Only 8 Anime Series Are Better Than 'One Piece'

10 hours ago 7

Hunter x Hunter Showdown x On The x Airship, Gon and Killua reaching for a ball.

Published May 30, 2026, 5:19 AM EDT

Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck is a writer for Collider. He grew up creating lists, stories, and worlds, which led to his love of anime and video games. He attended Sheridan College where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Game Design. Lucas and his group won 1st place for technical innovation at LevelUp Toronto 2023, and he was also an intern for the Oakville Film Festival of Arts.

The anime community as a whole cannot decide on the best anime, which is only natural since everyone has different tastes and preferences. However, one of the most popular anime series ever is One Piece, which still hasn't hit its peak at over a thousand episodes. The anime still has a bunch of time left with plenty of storytelling potential, but its expansive world, engaging characters, intriguing themes, creativity, and entertainment value have established it as an anime juggernaut.

One Piece may be a lot of fans' favorite anime, but it isn't the best, and while others think there are many better series than it, there may only be 8 anime shows better than One Piece. This list will highlight anime series that most fans can agree are better than the biggest thing on TV based on writing, animation, originality, lack of flaws, popularity, fan opinion, critical acclaim, and overall quality.

Let's get the obvious entry out of the way, because many consider Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood the best anime of all time, and therefore, it is most likely better than One Piece. After Ed and Al lose parts or all of their bodies in a taboo experiment, they go on a quest to restore these lost parts with the philosopher's stone. However, when they uncover a government conspiracy, they must now stop it before it consumes the entire world.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is hailed as the best anime ever because of its wide appeal, from the engaging characters, riveting story, mystery, lore, worldbuilding, comedy, drama, romance, and action. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood didn't need thousands of episodes to create a magnificent world that is ripe with well-written characters and profound themes. Only a series such as this can compete with One Piece, and in this case, excel above it.

7 'Steins;Gate' (2011)

This list tries to feature anime that are similar to One Piece so that they can easily be compared, but certain series are so good that they had to be featured here, including Steins;Gate. When a self-proclaimed mad scientist accidentally creates a machine that can send texts into the past, he and his friends must now correct the timeline before it collapses on itself, while also battling a secret organization.

Steins;Gate and One Piece don't have much in common, with each having its own strengths. However, the former is tightly written with no plot holes, and that is rare when dealing with time travel. Steins;Gate is a psychological masterpiece and a profound thriller that delves into the philosophical side of time travel. Its narrative structure is phenomenal, and the direction is incredible, creating an all-time great that is better than most shows, proving to be a genre-defining anime series.

6 'Gintama' (2006–2021)

There are a decent number of long-running shōnen anime on this list, and one of the most underrated is Gintama. Set in an alternate universe in feudal Japan where aliens have taken over the world, Gintoki is a former samurai who now works odd jobs to keep the lights on. Alongside Kagura and Shinpachi, the trio take on whatever job comes their way, whether it involves aliens, terrorists, police, or space pirates.

Gintama takes a very different approach to other anime, focusing mostly on episodic comedy episodes. However, the handful of times it had a serious arc, Gintama wowed with its marvellous storytelling, fantastic fights, and renowned cast of characters. Gintama excels at keeping its characters relevant, with plenty of side adventures and serious plot lines, handling those aspects much better than One Piece.

5 'Mob Psycho 100' (2016–2022)

Mob (Shigeo Kageyama) from Mob Psycho 100

ONE is an iconic author who has made a couple of the best manga and anime series in the world, including Mob Psycho 100. Shigeo is the world's strongest psychic, but he only wants an average life and to impress his crush. Unfortunately, because he suppresses his emotions, they come out through an explosion of uncontrollable psychic powers, which makes life difficult for him, his friends, and his enemies.

Mob Psycho 100 is one of the best anime of all time, and it does this by creating a gorgeous character study where each episode is a different descent into the ego and self-improvement. From some of the best characters in anime to top-tier humor, incredible rewatchability, remarkable animation, and riveting fight scenes, Mob Psycho 100 is better than almost every single anime out there, not just One Piece.

Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky

Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.

🏜️Paul Atreides

🖖Capt. Kirk

✊Princess Leia

🔦Ellen Ripley

🔥Max Rockatansky

FIND YOUR HERO →

How do you lead when the stakes couldn't be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.

AI absorb everything — every variable, every pattern — and move only when I know the path forward. BI read the room, make the call, and own the consequences. Hesitation costs more than mistakes. CI rally people. A cause needs a voice, and I refuse to let fear be louder than conviction. DI assess the threat, establish what needs doing, and get it done without waiting for permission. EI don't lead. I act. Others can follow or not — I'm already moving.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.

APrescience — the ability to see further ahead than anyone else and plan accordingly. BImprovisation — I'm at my best when the plan falls apart and I have to invent a new one. CConviction — I know what I'm fighting for, and that certainty doesn't waver under fire. DComposure — I stay functional when everyone around me is falling apart. Panic is a luxury. EEndurance — I outlast things. I take the hit and keep moving long after others have stopped.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is the thing you'd sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.

AThe survival and dignity of my people — even if I have to become something frightening to ensure it. BThe safety of my crew — every single one of them. No one gets left behind. CFreedom — for my people, for every world still crushed under the weight of an empire. DThe truth — what actually happened, what's actually out there, whether anyone believes me or not. EThe one person — or the one memory — that still makes any of this worth surviving for.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.

