10 anime shows you can't miss if you love One Piece
From absurd comedies to classic adventure stories, these are our top recommendations for One Piece fans.
If you're all caught up with One Piece – well, first of all, we're impressed. The anime is more than 1000 episodes long (and has spun its own live-action adaptation on Netflix, also based on the same manga). That's a big commitment. And after spending that much time with Luffy and his crew, can anything else really live up to the magic of One Piece? There's certainly hope.
As one of the most iconic anime/manga franchises of all time, One Piece means different things to different people. Some fans enjoy its zany humour. Others love immersing themselves in an epic, long-running story, getting to know the main characters over long-form story arcs. There's also the particular appeal of adventure stories about pirates and sea voyages; an eternally popular sub-genre.
With that in mind, we've put together a list of recommendations for what to watch next after you've finished One Piece.
Between these 10 anime shows, we've covered all the bases. Adventure stories with goofy heroes like Monkey D Luffy. Long-running series that you can watch for months on end. Anime dramas about literal pirates. And manga adaptations which, like One Piece, are popular enough they're seen as essential viewing.
1. Vinland Saga
If you enjoy the historical seafaring element of One Piece's pirate narrative, Vinland Saga is a solid choice. Much more serious in tone, it's a historical drama taking place in 11th-century Europe, and focuses on Viking warriors.
Drawing from real Norse sagas and historical sources, Vinland Saga has earned praise as an action/adventure series with mature and thoughtful themes, particularly surrounding its lead character Thorfinn. The warrior is traumatised by his experiences of slavery and war, and while that makes it a more grounded kind of show than One Piece, they both feature seafaring adventure, well-conceived characters and plot.
2. Dragon Ball
Like One Piece, Dragon Ball straddles the line between action and comedy, offering a stylised, high-energy take on a classic kind of martial arts story. While it's not as plot-heavy, it also shares One Piece's status as a satisfyingly long manga adaptation, spanning hundreds of episodes across multiple spin-offs including the original Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and most recently, Dragon Ball Daima.
For those who aren't familiar with the classic, Dragon Ball is a fantastical martial arts serial loosely inspired by the influential Chinese novel Journey to the West. Structured around a meandering quest narrative (much like One Piece!), it follows the exploits of a young martial artist named Son Goku as he makes new friends and perfects his combat skills. Relatively light-hearted in tone, it's a childhood fave for many longtime anime fans.
At one point there was even a One Piece/Dragon Ball crossover episode featuring a team-up between Luffy and Goku, which illustrates just how much overlap there is between these two fanbases!
3. Dan Da Dan
One of the biggest anime hits of the past few years, Dan Da Dan is a supernatural teen series whose main characters investigate paranormal entities in present-day Japan.
On the surface, Dan Da Dan may sound like a surprising choice for One Piece fans, but we'd argue it shares a lot of the same appeal. Both shows thrive on larger-than-life characters and moments of exuberant, stylised humour, and both pit their heroes against a sequence of weird and wonderful antagonists. They also star a team of unlikely allies who have to help each other get out of bizarre scrapes.
Plus, there's something to be said for checking out a show that's currently a big, mainstream hit. One of the fun things about shows like One Piece (or One-Punch Man or Dan Da Dan) is that they've already built up an enthusiastic fandom, so you'll have plenty of people to talk to when new episodes come out.
4. Black Lagoon
Running for two seasons in the '00s, Black Lagoon is a modern-day take on the pirate genre. Like Vinland Saga, it's more serious in tone than One Piece, offering a grittier view of pirate fiction.
Black Lagoon is told from the perspective of a young Japanese office worker who is kidnapped by a pirate crew while traveling for a business trip. Rather than being swashbuckling historical types, this group are hardened criminals, creating a culture clash between the protagonist Rokuro Okajima and his captors. However he gradually finds a way to assimilate into their crew, becoming a negotiator during their encounters with other criminal factions.
5. Dr. Stone
One Piece isn't afraid of ambitiously wacky world-building, and neither is Dr. Stone. Set 3000 years in the future, this sci-fi show begins in a truly unique post-apocalyptic scenario, where the entire human race has been petrified into stone. Teen protagonist Senku Ishigami is the first to wake up, and embarks on a scheme to rebuild human civilisation.
