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The One Piece media franchise currently has 15 movies in total. But are any of these films considered as canon? Here is a guide on whether or not the One Piece movies are canon and which movies are worth watching.
There are 15 One Piece movies, and none of them are canon. However, a few are closely related to the manga/anime. One Piece the Movie: Episode of Arabasta: The Desert Princess and the Pirates and One Piece: Episode of Chopper Plus: Bloom in Winter, Miracle Sakura both have storylines that directly came from the manga. The first one retells the Arabasta Arc of the series, while the second one basically serves as a remake of the Drum Island Arc. Meanwhile, One Piece Film: Strong World has creator Eiichiro Oda as the executive producer and he also wrote the story for this. Oda also serves as a general producer for One Piece Film: Z, One Piece Film: Gold, One Piece: Stampede, and One Piece Film: Red.
Technically speaking, none of the One Piece movies are essential to the original plot of the manga and anime. The One Piece movies have standalone storylines that could complement the main story arc. If you are also looking for extra adventures from the beloved Straw Hat crew, then it’s worth watching the movies.
The One Piece movies worth watching are the ones where Oda was involved in the production. These include: One Piece Film: Strong World, One Piece Film: Z, One Piece Film: Gold, One Piece: Stampede. While Oda was also involved in One Piece Film: Red, the plot storyline and development aren’t as good. It also passes off more as a musical type of movie, with music as a huge theme in the film. The fight scenes are amazing and of good quality, plus there’s even a glimpse of Luffy’s Gear 5. This is worth watching for people who want to add more songs to their anime playlist. Otherwise, you can skip this one.
It has become a common practice over the years for big anime franchises to release films that aren’t always canon to the overall storyline. Eiichira Oda’s One Piece has seen a lot of films since its debut more than 25 years ago — 15 films, to be precise, with the most recent, One Piece Film: Red, releasing mid-summer 2022. There’s often debate among fans about which One Piece movies are canon, or at least contain elements that fit into the overall canon, and Red is just as ambiguous as all the other One Piece movies. Some say it isn’t canon at all, while others believe there are at least some bits and pieces that fit nicely into the canon.
Fans have always wondered which One Piece movies are canon. The difference between canon and non-canon lies in how far a storyline strays from the manga and/or anime. Of the 15 One Piece movies, only four are considered canon: Strong World, One Piece Film: Z, One Piece Film: Gold, and Stampede. While many canon episodes of the anime have been known to set up movies before they release, events within the films themselves are not generally canon. This begs the question: Why make movies if they don’t further the stories?
The setup for One Piece Film: Red occurred in episodes 1029 and 1030, which delved back in time to the original introduction of a seven-year-old Luffy and the Red Hair Pirates’ nine-year-old musician, Uta. Though the pair don’t initially see eye to eye, they eventually become the best of friends, establishing the premise of the movie, which sees the Straw Hats arriving at the Island of Music, Elegia, for Uta’s first-ever live performance. After the performance, she attempts to convince Luffy to