One Piece vs Fairy Tail: Which is the better starter anime? Explored

One Piece and Fairy Tail are two series that are often grouped, and it is fairly easy to see why - they both have a group of friends going on adventures, union and camaraderie are huge themes in both stories, and their main characters have similar personalities. Even the art style has some things in common. Therefore, it is not surprising to see anime newcomers asking which one is the best way to get into the medium.

While most people would suggest One Piece first, it is worth taking into account that the final choice depends largely on what each person might be looking for in a series.

After all, Eiichiro Oda's magnum opus is more than one thousand chapters long, and it can be argued that Fairy Tail, to some degree, is a more accessible series, so this is a debate that can offer a lot of interesting perspectives, and is by no means a reflection of their respective qualities.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the One Piece and Fairy Tail series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda.

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Explaining which series is a better starter anime between One Piece and Fairy Tail

While these types of discussions are down to personal preference, it can be argued that Fairy Tail is a better starter anime than One Piece. This doesn't necessarily mean that the former is better than the latter, but rather that it works better as an entry point because it has a lot more lighthearted fun. Eiichiro Oda's story has a similar feel, although it is common knowledge that it has a slow start during the East Blue arcs.

It is also worth pointing out that getting a person into One Piece, especially someone who is just starting to watch anime, could be a very daunting task when taking into account that it has more than one thousand episodes. While it has a lot of great moments and arcs that eventually make it an extremely worthwhile exposure, the truth of the matter is that Fairy Tail works better as an entry point because it focuses a lot on being fun and goes straight to the point, even if it doesn't reach the heights of Oda's story.

Once again, this is mostly down to what the person in question would want from a shonen series. Hiro Mashima's story is easy to digest and has a lot of the classic tropes of the genre, and while it does not rank among the greatest anime series of all time, it does give a solid idea of what shonen is all about, at the end of the day.

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The appeal of both series

While One Piece and Fairy Tail could have some comparisons based on the general idea of celebrating friendship, adventures, and the family a person acquires through experience, the truth of the matter is that the string of comparisons ends there. Eiichiro Oda has focused a lot more on world-building and mysteries, while Hiro Mashima has a lot more focus on action and lighthearted adventure.

Furthermore, Mashima took some inspiration from Oda himself when taking into account that one of the characters in Fairy Tail, Gildarts, has a very strong physical resemblance to Shanks from One Piece, and the two of them share a mentor's role to the protagonists, Luffy and Natsu, in key moments of the series. There are clear similarities between the two series but that doesn't necessarily make them the same, given that every single fictional work has taken inspiration from others.

For example, it has been recently revealed that Oda took a lot of inspiration for his series from the 1982 anime The Mysterious Cities of Gold. However, Oda forged his own identity and style, much like Mashima has done with his own work.

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Final thoughts

There is an argument to be made that Fairy Tail is a better starter anime than One Piece, due to the former having less episodes and a much simpler focus. However, as mentioned before, it is worth pointing that each person has a different perspective and preference, and their final choice ultimately boils down to what they are looking for.