14 Saddest One Piece Moments That Prove Why It’s Considered The Greatest Anime Ever

WARNING: SPOILERS UP TO ONE PIECE’S EGGHEAD ARCFor almost 30 years, the One Piece anime has successfully delivered immeasurable amounts of joy with its tales of adventure and epic battles, but the way it balances those with the series’ saddest moments makes it a true contender for the greatest anime of all time.

Over the course of the series, 33 arcs so far, One Piece has proven itself more than capable of introducing new characters that take little to no time to tug on viewers’ heartstrings. Author Eiichiro Oda has also shown the ability to reintroduce beloved characters only to completely flip what was known about them to help create an extremely moving narrative that pushes an arc’s themes into the most satisfying levels.

While the first arc, Romance Dawn, introduced viewers to Luffy, Zoro, and One Piece‘s wide world filled with super-powered pirates and marines, the story evolved into something much greater. Before long, Oda’s story started diving into complex themes revolving around the effects of fascism, slavery, and exploring the true meaning of freedom in a world filled with varying degrees of oppression. Such mature narrative elements gave birth to dozens of heart-wrenching moments, and there will likely be even more before One Piece ends.

14

Sanji Feeds His Captain, And His Captain Feeds His Soul

The events of the Whole Cake Island arc force Sanji to confront his past and his extremely abusive family. After the safety of the Straw Hats and the Baratie chefs was threatened, Sanji couldn’t help but play into the enemy’s hands and participate in a deadly sham wedding.

The tortured cook did his best to convince Luffy to leave him behind, but the captain’s high levels of emotional intelligence saw through Sanji’s lies. His captain finally gets through to him by asking Sanji what exactly he wants to do. This broke Sanji because it made him realize that no matter what, Luffy has got his back and not only accepts Sanji but loves who he is, an acceptance he hadn’t felt since his mother died.

13

Kuma And Ginny’s First Real Meal After Escaping Years Of Hell

Many characters never find a way to escape the Celestial Dragon’s domination, but the God Valley incident saw the escape of hundreds of slaves thanks to the actions of Bartholomew Kuma. Even though they were only children, he and his friend Ginny had endured years of living hell as slaves for the Celestial Dragons, including living off of scraps and having to watch loved ones murdered in front of them.

Everything changed when Kuma met a young Emporio Ivankov and Ginny during the God Valley incident flashback, where Kuma ate the Paw-Paw Fruit, giving him the powers needed to transport himself and others away from the Celestial Dragon’s savagery. After their escape, Kuma and Ginny found a town where they could work for a living. As the clip from Toei’s YouTube page proves, they were not prepared for the emotions that came with experiencing a full belly for the first time or the joyful tears that relief brought them.

12

Chopper’s Final Gift To Dr.Hiriluk

Like several of the Straw Hat Pirates, Chopper was born in a place where he did not fit in and was violently shunned. When no one would care for the transforming sentient reindeer, the ostracized Dr.Hiriluk couldn’t help but heal the injured creature. The eccentric doctor not only healed Chopper’s body, but he also healed his heart and taught him the basics of medicine.

After hearing about Hiriluk’s fatal disease, Chopper ventured to find a medicinal mushroom and was horrifically brutalized during his pursuit. Even though what he found was a fatally poisonous mushroom, Hiriluk still ate it because he was already close to death and saw the effort that his young protege went through to save his life. After realizing his grave mistake, it was too late to save his mentor’s life.

11

Zoro’s Promise To An Old Friend

Since he was a child, Zoro trained his swordsmanship fiercely, but no matter how much progress he made, he could not defeat his sensei’s daughter, Kuina. After their rivalry escalated into a nighttime duel with real blades, Zoro once again found himself on the ground and forced to surrender. The victory proved to be a breaking point of frustration for both Zoro and Kuina, but for different reasons.

Despite her skills, Kuina hated the fact that she was born female, believing that her body’s limitations would prevent her from reaching her dream of becoming the world’s greatest swordsman. That reveal angered Zoro immensely because he respected her skills so much that he didn’t want her discounting his training and blaming her gender if he was to someday surpass her. They both vowed to compete for the Greatest Swordsman title, and because she died in an accident the next day, Zoro vowed to fulfill that promise.

10

Nami Finally Asks For Help

Since Nami was a little girl, she’d been working and saving money in order to buy her and her village’s freedom from the tyrannical leader of the fishman pirates, Arlong. This led to years of stealing and eventually betraying Luffy. Even though Nami was able to gather the large sum that Arlong requested, the deal with her mother’s murderer was a lark.