As a child prodigy, Senku considers himself an ideal person to build a better way of life, gradually awakening more and more petrified people to join his growing team. But his plans often cause more chaos than expected, clashing with rival factions as he travels the world and develops new technologies.
Epic in scope, Dr. Stone shares One Piece's love of eccentric team-ups and fantastical world-building, featuring a sprawling ensemble cast of supporting characters. And since the fourth and final season is set to conclude in 2026, you have time to get invested in the show while it's still enjoying its original heyday.
6. Naruto
Another icon of the shonen anime genre, Naruto is a genuine epic, clocking in at about 1000 episodes between the original Naruto series and its sequel, Naruto Shippuden. It's a martial arts adventure serial about a young ninja and his friends, embarking on action-packed missions in a historical fantasy setting.
If you're a longtime anime fan, recommendations like Naruto and Dragon Ball will probably seem like a no-brainer. But if you're someone who is relatively new to anime, it's worth checking out the classics. In part, because Naruto and Dragon Ball are so influential on later generations of storytellers. Alongside One Piece, all three of these shows are juggernauts, adapting bestselling manga series with young male heroes: Dragon Ball debuting in the '80s, followed by One Piece in 1999, and Naruto in 2002.
One Piece, Naruto and the dark fantasy series Bleach are also often described as the "big three" of 2000s-era anime, all originating with manga serials in Shonen Jump magazine, and gaining massive fanbases outside of Japan.
7. One-Punch Man
Blessed with one of the most beautifully self-explanatory titles in the business, One-Punch Man is essential viewing for fans of action-comedy.
An absurd riff on the superhero genre, One-Punch Man introduces a hero so powerful that he can end any fight with a single punch. In theory this should make for a very short and uneventful story, but the show takes its protagonist Saitama to some genuinely wild places, relying on a style of high-stakes action that doesn't take its superpowered hero too seriously.
8. Captain Harlock
The ultimate space pirate anime! Premiering in 1978, this classic manga adaptation is definitely the oldest (and the least stream-able) recommendation on this list. However, it's also an iconic reference for pirate anime, starring a swashbuckling antihero who leads a rebel crew in a spacefaring, distant-future setting.
If you're a fan of Steven Universe – an American show with very obvious anime influences – you may already have seen a Captain Harlock tribute without even realizing it. When the Steven Universe character Lars travels to space and starts wearing a cape, he's essentially donning a Captain Harlock cosplay, directly referencing this vintage pirate classic.
9. Toriko
Remember how we mentioned that crossover between Dragon Ball and One Piece? Well, there was a third guy in there alongside Goku and Luffy: Toriko, the main character of another shonen manga series.
While not as well known as Dragon Ball, Toriko (which was adapted for TV in 2010) has plenty to offer. This quirky and comedic adventure anime series focuses on a "Gourmet Hunter," an adventurer whose main goal in life is to track down rare food ingredients. Basically, imagine a fantasy martial arts story, but replace the martial arts with cooking and hunting.
Toriko isn't exactly a parody, but it has a lot of fun with familiar shonen tropes, establishing an action/adventure narrative in a purposefully ridiculous and over-the-top setting. In that sense it may have more in common with One Piece than the more straightforward Naruto!
10. Cowboy Bebop
If your favourite element of One Piece is its ensemble cast of misfit friends, then Cowboy Bebop should be your next port of call – not least because it's one of the greatest anime series ever made.
Set in the future, this sci-fi/Western/noir drama stars a crew of oddball bounty hunters who struggle to make a living by chasing down criminals in space. While they don't technically qualify as pirates, Cowboy Bebop's Spike Spiegel and his ultra-cool crewmates are occasionally outlaws, and their adventures are full of personality, traveling between beautifully-designed locations and meeting lots of memorable side characters along the way.
Known for its iconic jazzy soundtrack, sardonic sense of humour, and deceptively deep themes, Cowboy Bebop is a must watch – especially if you're new to the more adult side of the anime medium.
Check out more of our Fantasy or Anime coverage or visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide to find out what else is on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast.
Authors
Gavia Baker-Whitelaw is a freelance critic and entertainment journalist specialising in geek culture, TV and film. She has written for numerous outlets including Empire, TV Guide, Wired and Vulture, and hosts the film podcast Overinvested.
