One Pieceis known for being an incredibly long story, taking up more than 1000 anime episodes and even more manga chapters. Many are daunted by its extensiveness, yet it has garnered a huge fan base. Eiichirou Oda has been hard at work for over twenty years to make Luffy’s journey to become the Pirate King the best it can be.
Manga chapters often havea cover illustrationthat may or may not be related to the story’s ongoing events, like a preview of the chapter or one of the author’s fun ideas. Oda goes above and beyond by using these cover pages to portray secondary plots. As of now, there are 26 cover arcs that offer glimpses of events during the Straw Hats' adventures. While many of them are fun side stories about villains and minor characters, there are others that contribute to the main plot.
19Buggy’s Crew Adventure Chronicles
A Clown’s Quest For Revenge
The very first cover page story features Buggy the Clown after his defeat in the main story. Blasted away with just his head, arms, and feet, Buggy struggles to travel across the ocean in his weakened state, being attacked by fish, birds, and crabs. He hops from island to island until he’s saved by the pirate Alvida. After learning of Alvida’s vendetta against Luffy, the two become partners, which is later seen in Loguetown.
Buggy is eventually able to find his ship and crew with Alvida’s help. Unfortunately, they had been captured by cannibals after a dispute to decide the next captain and were being cooked. Using his missing torso and legs, Buggy is able to save his crew and scare off the cannibals. Despite being a silly story, this arc is a great example of Buggy’s incredible luck.
18Diary of Koby-Meppo
The Beginnings Of A Marine Career
Koby has become a big player in the story ofOne Piecerecently, but his journey to becoming a marine captain has been largely unseen. The second cover story is about theearly days of Kobyand Helmeppo’s marine career. Initially, the two of them are chore boys, but despite the mundane work, Koby does his best to become a real marine.
In this arc, Vice-Admiral Garp is officially introduced as the escort for Axe-Hand Morgan’s arraignment. Koby and Helmeppo showcase their bravery during Morgan’s escape, which convinces Garp to train them. Their work as marines eventually leads to their confrontation with Luffy and Zoro in Water 7.
17Jango’s Dance Paradise
A New Life For Dancing Marines
As the Straw Hats travel through the Grand Line, one of their old enemies becomes the protagonist of his own cover story. Jango the hypnotist is abandoned by his crew and left to his own devices. He eventually makes it to Mirror Ball Island, where he enters a dance competition and becomes friends with the marine lieutenant, Fullbody.
Although this side story isn’t relevant to the main plot, it shows the more humane side of the Marines. As a former pirate, Jango is acquitted and enlisted into the Marines with the support of his friend. Now both characters work under marine captain Hina.
16Hatchan’s Sea-Floor Stroll
An Undersea Adventure
Hatchan is a key figure in the Sabaody Archipelago arc, but his journey to that point is detailed in the fourth cover story. After the events of Arlong Park, Hatchi escapes a marine ship and returns to Fish-Man Island. On the way, he encounters many fish and people, receiving items that are coincidentally needed by the next person he meets.
This side story portrays Hatchi in a different light, proving that he was more innocent compared to Arlong and the others. His kindness hints at things to come later in the main storyline, as he saves Camie and Pappag from slave traders.
15Wapol’s Omnivorous Hurrah
The King Of Children’s Toys
The fifth cover arc follows the former king of Drum Island, Wapol. After being sent flying by Luffy, Wapol ends up stranded on an unknown island wherehis Devil Fruit powerscause him to eat any and everything. Eventually, he gets chased by the marines due to how much he’s eating. Later, he starts a toy company using his powers and gains fame for creating the highly-adaptable Wapometal.
Despite being a funny story, this arc also serves as a foreshadowing of Wapol’s return during the Reverie, where he becomes one of the few people who know one of the world’s biggest secrets. Although he only plays a small part, he’ll definitely appear again in the future.
14Ace’s Great Blackbeard Search
A Brother’s Short Spotlight
The sixth cover story features Ace during his search for Blackbeard. After being kicked out of town for having no money, Ace is saved by a young girl running a dairy farm. To repay her, Ace agrees to deliver a letter to the marine’s HQ on the island, where he causes trouble but ultimately gets the task done. As a bonus, he gets some information on Blackbeard’s whereabouts.
By this point, Ace has only appeared briefly in the main story, so this cover arc serves toexpand on his characterbefore he becomes more relevant to the plot. Of course, knowing what happens later, it can also be seen as a prelude to Ace’s confrontation with Blackbeard.
13Gedatsu’s Accidental Blue-Sea Life
An Unlikely Business Partner
Despite being one of Enel’s priests, some may not remember Gedatsu, so his personal arc is a bit surprising. After losing to Chopper on Sky Island, he crashes in Alabasta, where he becomes partners with an old man who wants to open a hot spring. After much digging and a few accidents, they find a water source and open Ukkari Hot-Spring Island.
This is mostly a silly story, but it’s also a brief update on the Straw Hats’s friends from Alabasta. Once the hot spring is open, it sees many visitors, including Vivi, Igaram, and Karoo.
12Miss Goldenweek’s “Operation: Meet Baroque Works”
A Baroque Works Epilogue
The eighth cover story is all about the members of Baroque Works. After learning of the organization’s downfall, Miss Goldenweek takes Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine on an adventure to save their friends. While they meet many obstacles on the way, they eventually succeed. However,Crocodile refuses to escape, so he remains imprisoned along with Mr. 1, 2, and 3.
The members of Baroque Works are largely forgotten, so it’s especially interesting to see what their lives are like. It’s also another example of Oda’s foreshadowing, as Crocodile and his men are sent to Impel Down in the last part of the story.
11Enel’s Great Space Operations
Living On The Moon
Compared to the other cover arcs, Enel’s side story is probablyone of the most bizarre. After the events of Skypeia, Enel rides his flying ship to the moon, where he finds and recharges four strange robots. It turns out that those robots were attacked by Space Pirates trying to excavate the moon. Enel defeats them and becomes the leader of a robot army.
Despite its outlandish concept, this cover story includes some huge lore points, like how the residence of Skypeia actually originated from the moon. There’s also mention of Karakuri Island, which is Vegapunk’s childhood home and the place Franky is sent to by Kuma.
10CP9’s Independent Report
The Simple Life Of Rob Lucci
Much like the members of Baroque Works, the agents of CP9 get their own cover arc detailing their lives after their defeat by the Straw Hats. To save Rob Lucci, the members of CP9 become street performers and cleaners to earn money. Eventually, Lucci recovers, and they return to their hometown where the next generation of Cipher Pol agents are being trained.
While it originally functioned as an epilogue to the Enies Lobby arc, this side story is more interesting after the events of Egghead, where Kaku and Lucci return to the main story. This arc can be seen as a hint to their reappearance.
