We’re in an age where everything is apparently getting remade and remastered for the “modern audience,” and anime entered the fray long ago. However, remastering is something we rarely see, especially for the episodic run of a show. One Piece is infamous for its lengthy runtime and painfully slow pacing. So, does One Piece Remastered fix that? Let’s explore.
Table of Contents
One Piece Remastered Review
With the One Piece remake by Wit Studio on the horizon, Toei decided to pause the long-running series and focus on a single arc with promises of better art, editing, and pacing titled: One Piece Log Fish-Man Island Saga. It’s reminiscent of Dragon Ball Z Kai, where the filler was removed, leaving only the canonical parts. On first glance, the remaster looks fantastic. It takes the modern art style from the Wano arc and applies it here. Every frame is redrawn with updated line art, colors, shading, and effects. The remaster also blessed us with newly animated opening and ending sequences that look incredible.
That said, nothing has been reanimated so far. The framing, angles, facial expressions, and fight choreography remain the same—everything is simply traced over with the new art style. The animation may be old, but it feels fresh and nothing like before.
As for the pacing, it feels more like an attempt than an actual fix. Fans were enraged after the first episode aired, with criticisms of poor pacing and rushed editing flying around. While the edits aren’t perfect, it’s essentially a cut-and-paste job of the old episodes with new art applied on top. This results in a messy, incoherent, and inconsistent experience that indeed feels rushed. Some editing mistakes are noticeable, such as cutting too much and losing important context. Ironically, they also removed some manga scenes while retaining unnecessary fanservice moments, which neither add to the story nor follow the source material. And everything also feels a bit zoomed it.
Importance of Slow Pacing in One Piece
One Piece‘s strongest moments are when the pacing slows down, letting everything feel poetic. Iconic examples include Blackbeard’s speech to Luffy about dreams in Jaya, Luffy bowing to Rayleigh in gratitude before leaving during the current arc, and the “Raizo is safe” moment in Zou. It’s as if time stops, separating the characters from the world for just a second to create emotional depth.
The anime is atmospheric that emphasizes its settings, with Oda frequently showcasing landscapes in the manga to immerse readers in the world. However, pacing issues arise from stalling tactics like long pauses between dialogue, prolonged stares, fillers, and deviations from the manga. While tedious, these were cost-saving measures that kept the manga ahead. This approach, typical for older long-running shows, has seen improvement in recent arcs like Wano and Egghead, with significantly better animation quality and pacing—even with weekly releases. Still, some newcomers hesitate to start the series due to the flaws in earlier episodes.
Despite the issues mentioned, the later episodes of the remaster do show some improvement. The editing gets better, pacing feels more balanced, and the animation remains visually impressive. The remaster condenses 12 episodes into just 6, which, while inconsistent at times, undeniably feels more streamlined without the filler that previously bogged things down. The opening and ending sequences deserve special praise for their creative art and animation. There’s also the new episode title cards with new font style.
Conclusion
Overall, this is a much better package than what we originally got. I hope every post-timeskip arc receives the same treatment—but without cutting contextually important scenes. The remastered version is set to run for 21 episodes until March 30 of next year. With the original arc spanning 62 episodes, it’s unclear whether they’ll finish the arc or leave it midway for a future continuation. If Toei plans to remaster everything post-timeskip up to Wano, it could take 5 to 10 years—a timeline that would give the Egghead arc’s animation team a much-needed head start.
As for Wit Studio’s adaptation, it might cover the entire pre-timeskip era, given that Toei is starting with the pre-timeskip content. This is purely speculation for now, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Thank you for reading ♡. More Anime Reviews here if you are interested. Join with the community on our Discord server & Telegram chat. Check out our YouTube channel for extra content. Take care.
