One of the longest continuously running manga series of all time is One Piece, created by Eiichiro Oda. In steady publication since 1997, there are over 100 collected volumes of One Piece, which can be intimidating for those curious about how to properly read the manga in order.
One Piece tells the story of young pirate Monkey D. Luffy, who leads the Straw Hat Pirates across the high seas against rival crews and the World Government’s relentless Navy. Luffy and his friends are after the mythical One Piece, a hidden treasure that grants the one who claims it the coveted title, King of the Pirates. Here is how to read the One Piece manga series in the correct order and which spin-offs are considered canonical to the main story.
How to Read the One Piece Manga in Order
There are currently 107 volumes of the One Piece manga, with official English-language translations published in North America by Viz Media. As might be expected, One Piece is intended to be read right from its first volume through to its most recent, experiencing the adventures of Luffy and his friends in chronological order.
Though most of the One Piece anime movies are considered non-canonical, a handful have had story elements incorporated into the main continuity. One Piece Film: Strong World, One Piece Film: Z, and One Piece Film: Gold are each considered canonical and have received their own manga adaptations. Strong World takes place approximately after Chapter 490 of the manga, Z takes place after Chapter 653, and Gold takes place after Chapter 801.
Several of the other films have also received manga adaptations but are deemed out-of-continuity, instead serving as standalone side-stories. Similarly, there are a number of parody spinoff manga series, like One Piece Party, Chin Piece, and One Piece in Love that are not in-continuity.
The Non-Canonical Light Novels
Beyond the traditional manga format, One Piece has expanded into the light novel medium, which combines prose and artwork. Though the majority of the light novels adapt the events of the One Piece anime and its spinoff movies, there are six light novels that tell original stories not based on the manga or anime. Given that most of these light novels don’t feature Oda’s direct involvement, the majority of them are considered non-canonical.
However, 2018’s One Piece: Novel A by Shou Hinata and Tatsuya Hamazaki (published across two volumes) is widely considered canon. This story recounts the origins of Portgas D. Ace and his journey to embrace his seafaring destiny as a pirate, with its creation directly supervised by Oda. This canonical side-story has since been translated and published by Viz Media for the English-language market as One Piece: Ace’s Story.
