One Piece Is a Better Anime Than Naruto in the Long Run

In the world of manga, its greatest titans often came from one key publishing home, Weekly Shonen Jump. The Shonen Jump brand has introduced its now-global readership to an impressive array of genre-defining stories and beloved heroes, but its most popular stories often provoke competing fandoms. Perhaps its most notable rivalry was One Piece and Naruto.

Growing up with both series, I saw Luffy from One Piece set sail in the pages of Shonen Jump’s North American launch in 2002, with Naruto soon to follow. I was attached to both, but I followed Naruto particularly passionately, even writing about it as a professional. But decades later, I have to admit, One Piece’s anime has pulled ahead.

One Piece’s Animation Exceeds Naruto’s by the End of Its Run

Even in the earlier days of One Piece’s 1999 anime versus Naruto’s 2002 beginnings, the former’s early episodes brought the charm compared to the stiffer offerings of Naruto. That being said, to Naruto’s credit, the animation improved in time for the Chunin Exams Arc, which won many additional fans over. Rock Lee’s fight with Gaara was especially legendary among them.

In fact, I still go back to Naruto: Shippuden and find it’s an amazing payoff for the relatively rough first 220-episode portion of Naruto, with it boasting greater animated fluidity and higher-stakes fights. Episode #82, in particular, was an animated tour de force, featuring no real fights and demonstrating its true range without even using its title character.

By contrast, One Piece takes a longer time, roughly 264 episodes, to get to its first truly strong animated arc, Enies Lobby. But One Piece, in characteristically gradual fashion, showed me over time that its upper limits far exceeded even the spectacular heights of Naruto: Shippuden. The Wano Arc was a quantum leap, and Egghead continuously pushes higher.

It’s to the point at which even Naruto’s strongest animated offerings, whether it’s a moody grieving Shikamaru, Kakashi’s clash with Obito, or Madara soloing the Shinobi Alliance, are often met or exceeded by One Piece’s strongest offerings. Garp vs. Kuzan, Luffy vs. Kaido, and even recent instances like Kuma’s flashback are utterly epic animated showcases.

To One Piece’s credit, this has all been achieved as a result of key talent like Megumi Ishitani and Vincent Chansard joining and budget improvements while still running as a weekly series. Naruto concluded well before anime like Demon Slayer pushed its studio, Pierrot, to adopt a seasonal model. Boruto’s next anime has the chance to benefit from this, though.

One Piece Uses Its Iconic Music to Greater Effect

While it is debatable which anime has better music, One Piece uses its opening and ending themes to greater effect. In the Wano Arc, when Oden reflected on what he and Gol D. Roger found when they discovered Joy Boy’s treasure, with the crew laughing until they cried, One Piece’s first ending theme, “memories”, by Maki Otsuki, ushered in the credits.

I find it difficult to articulate just how potent the delivery of this sudden throwback was. “memories” was previously used in episode #130 and again in #808; this last instance was the ultimate gut-punch. As a man in my thirties, witnessing the crew discover indescribable treasure, it felt like I was as invested in the journey as they were.

Naruto’s greatest musical strengths lie in its soundtrack thanks to composer Yasaharu Takanashi, who infuses rock with traditional Japanese instrumentals to create an exciting, unique feel. Takanashi would use this rock infusion in other anime, namely, Fairy Tail as well, using a Celtic flair, but Naruto remains his most iconic output.

But weighed against One Piece’s music overall, charming background instrumentals included, there’s really not much to debate. Their opening themes’ quality is another debate worth having, but not to determine the quality of the series itself.

One Piece’s Message Resonates Powerfully With the Real World

Both Naruto and One Piece feature heartwarming messages that any reader could use to their benefit. Naruto’s messages include prioritizing love over hatred, peace over war, and acceptance over persecution, often with powerful injections of empathy. One Piece’s message, however, strikes a counter-cultural nerve.

