The 5 Best One Piece Movies Ranked

"One Piece" needs no introduction. This is one of the biggest anime of all time, and a franchise that helped change the anime medium and manga forever. As a long-running story, "One Piece" features one of the biggest and most fleshed-out worlds in all of fiction, up there with J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium. Granted, the number of episodes is daunting, but the longevity and reputation of "One Piece" work to its advantage, as you see the world slowly change throughout the story, and the characters grow and develop over the years.

Like most big anime franchises, "One Piece" is more than just an anime or a manga, but a big franchise with almost as many movies as "Pokémon." With 17 movies to date, some movies are better than others at capturing what makes "One Piece" so special and endearing. If you care only about the best of the best, here are the five best "One Piece" movies.

Be warned. Though all of these movies are considered to be non-canon and standalone, they still require some knowledge of "One Piece" to be fully appreciated, especially the most recent movies that feature crewmembers, power-ups, and relationships with years' worth of material.

"One Piece Film: Strong World" has something no other movie in the franchise has — a script written by "One Piece" creator, Eiichiro Oda himself. That fact alone gives the film an air of authenticity, as Oda manages to encapsulate everything that makes his world and characters great and put it in a single story. "Film: Strong World" is not the best "One Piece" movie, but it is the most "One Piece" story, the one that's easiest to recommend even to those who have never watched a single episode. The plot is simple: the Straw Hats fight the legendary pirate Shiki the Golden Lion after he kidnaps Navi the navigator to force her to join his crew in an attempt to conquer the East Blue.

The film is a pure adventure, which begins with a thrilling sequence of the Straw Hats fighting off mutant animals with fantastic designs. Oda's script is full of great character moments that encapsulate what makes them so endearing without bogging you with backstory or context, plus it features the funniest character in "One Piece." If that isn't enough to convince you, the villain has swords for legs. What more could you want?

The best thing one can say about "One Piece Film: Red" is that it brings something completely different to the typical anime shonen film by nature of this being a proper musical. "Film: Red" follows the Straw Hats as they head to a very special concert by pop superstar Uta, who just so happens to be a childhood friend of Luffy and the daughter of one of the most fascinating and enigmatic characters in "One Piece" — "Red-Haired" Shanks. As a musical, the film rules, and J-pop star Ado does a terrific job with the songs.

This is essentially Shanks' movie, which is a long time coming. Even though he is not on screen a whole lot, there is enough to satisfy fans (including a pseudo-reunion 23 years in the making). Besides, the story is more about the impact Shanks has had on Luffy and Uta, and the world around him — which is in line with the central themes of the story. As a movie, "Film: Red" is a fun time, with a colorful art style and imaginative visuals, as well as some great character dynamics like finally making Koby a leader and hero. 

Different people want different things out of their anime movies. Because none of the "One Piece" movies are canon, they are free to give audiences stories they don't get from the manga or anime, like character team-ups and fights that couldn't be done in the source material. This means that most of them end up doing a lot of fanservice one way or another, and none do fan service as well as "One Piece: Stampede."

Released to commemorate the anime's 20th anniversary, "Stampede" simply asks, "What if we got every character together in one place and let them interact?" More specifically, the film takes place during the Pirate Festival where pirates from all around the world get together for a treasure hunt. This year, the prize is a treasure belonging to Gol D. Roger, King of the Pirates. Of course, things aren't that simple, and both a dangerous pirate villain as well as the entire Marine force get involved, but most of the movie is actually a big party full of cameos. This is in no way a negative, mind you. If you're going to do a big 20th anniversary celebration, you might as well have fun with it. Even if the script isn't all that, the animation is decent, and the fight scenes are exciting. 

What makes this a special treat for fans and one of the best "One Piece" movies is the ability to see characters reunite after literal years of absence in the anime and manga. Seeing Crocodile call Robin Miss All Sunday, or Luffy's fan club meet-up of Boa Hancock and Bartolomeo when the source material hasn't shown them in months or years, is what makes this movie worth watching.

"One Piece Film: Z" boasts not only one of the best "One Piece" movie villains, but what makes this film great is that it does feel like a canon story. While some of the movies on this list do not interfere with the canon much, this one is so standalone, yet also such an essential "One Piece" story that it feels like a lost episode. The story is simple, the crew saves a former marine from death, and he repays them by trying to destroy the world in order to rid it of pirates. And therein lies the brilliance of "Film: Z," that its villain, former Marine Admiral "Black Arm" Zephyr, now known simply as "Z." 

He is not just an over-the-top powerful foe with grand plans that gets beat up at the end, but a complex and layered character with understandable goals and motivation. He is a character whose ideals feel like the perfect foil to Luffy's idealism, and you understand why he is the way he is. Like almost every other "One Piece" movie, this one features former enemies becoming temporary allies, but "Film: Z" actually makes that alliance make sense from a canon perspective, which adds to the verisimilitude of the story. Plus, it has both a Joan Jett song and a Nickelback cover by Avril Lavigne, what's not to love about that?

Given the non-canonical nature of these movies, the best "One Piece" movie is the one that takes advantage of its existence and delivers a unique, experimental, and rather dark movie that still encapsulates what makes this world and characters so unique. "One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island" makes a strong impression from the very beginning by the mere fact that it is directed by Mamoru Hosoda ("Digimon: The Movie," "Summer Wars"), and he gives this franchise the same experimental approach he gave "Digimon." His signature sketch-like art style is unlike anything "One Piece" has done before or since, and the art style, desaturated colors and impressionistic animation perfectly fit the darker story Hosoda tells.

Hosoda uses the film's rather simple story — the crew accept an invitation to a luxurious island for the strongest pirates and are caught in a "Trial of Hell" — to focus on characters rather than plot. It centers on the character dynamics and relationships, and uses that to challenge the series' core themes of friendship and loyalty. Hosoda also explores some genuinely horrifying moments and imagery, making this one of the few times in all of "One Piece" where it actually seems like the crew could die. Though it doesn't feature every member of the crew being an early story, this story understands the characters better than anyone else who has made a "One Piece" movie.