The cruel fishman captain had Nami’s years of work stolen right from under her, and that loss pushed her to start cutting her own Fishman Pirate tattoo in a fit of rage/hopelessness until Luffy grabbed her hand and offered his help. Years of relying on only herself and finally realizing that she could trust someone else saw her cocky nature melt away when she finally let the words “help me” escape her lips. Then, after placing his treasured straw hat on her head, Luffy did just that.

9

The Straw Hats Say Goodbye To Vivi

Before Luffy and his crew helped Vivi save her kingdom of Alabasta, they met the shapeshifter, Bon Clay. The experience inspired them and Vivi to draw secret X’s on their arms so that they could not be deceived by someone with Bon Clay’s abilities. Luckily, the tactic paid off, but in more ways than one.

After saving Alabasta from annihilation, Princess Vivi decided she could not continue traveling with Luffy’s crew. She desperately wanted to let them know her decision and thank them for all that they’d done, but couldn’t acknowledge her connection to the pirates in front of the World Government’s marines. Still, as the Straw Hats hit the seas, they raised their arms, revealing their X’s to Vivi, showing her that she’s still considered part of their crew.

8

Yasuie’s Sacrifice Gets The Last Laugh

For decades, Wano was mangled into a poisonous landscape focused on producing weapons and monstrous fighters for Kaido’s Beast Pirates. People who tried to fight were silenced along with their families, while the rest were turned into slaves in a land where clean food and water were now extremely scarce and controlled. Many citizens who endured the harsh lifestyle were even force-fed artificial Devil Fruits that either transformed them or caused brain damage that stripped them of all of their ability to express any emotion besides laughter.

One resident, Shimotsuki Yasuie, was once a beloved daimyo of the land, strove to keep a low profile during the day, but at night, he worked hard to steal quality food for the hungry. He was eventually caught, and in order to throw the Beast Pirates off the scent of a growing rebellion, he took responsibility for actions he did not commit and was killed in front of the village that loved him the most. His death was met with uproarious laughter from the citizens and his adopted daughter, because their ability to grieve had been stolen from them.

7

Kinemon’s Final Plea To Luffy

Episode #1015 of the anime stands as one of the best episodes of the entire One Piece anime for several reasons. Its final scenes include Luffy casually walking past two imposing Pirate Emperors to meet the mangled remains of his samurai allies, the Red Scabbards, all barely clinging to life after they failed to put down their country’s oppressor, Kaido.

Shown in Crunchyroll’s YouTube clip above, their leader, Kinemon, through blood and tears of frustration, sputters a request for Luffy to put the fate of Wano on his back. The weight of the request is heavy after everything viewers have seen transpire in the samurai homeland, and the direction of the episode helped the moment become easily one of One Piece‘s most emotional moments.

6

The Final Concert Of The Rumbar Pirates

When Brook first met the Straw Hats near the island of Thriller Bark, all that was left of the afro’d musician was his skeleton and the ghost ship that he’d be trapped on for decades. Thanks to his strange Devil Fruit powers, Brook’s soul has continued to live in what remains of his body, but the same could not be said for the rest of the crew once known as the Rumbar Pirates.

The Rumbar Pirates traveled the seas, spreading their love of music wherever they went, but the seas and its inhabitants were not kind to the crew. After being attacked by fatal poisonous weapons and stranded in the ocean, the Rumbar Pirates decided to go out singing. The doomed crew each continued to play their instruments, singing even as each fell one after the other until only Brook and his piano could be heard; then there was nothing.

5

The End Of Kuma: A Warlord, A Hero, And A Father

After escaping years of being a child slave for the Celestial Dragons, Kuma found years of happiness and peace, living with Ginny and using his powers to remove pain from others. However, after Ginny died, he decided to raise her daughter Bonnie, a bond that’d change him and the world.

When Bonnie showed signs of having the same illness that killed her mother, Kuma traveled the world to find a cure. Finally, he found the world’s smartest man, Dr. Vegapunk, who was working for the World Government. They agreed to cure Bonnie but at the cost of Kuma’s life and body. Kuma gladly gave himself up if that meant that Bonnie could live, and when Dr. Vegapunk was forced to pull the final switch to erase Kuma’s will, the definition of a great father disappeared with a smile.