21 Years Ago Today, One Piece Released the Worst Anime Arc of the 2000s
As far as shonen anime go, few series have a better track record than Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece. The adventures of Monkey D. Luffy have been a hit with fans since the late 1990s, and with the series more popular than ever, it’s clear that the franchise is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. However, things haven’t always gone so smoothly for the Straw Hat Pirates.
Like any long-running series, One Piece has undergone a lot of change since debuting in 1999. In particular, the franchise underwent a significant, albeit gradual, shift pre-timeskip as it transitioned out of the lighthearted adventures of early One Piece and into the more serious storytelling that defines Luffy’s journey in the New World. While this transition set up the series to become the anime giant that it is today, it also saw the release of the franchise’s most infamous narrative stretch: the Long Ring Long Land Arc.
The Long Ring Long Land Arc Is the Sole Black Mark on One Piece’s Track Record
October 31, 2004, marked the beginning of a new era for the One Piece anime. With the events of the Skypiea Arc firmly in the rearview mirror, Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates were on the verge of the Enies Lobby Saga — an iconic part of the franchise that firmly ushered the Straw Hat Pirates to the stage as major players in the Grand Line. Unfortunately, before Luffy’s crew reaches this destination, they must first make a stop at a peculiar island named Long Ring Long Land.
The Long Ring Long Land Arc primarily revolves around Luffy and his crew’s conflict with the Foxy Pirates: a notorious pirate crew known for stealing the members of other crews by using Davy Back Fights. This strange practice serves as the backbone of the arc, during which the two crews compete in various challenges in order to protect themselves.
The main issue with the Long Ring Long Land Arc is simple; no matter how you cut it, the sequence just doesn’t matter to the overall plot of One Piece. Foxy and his two closest associates haven’t appeared in a single canon anime scene in the 21 years since their anime debut, and Luffy’s crew is completely unaffected by the events of the arc. Add in the fact that the One Piece anime extended the arc’s length with padded filler scenes (as well as Luffy’s questionable Afro costume), and the Long Ring Long Land Arc quickly becomes one of the oddest anime arcs of the 2000s.
In a series known for its long-term storytelling and interconnected storylines, One Piece‘s visit to Long Ring Long Land still means virtually nothing to Luffy’s journey over 20 years later, raising the question: what was Eiichiro Oda’s goal for the arc in the first place? Admittedly, the Long Ring Long Land Arc does briefly bring the Straw Hat Pirates into contact with Aokiji, which is their first face-to-face encounter with a Marine Admiral up to that point in One Piece‘s story.
However, this encounter could have happened in any other arc, given how disconnected it is from the preceding events, so it can’t be the sole purpose for Oda including the arc. In retrospect, there is only one explanation for the Long Ring Long Land Arc, and if the One Piece manga is any indication, there may be one saving grace for the series:
The Davy Back Fight Is the Only Hope for Long Ring Long Land’s Redemption
One Piece‘s pirates aren’t known for their rule-following tendencies — in fact, quite the opposite — but for some reason, the rules of the Davy Back Fight seem to be respected Grand Line. While the Long Ring Long Land Arc does little to explain this phenomenon, recent events from the One Piece manga may hint that Eiichiro Oda actually introduced the game for a purpose. The Elbaph Arc’s Rocks D. Xebec flashback has shone a light on some of the Grand Line’s most mysterious lore, and much to the surprise of fans, several of these revelations seem connected to the Long Ring Long Land Arc.
The Rocks Pirates, who fleshed out their ranks via a series of Davy Back Fights, bear a flaming skull on their Jolly Roger, and as keen-eyed One Piece fans have pointed out, this skull is extremely similar to the one that adorns Luffy’s chest while the pirate wears his Afro Luffy costume. This connection is made even more interesting by the recent reveal that Rocks is related to Davy Jones’ bloodline, suggesting that Eiichiro Oda may have been planning much further ahead than fans realized when it initially aired.
The Long Ring Long Land Arc will never be a fan favorite One Piece arc; its polarizing reputation over the past 20 years has guaranteed that. However, now that the Rocks D. Xebec has reignited the series’ investigation of the Davy Back Fight, it may finally be time for one of the most criticized arcs in shonen anime history to begin its redemption arc — hopefully, without Foxy the Pirate around to slow things down.
