of the series which is focused on Luffy's journey.
In this case, both the anime and the manga do an incredible job of showcasing Luffy's adventure with the Straw Hat Pirates. Despite anime and manga being two different mediums, the story is just as enjoyable. In fact, most One Piece fans have likely had an experience with both of them over the years.
8 Different: Censorship
Due to airing on TV in an early timeslot, the One Piece anime often tends to censor quite a lot of stuff. Looking over the two mediums, censorship has been the biggest difference between the manga and the anime, without a doubt. This can be seen at Sabaody Archipelago, where Trafalgar Law gives Eustass Kid the finger in the manga, and the anime just leaves that bit out.
Skip over to Marineford, where Akainu blew off half of Whitebeard's face, but the anime chose to censor it and gave Whitebeard a hole in the gut instead (interesting how some things work out). Censorship is, however, necessary and there's nothing the anime can do to fix it, unfortunately.
7 Same: Adaptation
Eiichiro Oda's manga is very carefully adapted by the Toei Animation team so the fans can have their best experience while watching the anime. Although the studio receives a lot of hate for their work on One Piece, the truth is that they work their socks off and the manga being close to the anime is what causes the pacing to slow down.
In fact, the One Piece anime is as faithful as an adaptation can get. They're extremely careful about what they show in the anime and Eiichiro Oda is contacted at times to ensure that they don't get things wrong. Evidently, the One Piece team is extremely dedicated.
6 Different: Sabo's Backstory
Interestingly, in the One Piece anime, the fans were treated to Sabo's backstory, which most of them seemed to appreciate. This happened after the events of the Dressrosa arc where a couple of episodes showcased Sabo's journey to where is right now. The manga doesn't have any such story.
However, Eiichiro Oda recently mentioned that he couldn't illustrate Sabo's backstory due to time constraints, and thus, allowed the anime staff to work on it. His draft for Sabo's backstory also surfaced, once again, indicating that the One Piece anime staff stays in contact with Oda often.
5 Same: Commitment
Despite the anime taking its liberties with the adaptation at times, there's no denying that it is committed to making the story into an unforgettable experience. That goes for Eiichiro Oda as well. Both the One Piece anime and the manga see the creators do their utmost best to provide the best possible entertainment to the fans.
Oda does it week in week out, as does the One Piece anime. While most people have their preferences, us included, that certainly doesn't mean that the other isn't good. One Piece is an incredible journey that's can be enjoyed either way and frankly, both ways, if possible.
4 Different: Whole Cake Island
With the introduction of the massive Charlotte family in Whole Cake Island, Eiichiro Oda didn't have enough time to stuff all of them in the story, or giving those he introduced decent jobs to do in the manga. Thankfully, the anime saw to it that this problem was countered. In the anime version of this arc, a lot of the Charlotte family members who didn't make their way into the manga were given significant roles.
This was evident when Luffy was freed from his prison by Jinbe and he took on the Big Mom Pirates in the Chateau, or at the Tea Party itself. Once the Straw Hat Pirates made their escape, the Germa fought many Charlotte family members, all of which got ample screentime, thanks to the anime.
3 Same: The Big Fights
As mentioned above, the One Piece anime tends to carry on its own path when possible. This is mostly done to prevent the anime from catching up to the manga too quickly, and also because One Piece is packed with content that Oda often cannot put in his manga.
However, when it comes to the big fights, the anime sticks to what Oda does in the manga, more or less. The key moments in battle, and more importantly, the result is never changed or messed with.
2 Different: The Wano Country Arc
The Wano Country arc of the anime was a big step forward in the right direction for the staff at Toei Animation. With Nagamine stepping in as the new director, aided by Komaki and Kureta, we were promised a more illustrious arc than that of the manga.
So far, the arc has been absolutely magnificently handled in the anime, and just like with Whole Cake Island, it almost feels like it outdoes the manga in more than one way. So far, the anime has given us Zoro's adventures in Wano Country and also some additional details with Kaido's transformation into his dragon form, both of which were simply incredible to watch.
1 Same: The Spirit of Adventure
The One Piece manga and anime may have their differences, but the spirit of adventure remains the same in both cases. You can't go wrong with either of them, and that's one of the things that make One Piece the incredible story that it is. Fans are grateful that Oda's manga and the anime created by Toei Animation exist and instead of just one, we have two sources to enjoy this marvelous adventure.
While there are two ways to enjoy One Piece, it doesn't make much of a difference which one you choose, at the end of the day. The journey is just as incredible either way.