AWith intensity and distance — I care deeply, but the weight I carry makes closeness complicated. BWith warmth and irreverence — I take the mission seriously, not myself. CWith directness and trust — I say what I mean, and I expect the people I work with to rise to it. DWith professional care but clear limits — I'll protect you, but I won't pretend we're family. EWith wariness that slowly becomes loyalty — I don't trust easily, but when I do, it holds.

NEXT QUESTION →

You're facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you're the only one who sees it defines everything.

APrepare in silence. If they won't listen, I'll be ready when they finally have to. BKeep pushing until someone listens — and if no one does, handle it myself. CBuild the case, find the allies, and make the threat impossible to ignore. DDocument everything. The truth matters even if no one believes it yet. EStop trying to convince anyone. Survive it. That's the only argument that counts.

NEXT QUESTION →

What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they'd pay it again.

AMy innocence — I've seen what I'm capable of, and I can't unsee it. BPeople I loved — the command chair has a view, but it's a lonely one. CA normal life — I gave up everything ordinary the moment I chose the cause. DMy sense of safety — I know exactly what's out there now, and I can't pretend otherwise. EAlmost everything — and I'm still not sure what I'm carrying it all for. But I keep going.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you feel about the rules of the world you're in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What's yours?

AI understand them deeply — and I know exactly which ones must be broken, and why. BI respect the spirit of them and bend the letter when the situation demands it. CThe system is the problem. I'm not here to work within it — I'm here to dismantle it. DI follow protocol until protocol stops being useful. Then I make the call myself. EThe rules collapsed a long time ago. What's left is instinct, and mine are reliable.

NEXT QUESTION →

When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.

ADestiny — or something that feels so much like it that the difference no longer matters. BThe people on my ship — their faces, their trust, the fact that they're counting on me. CThe belief that what we're fighting for is worth every sacrifice, including this one. DSheer refusal to let it win — whatever it is. I don't stop. That's just who I am. EI'm not sure anymore. But the road is still there, and I'm still on it.

REVEAL MY HERO →

Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…

Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.

Paul Atreides

You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you're capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.

You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn't ask for but can't escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won't, is exactly you.

Captain Kirk

You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you've always believed there's a third option nobody else has thought of yet.

You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you've earned it.
Kirk's genius isn't tactical — it's human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.

Princess Leia

You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you're fearless, but because giving up simply isn't something you're capable of.

You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you've never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.

Ellen Ripley

You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone's hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.

You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley's heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn't have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn't there.
When it counts, you don't flinch. That's everything.

Max Rockatansky

You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.

You don't ask for help, don't need validation, and don't wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it's earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

4 'Cowboy Bebop' (1998–1999)

Two men fighting in a church in Cowboy Bebop - Ballad of Fallen Angels - 1998

As mentioned, not every anime on this list is like One Piece, and Cowboy Bebop is another distinct masterpiece that has cemented itself in history. Spike Spiegel and his crew of bounty hunters make a living by cleaning up the scum of the galaxy, taking jobs every day that lead them into danger. However, when his dark past catches up with him, Spike must face it or risk losing everything.

Cowboy Bebop uses its unique blend of noir, jazz, and lived-in sci-fi to create a philosophical space adventure. Each episode is a masterpiece in this series, creating a distinct aesthetic and narrative architecture that is much better than what One Piece has built. It is hard to compare the two, but Cowboy Bebop has a lasting legacy and made Westerners realize that anime has rich storytelling potential.

3 'Hunter x Hunter' (2011–2014)

Cast of Hunter x Hunter posing during the Chimera Ant arc

One Piece is a legendary series, and therefore, there are a lot of series that will feel similar to it. One of the most similar anime series to One Piece is Hunter x Hunter, which follows Gon, an optimistic child who wants to find his father. To do so, he follows his father's path, going on an adventure to become a hunter. Little does he know that this journey will put him through hell and back.

Like Eiichiro Oda, Yoshihiro Togashi is a legendary manga author, and these two series go hand in hand as some of the best series ever. Hunter x Hunter is also a master of worldbuilding, and while it may not reach the heights of One Piece, it has plenty of other aspects that rise above it, including pacing, character development, tight storytelling, and memorable moments. Hunter x Hunter has a grand sense of adventure that explores the world and the characters inside of it.

2 'Monster' (2004–2005)

Naoki Urasawa is a prolific author with some of the best manga mysteries of all time, and his magnum opus is Monster. Tenma is a surgeon who chooses to save the life of a child instead of the mayor. However, when that same child becomes a serial killer, Tenma takes matters into his own hands. But will he be able to kill Johan when he learns of his dark past?

No anime creates as big a mystery and rising tension as Monster, which uses its slow-burning, suspenseful story to ignite an inferno of a writing masterclass. This philosophical battle between humanism and nihilism creates an unwavering triumph of narrative prowess that no shōnen anime can compare to. Monster is better at most things than most anime, and One Piece is no different.

1 'JoJo's Bizarre Adventure' (2012–Present)

Promotional image of all the Joestar protagonists in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

For some fans, there are a lot of anime better than One Piece, and for others, there are none, but either way, viewers can acknowledge a series such as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure for its creativity. Each part follows a new character in the Joestar lineage, fighting a variety of villains with varying goals, from becoming a vampire to taking over the world.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's best attribute is its variety, using new protagonists, side casts, and villains to create a new spice every season. Whether it focuses on a globe-trotting adventure with engaging fight scenes or finding a serial killer in a small town, each journey is magnificent. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a tense and wildly imaginative series that mixes storytelling with absolute surrealism, making the new season one of the best anime of 2026.