I know that anime is no longer as underground as it once was. Seeing real people hoist the Jolly Roger of Luffy’s Straw Hats in protest against injustice, however, reminds me just how influential One Piece is worldwide. As the series has progressed, it’s taken aim at a morally bankrupt government that crushes any resistance under its boots.

It’s not hard to see why the downtrodden across the world have embraced the Straw Hats as a new symbol of hope against oppression. Luffy is not the family revolutionary; his father is. But when he sees despotic leaders ruling with an iron fist while their subjects starve, he’ll fight so they can eat their fill.

This creates a more interesting message for One Piece that transcends the usual Chosen One tropes shared by both Luffy and Naruto. Luffy is clearly the new incarnation of the Warrior of Liberation, whose advent threatens the World Government’s deathgrip on power even as the planet slips into ruin. For One Piece fans, it’s a message of hope.

Naruto’s Fights Are Better (But One Piece’s Fights Hold Greater Weight)

I’m not in any position to try and claim One Piece has better fights overall. Individually, it has its moments, with even the silliest moments like Enel being wildly memorable. But Naruto’s fights felt smarter, with a clear strategic element on top of a variety of signature taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and not breaking its own rules too often.

In terms of pure entertainment value, I’d happily rewatch the best of Naruto’s heights, whether it’s Pain’s assault on Konoha, or seeing Shikamaru use the immortal Hidan’s hubris to defeat him and gravely injure Kakuzu. These fights are thrilling, but more often than not, they fail to generate much more than pure hype; there’s nothing wrong with that.

One Piece’s fights have gradually improved, though. Outside of the usual showstoppers typically once reserved for Luffy, like his Kaido showdown, others have created incredible memories. Ace’s fight with Blackbeard, followed by the former’s inevitable fate at Marineford, sets off a catastrophic event known as the Paramount War, even traumatizing Luffy. Even gorgeous fights can still have greater meaning.

One of One Piece’s best fights is Kuzan’s fight against Garp, a battle laced with memories of familial discord, where a former student fought his mentor. It’s visually stunning and rivals anything Naruto has made, but its emotional impact was a greater hook. However, Naruto can play that game too, with Jiraiya’s fight against Pain as solid proof.

But One Piece is full of emotional moments like that in its fights. Kuma landing that punch on Saint Saturn in the Egghead Arc is tremendously warranted; he didn’t need to win for viewers to cheer. Even when Luffy rescues Otama from Holdem, a relatively less intense fight, it evokes images of Ace, much like his fight against Hody Jones.

While the fight choreography, techniques deployed, and overall strategy earn Naruto the better technical accolades for its fights, One Piece is more consistently gaining on those fronts. With heartbreaking moments like Luffy’s clashes with Usopp and Sanji, One Piece demonstrates a different, pathos-fueled edge. Few moments can match the time Luffy punched Kaido so hard “We Are” started to play.

One Piece’s Filler Actually Serves a Purpose

As much as I love Naruto, there’s only a select few filler arcs I enjoy returning to, none of which I find particularly necessary. The anime also has an offensively large amount of filler. One Piece trades that filler issue for tremendous pacing problems, certainly, but it also has approximately 8% filler, an astounding achievement despite having over 1100 episodes.

Filler episodes are skippable in the eyes of canon purists, but exploring some can be worth it. While Mecha Naruto is infuriating, Paradise Life on a Boat has its moments. But One Piece’s filler arcs like Long Ring Long Land actually attained canon status recently, and G-8, explaining the Going Merry’s fatal keel damage, proves filler’s worldbuilding potential.

The filler factor, combined with animation, music, cultural impact, and emotional edge to its fights, makes One Piece’s anime the winner. However, it’s still an extraordinary time investment. One worth making, sure, but it’s made a persuasive case for any anime viewer to indulge its message.

But I take no joy in making these comparisons. I still like Naruto more, as it’s closer to my heart; its first volume was the first tankobon I ever received, and it’s a precious keepsake. I’ll always preach to enjoy both, as I’ve come to appreciate stories across the demographic spectrum, but One Piece is a generational anime success.